SFA refereeing chief Willie Collum has conceded VAR called two major decisions wrong in the opening weeks of the season – and revealed he has warned leading official Matthew MacDermid about his body language after sparking chaos in a Rangers cup clash.
Collum offered his verdict on a number of incidents in a new monthly broadcast titled ‘The VAR Review’, produced by the SFA, and admitted Celtic should have had a penalty in a 4-0 home win over Kilmarnock when Kyogo Furuhashi was fouled by Robby McCrorie and that Dundee United should have had a spot-kick in a 2-2 derby draw at Tannadice when Dundee’s Luke Graham handled.
However, he also admitted MacDermid created problems for himself during Rangers’ 2-0 Premier Sports Cup win over St Johnstone at Hampden when appearing to signal for a free-kick for a foul by Cyriel Dessers on Jack Sanders before the Nigerian striker put the ball in the net.
Saints were left fuming after the match with captain Kyle Cameron accusing the referee of signalling for a free-kick and insisting his team-mates heard him blow the whistle before Dessers struck the ball – later giving the goal in the wake of a pitchside review.
Official audio released last night appeared to clear MacDermid of blowing his whistle, but Collum admits he did speak to him about other issues afterwards.
‘We coached the referee here, and referees generally, about good body language,’ he said.
‘Here, the referee probably doesn’t display good body language because his body language when the challenge is made at the edge of the penalty area, everything is edging towards a free-kick. However, he correctly delayed the whistle.
Matthew MacDermid goes to the pitchside VAR much to the dismay of Philippe Clement
However, the referee then awards the goal to Rangers – much to the dismay of St Johnstone
Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers than rushes off to celebrate after a chaotic few minutes
‘We spoke to the referee at great length – and we’ve spoken to the other referees at great length – about this clip about how it is important to control your body language.
‘Apart from the body language, in terms of the whistle, delay and communication with the VAR, the correct process was followed. It’s best to play to the whistle than play to a signal.’
Collum cited eight separate incidents in his 33-minute internet broadcast including a handball by Connor Barron that was not punished against Hearts, Kilmarnock defender Joe Wright’s red card at Pittodrie and a foul not given when Celtic’s James Forrest went down under minimal contact against Hibs to show how VAR works.
Despite admitting to mistakes being made, he reported himself happy with the way the system has been working under his watch since he took over the reins at Hampden from Crawford Allan.
‘We are content with the start we have made,’ he said. ‘We realised very quickly we had to improve on-field decision making and decision making in the VOR .
‘We feel our referees, our assistants, our match officials and VARs have made a step in the right direction. Obviously, we still see room for improvement.’
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