It’s good that the error was acknowledged, and the apologies is much appreciated. Furthermore, it is evident that Nick Montgomery still has some degree of faith in certain components of the VAR system that is currently facing criticism from all sides.
However, there is no concrete advantage—in terms of points on the board—to someone from the SFA Referee Department coming clean to Hibs. And it left Montgomery, along with a great deal of his contemporaries, perplexed about one crucial procedural issue. The match referee’s glaring inconsistent practice of referring situations for on-field reviews erodes public faith in the system.
Hibs disclosed Monday that the SFA had apologized for a glaring error that occurred during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Aberdeen. It was agreed that referee David Munro ought to have been summoned to view a replay of Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin’s handball infraction at Pittodrie. David Dickinson, the video assistant referee, clearly made a mistake. He was supported by Graeme Leslie, his own assistant
Crawford Allan, the SFA’s chief of referee operations, issued a passionate public defense of VAR last week, so the Devlin incident came at an inconvenient moment. Allan said, “We’ve got proof that it is adding value and accuracy to the Scottish football diet,” despite the fact that it was revealed that 13 Key Match Incidents—up from just three in the first round of games—had reached an inaccurate outcome in the second full round of Scottish Premiership fixtures.
Montgomery could find it difficult to accept that. The Hibs manager is dissatisfied with VAR’s inability to fix obvious errors, even though he is willing to acknowledge that it is making some mistakes.
“I think I speak for all the managers when I say there are times when you have faith in VAR—like in the case of offside, for example,” added Monty, whose club was fortunate to have an offside call overturned by VAR that prevented their second goal from being wrongly disallowed.
We had a couple over the weekend that were obviously not offside, but it took three or four minutes to review and award the goal. I believe it’s a great idea for them to analyze goals to determine whether or not they were offside. That certainly boosts your self-assurance.
However, because the game moves so quickly, the ones that matter most to a manager are the glaring mistakes that are too clear for the referee to have missed.The VAR’s purpose is to advise him to visit, examine the monitor, and form his own opinion.
“That is inconsistent, and everyone finds it perplexing. A few occurrences are reported to the monitor. Not all of the most apparent ones go to the monitor.
“Often, you don’t realize there was a glaring mistake until after the game is over. However, it has no effect on the outcome. It’s been on our minds the entire season.
As a manager, you are asked for your thoughts and are asked to share them. Then I see that I’m trying it out. I’m just responding to inquiries with sincerity. Everybody will have an opinion on it.
Extending the debate to include Martin Boyle’s booking for diving in the wake of his apparent tripping in the penalty box during the team’s most recent 2-1 home loss to Celtic, Montgomery continued, “I think it’s good that we stand up for ourselves as a club.” because things have been difficult over the past two weeks.
“I believe that (a penalty award) would give us an opportunity to make it 2-1 to us, put us back in the lead, on the weekend, away at Aberdeen. The entire tone of the game shifts.
It is depressing to observe something so obviously wrong. I believe that everyone of the spectators, including the players and supporters as well as everyone from Aberdeen, could see that it was a penalty.
“The play is on hold. Furthermore, despite everyone’s expectation that there will be a punishment, he somehow fails to check the monitor for one.
“For better or worse, we’re viewing it on the screen that every dugout now has. You can go back and have a look at it. And it’s so obviously a penalty that you expect to be given one, but the game continues because it’s been declared cleared.
“I believe that the decision not to award Martin Boyle’s penalty appeal in the Celtic game is a glaring and evident error. It’s obvious that there has been touch from behind, and if the VAR notices that and asks the referee to look, it’s a penalty. In a match where we were playing pretty well, if we score that goal, we lead Celtic 2-1. That, in my opinion, alters the nature of the contest; it very well might have been three points.
“So, yes, receiving an apology is wonderful. However, it’s difficult to see how a blatant and evident error could have occurred in the first place when the system is designed to make sure that it doesn’t, only to receive an apology after the game.
That is what truly disappoints me. Because I believed that we had two excellent opportunities to take the lead through penalties in only the last few games. That alters those games completely.
“Apologizing is the correct thing to do, but it doesn’t alter the reality. It has no effect on the outcome. The fact that we were incorrectly chosen is unaffected by it.
“We feel wronged greatly. I’m not saying that, though, since that doesn’t justify some of the goals we’ve been giving up due to bad defense. I’m not going to apologize for that or the opportunities we lost.
Simply put, these circumstances have not gone our way. It’s fortunate that the club issued an apology. Everybody wants it to get better and for VAR to function reliably.
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