Former Celtic hero Paul Lambert has weighed in on the recent VAR controversy involving his old team, labelling some of the decisions that were made in the Hoops’ defeat to Hearts on Sunday nothing short of a shambles.
Lambert, who was on the pitch when referee Hugh Dallas was notoriously struck by a coin before awarding Rangers a penalty moments later, has his fair share of experience regarding poor officiating. It is saying something that he was left bemused at Sunday’s shenanigans.
Speaking on TalkSport (via RecordSport) with Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist, the Champions League winner let his thoughts be known: “I mean you look at the sending off yesterday – I thought it was harsh”, he said.
“And the penalty, dear oh dear. I agree with some of the aspects of VAR, but if you turnaround and say you have a football person in there with the referee they might see it differently. I think the decision was a shambles.”
Lambert makes an intriguing point regarding the type of people who are in the VAR room. Beaton has no experience in the professional game, but having someone who does would potentially help him comprehend that it was impossible for Tomoki Iwata’s arm to not touch the ball in the way that it did.
Celtic centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers said that it was a completely natural movement from the midfielder, serving to further prove how shocking the end decision was.
