Brendan Rogers SFA Hearing Set for 28march Rogers Cites Connor Goldson Incident As SFA inconsistentency.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has continued to present his case that there are issues with refereeing in Scotland, a week after his post-match comments at Tynecastle.
Rodgers has been in the firing line this week for his interview in the wake of defeat to Hearts, during which he lambasted decisions made by referee Don Robertson and VAR official John Beaton.
Hyunjun Yang was sent off for a perceived reckless high boot, while Tomoki Iwata was ruled to have handled the ball in the Hearts box, allowing them to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
Despite being hauled in front of the Scottish FA, Rodgers is no less forceful with his comments this weekend than last and has raised the issue of inconsistent refereeing in the Premiership.
Citing a missed incident in the build-up to a Rangers goal against Livingston last month and a challenge on Liam Scales against Motherwell, the Celtic boss has frustrations.
He said “All we look for is consistency in decisions and I think that the first one, the on-field referee made the correct decision. He gave Yang a yellow card.
“We’ve had incidents prior to that. I see the challenge on Liam Scales the week before against Motherwell where there’s no card. I see Connor Goldson’s straight leg on the Livingston defender and it’s a goal. Then I see our guy. Admittedly it’s high but it wasn’t reckless, it wasn’t forceful. It’s a yellow card.
“I’ve been stood on the touchline more times than not this year with my head in my hands just with things that I see. The game just feels as though it’s slowing up. The whole intensity, tempo, the whole feeling of a game.
It seems to be being refereed outside of the game and that is the big concern. The interpretation of it is the difference, from game to game and referee to referee.”
Rodgers said in a media conference on Friday that he is set to sit down with Celtic officials and lawyers to determine how he plans to fight a potential touchline ban for his comments, so there’s plenty to run on all this.
Most managers in the league would likely share their own frustration with inconsistencies in refereeing, so the Celtic boss isn’t alone.
VAR as a technology isn’t really the issue, it’s how it is implemented by officials. This season, for many teams, coaches and players, it hasn’t been good enough. It’s up to the SFA to communicate a path of improvement.