Auston Trusty sent off against Hibernian
O’Neill: ‘In time we won’t need a referee’
Celtic’s manager Martin O’Neill has delivered a withering assessment of VAR in Scottish football after what he called the “ridiculous” dismissal of Auston Trusty during Sunday’s loss by Hibernian. Trusty’s red card and a failed Celtic appeal mean the centre-back will miss three crucial Scottish Premiership games, starting with Sunday’s Old Firm visit to Ibrox. O’Neill claimed VAR actions must be “debilitating” for on-field officials.
Trusty reacted angrily to the attentions of Hibs’ Jamie McGrath at a Celtic corner. The referee Matthew MacDermid appeared content the incident was worthy of no sanction but was sent to review the incident by the VAR Grant Irvine. To O’Neill, the game was re-refereed.
“The referee, as he told me on Sunday, has seen the incident,” O’Neill explained. “It is not as if he hadn’t seen it, he is watching it. He is asked by a very excited man on VAR, saying: ‘Delay, delay, delay, delay.’ They ask him [the referee] and he says: ‘It’s nothing, I’m just going to have a word with the players.’ Then he has to trot over to change his mind. It is ridiculous.
