‘Celtic, Rangers, every team is the same’ – Charlie Adam slams chaos he doesn’t want in Scotland
Charlie Adam doesn’t want to see VAR introduced into Scottish football despite admitting Rangers, Celtic and every other team in the Scottish Premiership wants their players to be protected.
Motherwell’s Devante Cole has faced fierce criticism for an ugly challenge on Celtic’s Jeremie Frimpong on Sunday which has left the player sweating over potential ligament damage.
It was a clear red-card challenge but the Motherwell player managed to get away with a booking.
It has led to a discussion about whether VAR should be introduced into Scottish Premiership as after a review, you would have imagined Cole would have been sent off immediately.
Ex-Rangers and Liverpool midfielder Adam is clearly not a fan of VAR in the Premier League and doesn’t want to see it head north of the border despite Scottish Premiership clubs wanting more protection for their players.
“It’s causing havoc and I said right at the start, we don’t need to bring it in,” Adam said on PLZ Soccer’s Football Show on Wednesday.
“In England, they have to get rid of it. It’s causing chaos and can you imagine if it came up to Scotland what would happen?
“I’ve not seen the Frimpong tackle so I cannot really comment on it but if you’re saying it was a bad tackle then obviously it’s a worry.
“But the good sign for Frimpong is that it’s not a serious injury and he’ll look to be back soon. He has escaped on there.
“Celtic, Rangers, every team is the same. They will look for protection from referees and referees have a hard job. It’s a tough man to be a referee.”
VAR has it’s good and bad sides.
With what happened in Motherwell versus Celtic at the weekend, there’s no way that Cole would have avoided a red card if someone away from the action could watch a replay of the challenge.
However, offsides have become a joke in the Premier League with Leeds’ Patrick Bamford having a goal chalked off at Crystal Palace on Saturday because he was pointing to where he wanted a pass made.
We’re literally talking about players being called for offside over millimetres and even then, they are still massively debatable.
VAR fixes some issues but creates many more.
If Rangers, Celtic and whoever else wants more protection for their players then the SFA and the SPFL need to do more to improve the standard of refereeing.
We wouldn’t put it past some of Scotland’s referees letting Cole off for that challenge on Frimpong even with a video replay.
In other Rangers news, fans have blasted Glasgow City Council for an incident involving the Union Flag on Remembrance Day.