Willie Collum gives verdict on major Celtic, Hearts, Hibs and Rangers incidents in blockbuster VAR show
Head of referees has say on major incidents in title race
Scottish football head of referees Willie Collum has backed the controversial decision to award Celtic a stoppage-time penalty against Motherwell on the penultimate day of the Premiership season.
Collum believes that the VAR team were right to flag a handball by Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson to referee John Beaton and that the player’s arm was in an “unnatural” position.
However, Collum admitted that Hearts should have been given a penalty kick when Alexandros Kyziridis was tripped by Tamanda Maswanhise during their 1-1 draw with Motherwell on May 9.
Collum was speaking on the latest Scottish football VAR show - with the Hearts v Motherwell and Motherwell v Celtic incidents taking top billing given that they had an impact on the destination of the title. Celtic were crowned champions by two points after defeating Hearts on the final day of the season, but the Tynecastle club took umbrage at the outcome of the two moments in question.
On the Nicholson handball, Collum concluded that VAR Andrew Dallas was right to summon Beaton to the monitor. The official gave a penalty, which Kelechi Iheanacho converted to give Celtic a 3-2 win. The result meant Celtic had to simply defeat Hearts on the final day rather than prevail by three goals to topple the long-time leaders. They did so 3-1 to retain their crown.
“For us there's clear evidence, particularly the still image,” said Collum on the incident. “In our opinion this is clear. When you strip it back, 95th minute of the match, VAR goes through a clear process. They're clear it's a handball. When the referee comes over, he agrees. So we fully support the decision.
“When you bring a ref to the monitor, you've already come to the conclusion that it's hit the hand. The ref's focus has to be to check the position of the arm. He just quickly confirms 'has it hit the arm?' You wouldn't bring him over if it hadn't.
“The key for me is Nicholson's hand and arm are already in an unnatural position. It moves further into an unnatural position. The player takes a huge risk when he jumps with his hand in that position. It's not a foul on the Motherwell player. We've been consistent with handballs.
“We felt he wasn't trying to get his arm out of the position. We didn't feel he was trying to protect his face, it wasn't a shot coming at him from a close distance. We need to be careful talking about an advantage being gained. It wasn't a case of trying to avoid contact, or trying to protect his face. Another small point. People say 'support the on-field decision?' There wasn't an on-field decision, it was completely missed.”
Collum’s reading of the incident was at odds with the SFA’s KMI panel, who were 2:1 in favour of a penalty not being awarded, while Hearts head coach Derek McInnes labelled the decision “disgusting”. In the days after the match, Beaton required police surveillance after his personal details were leaked online.
What Sam Nicholson said on matter
In an earlier interview published on Friday, Nicholson claimed that the ball did not touch his hand. "I can categorically say, it never hit my hand,” Nicholson told The Terrace. "I was on the pitch with my son after the game kicking the ball about, and our media guy showed it to me. A couple of the Celtic boys came over and went, 'That's crazy.' I went, ‘Oh, thanks!’.”
Collum did, however, state that he expected Maswanhise to be penalised for a foul on Kyziridis inside the box. Referee Steven McLean was called to the monitor by VAR Greg Aitken, but stuck with his on-field decision after asking for further angles of the alleged contact. The game finished 1-1, with Hearts dropping points in their quest to become champions for the first time since 1960.
“The VAR team feel it's a penalty so they bring the referee over,” explained Collum. “There's been a bit of a debate about whether this is a clear error. But once the referee comes to the monitor, they expected the penalty to be awarded. My personal opinion is that's a penalty. There's some debate within refereeing and we'll discuss it in pre-season. But I feel it should be awarded.
“The VAR process is going to the final degree. The referee has been brought over then VAR shows the angles they've based their judgement on. They're the only two angles available. Whether the angles are sufficient, that's another debate. But can you imagine the criticism if VAR tried to convince the referee?
“Perhaps that [minimal contact] contributes to the doubt in the referee's mind. We'll need to have discussion with referees and clubs. But in my opinion, the expected outcome is a penalty kick.”
Collum was also asked for his opinion on a potential red card for Celtic defender Alistair Johnston in the Old Firm derby. The Canadian was booked for a first-half challenge on Rangers’ Mikey Moore - with his manager Martin O’Neill subsequently admitting it could have been a sending off.
Collum, however, was happy with the outcome. “We're looking for excessive force, brutality and endangering the safety of the opponent,” he added. “We don't think it met that criteria. There was contact but it was glancing contact, not full studs. It's not a red card every time there's contact above the foot.”
The refs chief also felt that Celtic were due a penalty when Benjamin Nygren was bundled off the pitch by Hibs’ Josh Campbell in a match they won 2-1. “We think it's more than just shepherding,” said Collum. “Two things are crucial for me. One, Josh Campbell completely ignores the ball. And it's a two-handed pushed. This is far removed from normal contact. It should have been given on-field, and if it's not given on-field, VAR should intervene. It's too excessive for us to ignore. Moving forward, we expect that to be punished. There needs to be a high threshold but this is beyond minimum contact.”
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