On McInnes, VAR and excuses for failure

There’s a difference between bad decisions and organised cheating. McInnes may have been stoking a siege mentality, but the season still came down to performances on the pitch.

Let’s be straight: poor refereeing happens, and VAR messes things up sometimes. That doesn’t automatically mean there was a plot to hand Celtic the title. McInnes’ rhetoric looked like an attempt to rally his team, but it’s been read by some as a claim that officials were actively fixing results.

VAR and the numbers people point to

To be fair, supporters are right to point at trends. A quick look at a table showed they had ten favourable VAR decisions and four unfavourable ones. Numbers like that fuel suspicion. You can see why fans get wound up when a few big calls go your way and other times they don’t.

That said, trends don’t prove collusion. VAR is a system with human operators and clear margins for error. Fortuitous decisions happen to every side over a season. It’s tempting to draw a straight line from a handful of lucky moments to the final table, but football is messy and cumulative.

What McInnes was probably trying to do

It looks to me like McInnes wanted to create a siege mentality — get his players and fans behind a perceived injustice so they fight harder. Trouble is, words matter. When you imply bias by officials you invite conspiracy talk, and that muddies the water.

Supporters will defend their managers, naturally. But accusing the entire officiating setup without airtight evidence is a dangerous road. It distracts from what actually decides titles: consistency, squad depth, and results.

At the end of the day, performances decide titles

The Motherwell handball has been debated, and photos have been shown that back up the call for many people. Even with debate around individual decisions, the blunt truth remains — Hearts and Rangers lost out because they were not good enough across the season. You can complain about a few screws here and there, but there’s no replacement for taking your chances, keeping form and grinding out points.

So yes, let’s argue about VAR and hold officials to account. But let’s not let that be the main excuse. The title is won and lost on the pitch, not in comment rooms or social feeds.

Written by Angus1812: 5 July 2026