What annoys me most is straightforward: the people in the VAR booth and some of the voices on radio simply aren’t keeping their heads. When VAR officials sound excited, call an incident before a single replay and then back themselves into a corner, it looks like theatre rather than proper decision-making. That’s bad for the game and it’s bad for our trust in the system.
VAR and the rush to judgement
To be fair, the whole point of VAR is to remove doubt. But you can see why fans lose faith when the booth are calling something out of instinct and then feel they must defend it even after the footage tells a different story. The Mikey Moore example got mentioned — people felt there was no clear denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity and yet the narrative was pushed the other way. Then there’s the whole line about a player being "too far from goal" which sounds like an assumption about ability rather than a clean, objective rule. Memory of a game where the keeper was way off his line sticks; anyone could see a shot might have gone in. Those moments are what make supporters mistrustful.
Officials need composure, not pyrotechnics
Officials, whether on the pitch or in the VAR booth, should be calm and methodical. If you’re excited, you lose clarity and you make it harder to reverse an initial reaction. Add on-field referees who then appear animated in defending every decision and it just makes things worse. Fans notice that — and they react. We don’t want theatrics, we want consistency.
Double standards on the airwaves
It’s not only refs. Radio commentary can feel blatantly slanted too. I listened to a game the other day where the narrative was relentlessly negative about Rangers even when we were a goal up, and then a different tone entirely for another side on a goalless half. Whether that’s conscious or not, it still reads as double standards. Supporters pick up on it. Why should our lads be talked down while others get the benefit of the doubt?
Truth is, we need clearer protocols and calmer people in the big decisions. VAR was supposed to help. It’s doing the opposite when officials rush, pundits play favourites, and trust evaporates. Keep it level, keep it calm, and maybe fans will stop shouting at the telly every other week.
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