Bobby Madden came up with 4 keys to the opening weekend of the Premiership: Celtic’s missed penalty against Kilmarnock was one of two ‘mistakes’ highlighted.
The Premiership returned with its popular dose of VAR, handball and penalty drama this weekend and the most sensible former referee Madden had plenty to say on his Instagram page. On Monday he spoke about Connor Barron’s alleged ‘handball’ opposite Hearts, as well as a similar incident of Luke Graham in the Dundee derby, neither of which occurred due to UEFA’s new rules on all other handball-related decisions.
He expressed frustration at the SFA’s lack of transparency about the new regulations, with no public announcement that officials would take another approach. And he doubles down on that stance with a new summary of four of the big resolutions, also breaking the resolve not to award a penalty to Kyogo after he was taken off by Robthrough McCrorie against Kilmarnock. Here’s what Madden had to say.
Barron ‘handball’ – Hearts v Rangers
On the pitch – No VAR sanction – No intervention Final – Correct
While the rest of the handball criteria are only shared with clubs and the media (I am still speechless at the fact that the SFA does not share examples on its own platforms or with a media outlet for fans) , there are still many doubts about what is punishable.
The distance is short and the movement is not abnormal, I perceive that it is not punishable. I would dare to say that if this is granted, I would hope that the intervention of the VAR would solve it. Hopefully this popularity will continue after the rather ridiculous rules published in recent years.
Penalty awarded to Dundee United – Dundee Derby
In field decision – There is no VAR foul – Field review is recommended. Sanction imposed Final decision – Correct
Very tight offside and an assistant politely delays the flag. The challenge is introduced and the attack is stopped. Then the assistant raises the flag and is signaled offside. If the referee had any idea that it was a penalty, it deserved to have been awarded and the flag deserved to have followed. The VAR requests an OFR after identifying that there was no offside. The blame itself is fairly transparent and doesn’t require much discussion.
Luke Graham ‘handball’ – Dundee Derby
On the pitch – No penaltyVAR – No interventionFinal – Incorrect
With limited data sharing, a degree of uncertainty remains. What we can say is that the ball travels far, touches a defender’s outstretched elbow and I expected a penalty to be awarded last season. After talking to foreign referees, it turns out that This will be the case this season.
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Kyogo – Celtic – Kilmarnock ‘penalty’
Over resolution in the draw – No penalty VAR – No intervention Final resolution – Incorrect
With limited data sharing, some degree of uncertainty remains. What we can say is that the ball travels far, touches a defender’s extended elbow and expected a penalty to be awarded last season. After talking to foreign referees, it turns out that this will be the case this season.
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