Giorgos Giakoumakis’ Bold Claim Celtic Will Win The League May Not Have Been ‘smartest Thing To Do’

I’m wondering who was extra aggravated by the feedback from Giorgos Giakoumakis on Sunday? The Rangers gamers or Ange Postecoglou?

Confidence is an effective factor. And Giakoumakis was clearly on a excessive after scoring a hat-trick in one more very important victory for Celtic.

However to then say they are going to win the league? And that it’s ‘apparent’ Celtic are the higher workforce? I’m undecided that was the neatest factor for Giakoumakis to do when the title race continues to be tight. 

Sure, Celtic have a three-point benefit and all of the momentum. They’re in pole place proper now, whereas Rangers have points to unravel round their away kind and the low impression of their January signings. 

Even so, a agency prediction about ending up on prime is just not the form of speak you hear from Postecoglou.

I’ve been impressed by the manner of the Parkhead supervisor. He’s clear about what he needs, whereas staying measured and respectful. 

He doesn’t appear huge on provocations or thoughts video games. He needs to pay attention solely on getting the perfect out of his personal gamers.

I is perhaps incorrect, however I don’t assume he would have loved seeing Giakoumakis create these headlines.

They’ll have been famous at Ibrox. That’s sure. In the event you requested most Rangers gamers, I’m positive they’d say publicly that they weren’t and had been considering solely of their very own workforce. The same old stuff. However it will likely be totally different contained in the dressing room.

I can recall many instances in my days at Rangers, earlier than cup finals or Previous Agency video games, when Archie Knox would are available and level out what this man or that man had mentioned.

He would put it on the wall so we might see it all through the week after which exit and present them precisely what we had been about.

It’s positively one thing a administration workforce can use. Even as of late. I’d be shocked if Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his employees didn’t name on it sooner or later. It’s half and parcel of the sport.

After all, that received’t matter if Celtic preserve profitable and Giakoumakis retains scoring. But when these issues don’t occur, and Rangers can rediscover consistency, the Greek striker would possibly want he’d picked his phrases extra rigorously.

Var progress comes at a value 

Progress comes with a price ticket. And the place VAR is anxious, it’s one Scottish Premiership golf equipment should be ready to pay if the league isn’t to be left far behind its European counterparts.

One other weekend of fixtures introduced extra refereeing controversies. At Tannadice on Sunday, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was left to lament the absence of VAR after Rangers had two penalty claims ignored of their damaging draw with Dundee United.

Simply three days earlier, know-how had come efficiently to the fore within the Ibrox facet’s excellent Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund. 

The distinction between top-level soccer and the Scottish home sport was made painfully clear.

Something that may impression on the title race clearly hogs the headlines, however VAR is about rather more than no matter choices have upset both half of the Previous Agency on a particular day.

It’s in regards to the standing of Scottish soccer. If the Premiership needs to think about itself on the identical practice as the massive and medium-sized leagues elsewhere, it must have VAR on board.

There was speculated to be a vote amongst golf equipment this month. That has now been pushed again, with some chairmen seemingly swithering over the prices of introducing the system subsequent season.

I can utterly perceive that different golf equipment usually are not as properly off as Rangers or Celtic and should watch out with their budgets. In some unspecified time in the future, although, cash should be spent if the standard of the sport is to be improved.

No-one needs an thrilling, vibrant soccer nation like Scotland to be caught previously. 

Sadly, that would be the case if referees usually are not given the assistance their friends in different nations now take as a right.

In the event you had requested me about VAR two years in the past, I’d have mentioned Scottish soccer ought to wait. 

The choice-making was too gradual, it was draining a variety of spontaneity from soccer. However now they’ve discovered an excellent stability with it.

That is the primary season we’ve had it within the Danish Superliga. I might by no means declare the competitors in my homeland is larger than the Scottish Premiership so it appears unusual it’s now extra superior when it comes to how video games are officiated.

It’s not been excellent. Nothing is. Initially, folks had been fairly reluctant to confess it was making issues higher. 

You understand how it may be with new know-how and modifications. There was a way of ‘oh, let’s return to the outdated methods’.

However the outdated methods had been a variety of incorrect choices from referees and linesmen. And folks being actually aggravated by them. It’s not simply in Scotland that such points exist.

Now, with the chance for choices to be corrected, VAR has steadily received over Danish folks.

As I say, it’s by no means going to be a 100-per-cent resolution for each criticism. People are nonetheless concerned.

Even with VAR, there are choices that aren’t right in some folks’s eyes. Criticism and controversies can nonetheless happen. But it surely takes down the proportion of errors in a really vital means.

Prior to now, we had the identical debates in Denmark about the usual of refereeing not being ok. Typically, it was a simple get-out for gamers and managers after unhealthy outcomes.

However now these identical referees have the help of VAR and there’s no doubt it has improved the standard of officiating general. It’s been value it.

Scottish groups get a style of it on the European stage. And final Thursday evening in Germany supplied the proper instance of how huge a distinction VAR could make. 

However for its interventions, that first leg in opposition to Dortmund might need ended up 2-2 and never as one of many biggest European nights in Rangers’ historical past.

The French officers made errors of their preliminary choices, lacking the handball penalty and ruling out the fourth objective.

Bear in mind, these are guys on the very prime of the sport. Referee Clement Turpin took cost of final season’s Europa League last and has been to the World Cup and European Championships. 

Even with all that have, he can nonetheless get issues incorrect. However with VAR, it was easy to make corrections and the distinction to the end result was enormous.

That’s the way it needs to be within the Scottish Premiership. For each membership and in each sport.

VAR is right here to remain. I believe that appears apparent. So maybe all those that should make the choice ought to ask themselves a unique query.

Can Scottish soccer actually afford to not have it as quickly as potential?