Brendan Rodgers calls out VAR nonsense and skewers critics following Celtic’s blunders

Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic should have added a seventh goal after defeating St Johnstone 6-0 on Saturday night.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Paulo Bernardo, Daizen Maeda, Callum McGregor, and Adam Idah all combined to pummelled the home side in Perth.

Maeda performed admirably throughout the 90 minutes, and Rodgers praised him in a post-match radio interview, but the Japanese international could have had a better night.

The winger scored a beautiful volley, only to have the opening goal ruled out after a VAR review for a suspected Auston Trusty foul on Graham Carey in the build-up.

Replays showed Carey colliding with Trusty, but many Celtic fans believe Trusty did not foul the St Johnstone player. Rodgers agrees with them.

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic VAR call vs St Johnstone

In a post-match press conference, the manager said: “It should never have been disallowed. If you watch it back, Austin loses his marker, and their player steps into his space and bumps him. Obviously, Carey goes over, he’s hurt.

“Daizen ends up getting a really good goal, which was disallowed. So I didn’t think that should have been disallowed.”

It would be interesting to hear what Head of Refereeing Willie Collum has to say about the event on the Scottish FA’s new VAR review show.

We’ll also find out what a five-person panel thinks about everything next week, when the governing body publishes its review online as part of a new communication push.

It wasn’t the only VAR surprise on Saturday, with decisions in the game between Motherwell and St Mirren receiving significant criticism from fans and pundits. It is apparent that much work remains to be done in Scotland in terms of technology adoption.

Rodgers takes the opportunity to hit out at Celtic criticism

The manager also took aim at some of the first-season criticism that Celtic received last season, using the chance to remind everyone that he’s done an excellent job with this set of players.

He added of the Bhoys’ dominant showing in Perth: “It’s not bad for a side that doesn’t play excellent football. I believe we were informed this last year, right?

“I think that was the accusation. We were too slow, and we didn’t play football, and we didn’t score enough goals. And so it’s not bad for a team that’s not playing good football.”

Rodgers enjoys firing off these jabs from time to time, and after watching his squad perform at their top, it’s a well-deserved bit of fun that will no doubt stir up the columnists and commentators who were eager to leap all over Celtic as the manager figured out what was needed upon his return.