Ange Postecoglou is convinced Celtic should have had a penalty to “save” Connor Goldson during Monday’s Old Firm derby draw at Ibrox.
And the manager believes there is “zero chance” of major decisions against his side’s tie this season.
“Before we even started introducing VAR, it was always a penalty,” he said of the handball incident.
“To be honest, there were only two saves in the game – one by Joe (Hart) and one by Connor.”
Goldson raised two hands in front of his face to stop Carl Starfelt’s shot, but referee John Beaton continued play and video assistant referee Willie Collum did not call for a review.
Postecoglou remains baffled by the decision and has added other examples of what he sees as inconsistencies.
“I’ve seen people do all sorts of mental gymnastics trying to show why it’s not a penalty, which probably suggests it is,” he said. “If it wasn’t, it would be a simple explanation.
“I don’t think it’s limited to us as a club, there are other clubs in the same boat.
“Now it’s really confusing for players to know what they can or can’t do because it seems to change depending on who’s in charge – because there’s no consistency.
“In 25 years of coaching or managing, I have always followed the referee’s decision. It would be hard to find me really criticizing any referee, because I always believed that they were equal. They are human beings, they make mistakes, we make mistakes, the players make mistakes.
“But when I look at the introduction of VAR and the decisions that went against us, there’s no way it’s going to even out between now and the end of the year, because it’s unbelievable that we’ve had at least three big decisions against us.
“You can just say it’s down to interpretation or whatever people want to say, but I guarantee if that game had finished 2-2 and Rangers had been denied that decision, the talk of the week would have been how that decided the title decision.
“The fact that it wasn’t because we got a result doesn’t mean we should ignore it, because the team could be relegated because of such a decision.”
Despite his frustration, Postecoglou does not see it as his role to talk to the refereeing department.
“When you see such a large inconsistency, obviously there is a problem that needs to be solved and the best people to solve it are the officials, not me or anyone else from the outside,” he said.
“Even now I don’t criticize the referees. My problem is that there is real confusion about what is a penalty and what is not a penalty, what is recommended and what should not be recommended. And I don’t think I’m the only one in that boat.”
