Stand-in Celtic captain admits decisions could cost the Parkhead club

The Scottish champions’ manager Brendan Rodgers was incensed when Don Robertson upgraded the yellow card he had shown Celtic winger Yang Hyun-jun for a foul on Hearts wing back Alex Cochrane to a red after being urged to watch a replay on his pitchside monitor by his VAR colleague John Beaton.

He was also incensed that Robertson awarded the home team a penalty for a Tomoki Iwata handball just before half-time after being alerted to the potential offence by Beaton and hit out at the “incompetence” of match officials in an outburst which looks set to result in SFA disciplinary action.  

However, centre half Carter-Vickers, who donned the skipper’s armband in the absence of his injured team mate Callum McGregor, agrees completely with Rodgers and asked why a referee needs to look back at a flashpoint which he has witnessed.

READ MORE: Celtic boss Rodgers facing SFA charge after Beaton blast

“You can debate whether it was a red card or not, but, for me, the ref has seen it live,” he said. “He has a clear view of it and he gives a yellow card. So for him to change it when he goes to the monitor? I’m not sure that’s right.

“As we all know, when images are slowed down they can look a lot worse. I would like the referee to stick with his original decision, especially when he had a clear view of it first time around.

“If a referee has seen it first time around clearly, I don’t understand why there is a need for him to go to a monitor at all. If he hasn’t seen it, if he has only seen it through bodies or if he hasn’t had a good angle, then that is that fair enough.

“But in that scenario (the Yang challenge on Cochrane) he had a great view of it first time around and he gave a yellow card. I just don’t understand it. Not just in that case, in any case. Once a referee has seen it clearly, there is no need for him to have a second look in my opinion.”

Asked for his opinion on the Iwata handball call, the defender said: “I don’t think a single player on the pitch knew who had handballed it. I think most people on the pitch thought it was Ali, Ali Johnston, who handballed it. Obviously it wasn’t, it was Tomo.

“But when you are jumping for the ball, your arms naturally come up. On top of that, there is a lot of pushing and shoving that goes on which can move your body and make it seem like it moves in the direction of the ball when you never meant to do it.”

Celtic lodged an appeal against the Yang red card yesterday and are hopeful the South Korean winger will be available to play against Livingston in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final at Parkhead on Sunday afternoon.

They have also written to the SFA expressing their concerns over the use of VAR in the Hearts match.  

Carter-Vickers acknowledged the decisions which went against the Glasgow club in Gorgie could ultimately prove costly in the Scottish title race – but he knows that he and his team mates have to put their frustration behind them and concentrate fully on the matches they have coming up in both the league and the cup.

READ MORE: Scottish referees group hits out at 'disproportionate' criticism

“They could do,” he said. “But we can’t let our focus go on to that. We have just got to focus on our own performance. That is all we can focus on. As long as we keep improving and getting better we will be alright.

“It was obviously difficult on Sunday. It was disappointing that we didn’t get the result that we wanted to. But, all in all, I think we can be proud of the performance that we gave. We created a lot of chances, even when we went down to 10 men.

“So, yeah, I think there are a lot of positives that we can take from it. Whether we won that game or not, what we have to do for the rest of the season is pretty clear. We will just focus on that.”

“It is always difficult when you have a player sent off You are naturally going to lose a bit of control of the game. I thought for large parts we were probably the team that created the better chances. We have just got to have faith that if we keep doing that then we will pick up the results that we want.”

The United States internationalist was frustrated that his side failed to capitalise on Rangers’ defeat against Motherwell at Ibrox the day before and return to the top of the Premiership table. However, he fully expects there to be more unexpected results in the weeks ahead.  

Asked if thought there would be more twists and turns in the run-in, Carter-Vickers said: “One hundred per cent. We have also got to play each other twice. Clearly nothing is done yet. For us it is about focusing on ourselves and what we can control and trying to be the best versions of ourselves that we can.”

The former Spurs man knows that McGregor, who is sidelined with an Achilles issue until after the international break later this month, will be a huge loss for Celtic. However, he was impressed with how Paulo Bernardo acquitted himself in the centre of the park against Hearts and is hopeful Celtic can maintain their title push without their captain.

READ MORE: Celtic appeal Yang red card as club voices VAR concerns

“Paulo has played quite a bit so he is ready to go,” he said. “Tomo has been playing really well in the last few games when he has been in and obviously Matty (O’Riley) has been one of our best players all season. So, yeah, I think we have got the players to cope.”

The £6m signing has vowed to fill the huge void left by McGregor in the pre-match Huddle.  “I always like to view myself maybe as a leader even though I don’t necessarily use that word,” he said.

“Obviously I have my opinion on things. I think I am pretty good at bringing perspective to positive and negative situations. That is how I kind of see my role within the team. Other players have different characters. I think it is a good blend of characters that we have. As a group, we manage things and we control things.”