Willie Collum and his True Blue VAR agenda

The latest edition of the VAR Review starring Willie Collum was driven entirely by the moon howlers from Ibrox.

Since Celtic’s victory in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden the Gullible & Deluded have been screaming CONSPIRACY. With the help of Gordon Duncan and Sky Sports, Collum delivered a show tailored to their agenda.

Social media, fan media and old school legacy media have all been screaming the same message since a yellow card was shown to Auston Trusty.

THE FIRST EVER HEAD INJURY?

The same punishment given to Steven Fletcher in August 2022 when he kicked Joe Hart in the head. After lengthy treatment Hart continued with stitches in his head and a heavy bandage. Steven McLean was the referee, he was also on VAR duty at Hampden. There was no VAR at the time of the Tannadice match, there was no media outcry about Fletcher continuing while Hart had stitches in his head.

Four Hampden incidents were reviewed- four were ignored.

There was no explanation over the VAR lines used to disallow Nicky Raskin’s own goal. No coverage of Mohamed Diomande kneeing towards a grounded Johnny Kenny. Nothing on Mikey Moore bundling Reo Hatate over in the penalty box. Nothing on Derek Cornelius handing a cut back from Michel-Ange Balikwisha.

DALLAS & MCLEAN

That would have made for uncomfortable viewing. Showing up McLean and Andrew Dallas on VAR duty. They both have lengthy crime sheets. Hampden added to it, no doubt they will have many more. As Collum, the SFA, legacy media and sadly the Celtic board look the other way.

Michael Nicholson won’t dare ask any awkward questions when he is rubbing his hands at hosting three Glasgow Derbies between January and September. The fixture he craves so much he tried to export in to Sydney.

Silence is not golden. Watch how decisions go in the coming weeks. McLean and Dallas denied Celtic one goal, two penalties and at least one red card against Danny Rohl’s side.

Yet since the match a fortnight the narrative has all been driven from Ibrox. They’ve had one meeting with the SFA and are demanding another. They have even cited a 2-1 verdict from the Kangaroo court of the KMI panel as further evidence.

The excuse given by Gordon Duncan for ignoring this penalty incident on his radio show was that TV didn’t highlight it and it slipped under the radar (even though Nick Walsh DID highlight it) what is the excuse for the VAR review not discussing it? https://t.co/IXEMLq10aK

— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) November 14, 2025

HATATE EMBARGO?

That extra-time barge into Hatate was ignored by Premier Sports. Butland kept play moving, there was no VAR check, no replays from Premier Sports. No post match outcry.

Only a few Celtic social media accounts highlighted the incident. A caller to Super Scoreboard on the Tuesday mentioned it. Gordon Duncan moved on, not the sort of incident that he’d want to highlight or dive into. Not with his star rising at Sky Sports and the SFA.

On the Thursday, four days after the match the incident reached the Daily Record. Two days after Bobby Madden and his seven friends had been given space to share their anger at the miscarriage of justice.

After John Beaton and David Dickinson there aren’t any match officials more staunch than Dallas and McLean. They have track records going back more than 10 years.

TARGETS

They haven’t been targeted as much match referee Nick Walsh and Collum. It isn’t difficult to join the dots.

Celtic’s silence has been matched by that of the SFA.

Ian Maxwell has been drawn into VAR related incidents previously, he seems to have taken a vow of silence on this one.

While one club squeals about the level of punishment given to Trusty four other incidents didn’t even merit a mention on Collum’s VAR Review.

Only Celtic fans are raising those issues. The authorities and legacy media have no appetite to go near it. It would distract from the narrative that Celtic benefitted from decisions to reach the League Cup Final.

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