The Scottish Premiership title race took an almighty twist last night as Nottingham Forest legend Martin O’Neill saw his Celtic side enjoy a huge slice of luck.
O’Neill is looking to win another SPL title with the Hoops, and now, Saturday’s game with Hearts is essentially a title decider.
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The European Cup-winning Forest legend is back at Celtic Park, where he’s also a hero, and remarkably, Celtic can still save their season and win the title.
After last night’s VAR decision that went in Celtic’s favour, some comments O’Neill made during his time at Forest in 2019 look extra significant.
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Martin O’Neill said in 2019 that VAR would be good for the game
O’Neill made his comments after a 2-2 draw for Forest with West Brom, a game where Dwight Gayle dived to win a last-minute penalty for the hosts.
He believed that VAR would be good for the game when all the little gremlins were ironed out, and it was used more consistently.
At the time, he told Nottinghamshire Live: “I will be a fan of VAR. We had a bit of fun with it in Russia. But I think that when they iron out all the little gremlins – and I think they will – I believe it will improve things.
“People are talking about how long it takes; about people celebrating a goal, perhaps, and then finding out that it’s not a goal. That happens anyway.
“If they improve the quality – and it was a learning process in the World Cup – it will be a good thing, when it comes to the Premier League next season.”
Celtic decision is a disgrace to VAR
If you thought Forest had been on the wrong end of some shocking VAR decisions, then this one in Scotland last night topped anything we’ve ever seen in England.
Seven years on, and VAR is still no closer to being the consistent game-changing tool that the powers that be would anticipate when it was rolled out.
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O’Neill was adamant after last night that his Celtic team had been on the right end of the decision, which he was bound to say and now all eyes are on Saturday.
Some Forest fans who remember O’Neill in his pomp might take some satisfaction in the legend winning another title to go with his growing collection.
However, it seems likely that most football fans will be rooting for Hearts on the back of this decision and given that it’s been so long since anyone broke the Old Firm dominance.
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