Ange Postecoglou puts Celtic player contract talks on ice and writes off VAR as cure to referee controversy

Ange Postecoglou believes the clamour to get Scottish referee’s mic’d up won’t be the magic bullet to bring sanity back to our game.

The Celtic boss dismissed a growing demand to trial the technology and insisted respect for match officials always falls on deaf ears even if they are allowed to communicate decisions on the pitch. After the fall-out from last weekend’s Old Firm clash saw whistler Kevin Clancy subject to death threats and a torrent of on-line abuse, Postecoglou is adamant he’s already written off VAR as a cure to controversy and it’s not always good to talk.

He said: “It is not going to change anything. You either respect officialdom or you don’t – it is quite simple. Everyone thought VAR was the answer and as we have seen quite clearly it is not. It doesn’t diminish or eliminate debate. When so many or our laws come down to opinion, as they do just now, then you are always going to get debate. But that should always be kept respectful and kept in context of everything else that happens in a game of football.”

Celtic’s relentless pursuit of the title has opened up the chance to surpass the record set in the Brendan Rodgers era of 106 points with the world record sitting at 108 and Postecoglou admits it’s a motivation but his full attention is on banking another three against Kilmarnock this afternoon.

He said: “When you are having the kind of season we are having then those kinds of things come into play. Not least because when you start to get closer, everyone mentions them.

“But you also know that all of it will become irrelevant unless we can pick up three points against Kilmarnock on Sunday. As monotonous and as mundane as that sounds, it is the only way you get to achieve anything.

“You have to take it