Willie Collum hits back at Neil Critchley as he praises John Beaton's ‘decisiveness' on Michael Steinwender red card
But he has suggested the decision itself was 'subjective'
NO CHANGE OF HEART Willie Collum hits back at Neil Critchley as he praises John Beaton's 'decisiveness' on Michael Steinwender red card
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WILLIE COLLUM has hit back at Hearts boss Neil Critchley over his Scottish Cup blast at John Beaton.
And the SFA refs' chief insists the whistler got Michael Steinwender's semi-final red card against Aberdeen spot on.
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Willie Collum appeared on the SFA's monthly VAR review show
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He spoke in-depth about the decision to send off Michael Steinwender
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Hearts boss Neil Critchley wasn't happy with the call and Aberdeen went on to win
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
Raging Critch slammed Beaton after the 2-1 loss, saying: 'I've never seen a referee get a red card out quicker in my entire life'.
Collum said: 'The referee faced some criticism due to how quickly he produces the red card.
'But that is down to our coaching.
'When a DOGSO (denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity) situation like this occurs, the referee is asked to consider several elements.
'Control of the ball, direction of the player, distance to the goal, covering defenders and even the speed of the ball.
'The referee needs to make his mind up in a split second and almost take a picture of that incident.
'We tell referees to take their time with certain incidents. In that kind of scenario, never.
'If the referee approaches the incident and starts to weigh everything up, you lose the whole perspective of it.
'We expect referees to immediately make a decision about DOGSO.
'If you are hesitant here, you can easily misjudge this incident.
Ian Murray on the day his Hibs team settled for defeat to Rangers
'This is a crucial decision after 43 minutes of a Scottish Cup semi-final.
'The referee is focused. You hear him say, 'Danger' because he's aware that something might happen and there could be a potential incident like this.
'The VAR is right to support the decision. The player has an unobstructed run towards goal.
'If the Hearts player doesn't make the tackle and commit the foul, the Aberdeen player is in on goal.
'Taking it one step further, if the referee had given a yellow card, we would expect them to recommend an onfield review to change and upgrade it.'
Hearts issued a statement in the days after their Hampden defeat and expressed their fury at a later red card for Cammy Devlin.
But Collum had no issue with Beaton flashing a second yellow to the Aussie midfielder.
He said: 'It's a very subjective decision.
'It's understandable why you could see it as reckless, and I also understand people having another opinion.'
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