Tawanda Maswanhise blasted Scottish football’s VAR and says something needs to change, to stop poor decisions impacting on Motherwell.
The Zimbabwean winger reckons 80 per cent of decisions are wrong, and pointed to another in his side’s 2-2 draw with Rangers on Sunday.
Maswanhise says Tony Watt’s goal should have stood, when Rangers keeper Jack Butland punched an Andy Halliday corner into his own net, which would have given Motherwell a 3-1 lead.
It looked like a genuine mistake by the former England keeper, but referee Kevin Clancy ruled it out, and that was backed up by the VAR officials.
Boss Stuart Kettlewell has been vocal about decisions going against his side this season, and Maswanhise backed that up, saying officials got it wrong again.
Maswanhise said: “I thought we deserved more from the game. Referee decisions haven’t gone our way recently but we’ve just got to live with that, and we’ll take the point.
“I haven’t seen it back [Watt’s goal] but it did look soft. Hopefully they can learn from their mistakes, the referees.”
Boss Stuart Kettlewell’s frustration boiled over and he was sent to the stand by Clancy for raging at a decision to book Lennon Miller – with a VAR check on a possible red card dismissed – and for Watt’s disallowed goal.
Maswanhise said: “You can see the passion and frustration [from Kettlewell] that the referees always make in every game, so it is what it is.
“I’m feeling the same, but I can’t really show it as much as them.
“It’s shocking from the referees but we can’t do anything. It’s their decisions at the end of the day.
“It’s VAR, I don’t know what to say about it, but it needs to change for our team.
“I think he [Kettlewell] just told us to leave it out there and don’t get involved with the referee for most of the game, because we’ll lose concentration.
“But they do need to change.
“I feel like it’s going to come in every game, we have to deal with it and it’s a bit of a headache, their decisions, because they are 80 per cent wrong most of the time.
“We can’t change that, but VAR does change it.”
Maswanhise, 22, took his tally to four for the season with a cracking second goal, adding to Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’ opener, and though Rangers fought back to draw 2-2 with an Igamane double, he enjoyed the goal.
The former Leicester City academy starlet took a Lennon Miller knock-down in his stride, turned past James Tavernier and slammed a crisp shot into the bottom right corner.
Maswanhise said: “It’s one I always do in training but it’s a good goal against a good team.
“I’ve always got confidence, whether we’re producing or not you’ve always got to show that talent.
“Hopefully the goal was the first of many and I’m going to enjoy that for the rest of the season.
“I’m adapting to that type of formation, winning aerial balls against bigger opponents, and I’m just getting used to that, so it’s a good thing to add to my game.
“I thought we should have won. All we can do is take the point.”