Hibs boss Lee Johnson takes aim at VAR ahead of cinch Premiership restart as he makes 'time-wasting' claim

Hibs manager Lee Johnson has hit out at VAR again, insisting he hasn’t enjoyed it so far following its introduction in October.

The Easter Road boss has voiced his displeasure with the length of time taken for decisions to be made, as well as the minutiae of offside calls, with the 41-year-old describing one ruling against his team as ‘offside by a knee-hair’.

“I hope it settles down, I’ve not enjoyed it. I know we have been on the wrong end but it’s taken away a little bit of the thing I love about football,” Johnson said ahead of Thursday’s cinch Premiership trip to face Rangers at Ibrox.

“I really hope that changes because I don’t want to not be in love with football on the touchline. It’s taken away that feeling of celebration, I love jumping on my mates, my staff, just like any fan would, because of how hard we and our players work. I don’t feel I can do that because I don’t trust it at the moment. I want to trust it and I know the media were presented with the percentiles from the referees association. But there’s a bit to do in my eyes.”

Lee Johnson has hit out at VAR once again

The amount of added time added on during the 2022 World Cup has provided another bone of contention for Johnson, who has already voiced his irritation at teams resorting to what he feels is underhand tactics to slow matches down – and the Hibs boss wants greater clarity over how added-on time is decided.

"I think it’s too easy to kill the flow of a game. As a manager that wants flow I can be left frustrated with opposition tactics and then not getting the minutes back. Particularly if you go a goal down. Sometimes it plays in your favour.

"I’d like a clock somewhere that tells you 60 minutes or 65 minutes then everybody knows and it kills that time-wasting tactic. I’d like someone to be accountable to the added time and present it on the score board. Sometimes you wonder how they’ve got to the random number of minutes. I think it should be public knowledge because it would make the game all the more understandable to the fans.”