St Mirren⚫️⚪️ v Partick Thistle 🔴🟡

[jaggy]

7 hours ago, laukat said:

Game was ruined by that VAR decision. There is no part of it that makes sense.

What really worried me was that VAR must have insisted to the ref that he had to stop the game rather than wait for a break in play. By doing that they have already pretty much made the ref's decision for him. If he goes to the monitor and doesn't give a penalty then how does he do that without making his colleagues in the VAR room look like fools? How does he restart when we were in an attacking position without disadvantaging us? Also the images VAR chooses to show the ref are the ones that look to support the award, VAR was very much arguing for an award not asking the ref to review.

I was behind the goal and could see in real time that it didn't cross anyone's mind that it was a penalty. Conversely watched this and thought it was a stonewaller. How is this not worse than Crawford's and not worth the referee going to the monitor?

There were many other handball incidents during the game and it just appeared as though the ref was guessing every time. If VAR is going to work they need to let the crowd listen to the VAR conversation as per rugby

We played well. Ashcroft was superb and generally we didn't have a failure. Only thing that didn't work was Fitzy in the number 10 slot, he just seemed to run into traffic and doesn't really have the eye for the pass that's needed there. We missed Chalmers and in general were a bit light on bodies. Throwing on Turner and Diack was really likely to create much more.

That’s a clear penalty anytime if you ask me, shot on target & arm away from the body. It glass a direct impact. 
 

The only way FIFA and the IFB can sort out the handball law in the area and even outside is make every handball an infringement. At the moment it’s open to the discretion of Ref’s and VAR which leads to inconsistent decisions. Also maybe only from the elbow or short sleeve line down? At least that way every player knows the law

[elevenone]

44 minutes ago, jaggy said:

If it was Greg Aitken I’m sure he was the VAR man at Dingwall. Just saying 🙄

Another very dodgy penalty 

Was him.  🤔

[CotterJag]

9 hours ago, Fawlty Towers said:

Gogic was close to being offside.

[Aliballibee]

10 hours ago, Fawlty Towers said:

For the taking of the penalty was Gogic inside the box before the taker struck the ball, not the best angle on the highlights but would not shock me if he was and the officials did not bother?

I thought this too but was directed to a change in the law, namely 14.2:

a team-mate of the player taking the penalty kick is penalised for encroachment only if:

• the encroachment clearly impacted on the goalkeeper; or
• the encroaching player plays the ball or challenges an opponent for the ball and then scores, attempts to score or creates a goal-scoring opportunity
  
  Since neither of these happened then no "offence" committed (sadly). 

[Fawlty Towers]

9 minutes ago, Aliballibee said:

I thought this too but was directed to a change in the law, namely 14.2:

a team-mate of the player taking the penalty kick is penalised for encroachment only if:

• the encroachment clearly impacted on the goalkeeper; or
• the encroaching player plays the ball or challenges an opponent for the ball and then scores, attempts to score or creates a goal-scoring opportunity
  
  Since neither of these happened then no "offence" committed (sadly). 

I stand corrected, next thing will be making it an offence to barge the keeper over the line when they have the ball in their hands!

[exiledjag]

12 hours ago, delurker said:

Somebody Aitken, I think.

Ah! Then provided there is only one VAR official with the name of Aitken then he is the same Aitken who was the VAR official at the infamous Ross County game a few seasons ago.

This is starting to smell of an ongoing conspiracy against the Jags carried into last night's game - a controversial penalty given against and a blatant handball, the result of an out-stretched arm, not given or even queried!!

[exiledjag]

10 hours ago, Thistle_1876 said:

£110k and £24k for it being on TV so £134k in total.

Thank you.

[Winter of '63]

4 hours ago, jaggy said:

If it was Greg Aitken I’m sure he was the VAR man at Dingwall. Just saying 🙄

Another very dodgy penalty 

All three VAR decisions went against us at Dingwall including the foul on Ross Docherty in the box which was apparently the only time in the entire season when the referee was called over to review a decision but maintained his on-field call. 

I'm not against VAR in principle if it's about getting decisions correct and avoiding those clear and obvious errors but clarity  on the handball rule from it's not a penalty when the ball comes off another part of the player's body except sometimes would be a step forward.

[thistle4celtic1]

For 100 years the "rule" of ball played the hand versus the hand played the ball got it right 95% of the time.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[thistle4celtic1]

13 hours ago, Fawlty Towers said:

For the taking of the penalty was Gogic inside the box before the taker struck the ball, not the best angle on the highlights but would not shock me if he was and the officials did not bother?

I thought he was in the box too.

Couldn't one argue that by being in the box he distracted the goalie?

If not, what's to stop players (from either team) lining up inside the box before the ball is kicked?

[exiledjag]

10 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

To be fair, M'Lady, I think that everybody on here who criticises VAR are in fact criticising the officials and their--let's be circumspect and say "idiosyncratic" --interpretation of what the machine objectively shows. The way it is being used clearly exposes occurrences of selective attention, inattention, inconsistent decisions, and biased interpretation.

The system is not fit for purpose, and it should be dropped.

Agreed.

VAR is about  the officials who apply the equipment and how they do this. By drawing the referee's attention to the Crawford incident and not to the St Mirren hand ball demonstrates the partial and not the impartial application of the VAR process.

This is down to the VAR Official and the people who make these appointment.

With regard to last night I agree with Jaggernaut's comments that "officials know exactly what they are doing".

It is also difficult to accept as coincidental that the appointment  of the VAR Official for last night's game, with similar controversial outcomes,  was the same official who was appointed to the Ross County game. 

According to Tom English who reported the Dingwall game the Jags travelled South afterwards with an acute and justified  feeling of injustice (not an exact quote)

 I think we can say the same after last night.

[Thistle_1876]

11 hours ago, exiledjag said:

Thank you.

That obviously does not include gate receipts made through the competition but don't think that will be a massive amount given the three attendances after it has been split.

[allyo]

23 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

I'm not defending VAR but surely the two biggest culprits last night were the two officials that thought that was a penalty? VAR is only a machine, it's not responsible for incompetence. It's easy to say that had there been no VAR there would've been no penalty. But had there been competent decision making there's no way there would've been a penalty either.

 

I'll always push back against any claim that "it's not VAR that's the problem, its the people using it", though I do accept that last night it was both.

The existence of VAR places additional pressure on always getting things consistent and correct, in a sport that has always been largely subjective in its interpretation of rules. Effectively, you can have a go at refereeing traditional football at full speed; you can't referee it in slow motion, backwards, freeze frame etc. There are too many grey areas. It's not like tennis, for example (though goal line tech us fine). "Clear and obvious" doesn't wash, because that's a subjective line. If you're 80% sure the referee is wrong, do you over-rule? You're not 100%, but you'll get crucified by the media if you let it go.

Officials are made to look stupid by its existence. Often they dont help themselves. But I don't see that you can point generally to incompetence, when officials in every league everywhere are struggling. That doesn't excuse a decision like Sunday, which was shockingly bad.

Add to that, you can't celebrate a goal. It's totally rubbish.

However, I don't go for any accusations of bias. I don't see why Ross County or St Mirren would be favoured over us. We're as big a club. We've just been unfortunate to be on the wrong end of some really bad decisions.

[Lithgae Jag]

2 hours ago, allyo said:

I'll always push back against any claim that "it's not VAR that's the problem, its the people using it", though I do accept that last night it was both.

The existence of VAR places additional pressure on always getting things consistent and correct, in a sport that has always been largely subjective in its interpretation of rules. Effectively, you can have a go at refereeing traditional football at full speed; you can't referee it in slow motion, backwards, freeze frame etc. There are too many grey areas. It's not like tennis, for example (though goal line tech us fine). "Clear and obvious" doesn't wash, because that's a subjective line. If you're 80% sure the referee is wrong, do you over-rule? You're not 100%, but you'll get crucified by the media if you let it go.

Officials are made to look stupid by its existence. Often they dont help themselves. But I don't see that you can point generally to incompetence, when officials in every league everywhere are struggling. That doesn't excuse a decision like Sunday, which was shockingly bad.

Add to that, you can't celebrate a goal. It's totally rubbish.

However, I don't go for any accusations of bias. I don't see why Ross County or St Mirren would be favoured over us. We're as big a club. We've just been unfortunate to be on the wrong end of some really bad decisions.

Both teams were in the Premier League though. The penalty decision on Sunday was not by any stretch the only strange one made. For example, Gogic’s blatant handball and the foul by Fraser, who had to go off after injuring himself, are only two of the decisions that weren’t made by the referee.

As has been said frequently incompetence seems to only happen in one direction.

Edited March 10 by Lithgae Jag
Added further comments.

[laukat]

I find the standard and general direction of refereeing in this country to be going in a worrying direction.

I've seen a lot of youth football games where the ref doesn't have linesman god forbid VAR. The older generation of referees (over 50) tend to be better as they know how to talk to the players and will be honest will players in saying that they will make mistakes but he has to give the decision as he see's it. Had a ref a few weeks ago that gave a couple of decisions against us but the guy was more than happy to talk us through it and I left with no quibbles and was one of the best refs I've dealt with.

However the younger generation appear to me to be so aimed at not making a mistake that when they do they whole game gets on top of them. They appear to have lost the ability to talk to players and coaches (also parents). If they aren't learning that skill in youth football when are they?

I would much prefer if after a game the referee would take questions on their performance and provide their view. I'm more than willing to listen to a ref that says 'this is what I saw thats why I made that decision, if I has seen what you saw then I might have done differently' but not being open to that level of discussion just gives the impression they believe they haven't made any or want to hide and not improve.

Rugby referees are clearly coached on what language they use to explain decisions because they expect to have to explain it to the players and when on VAR they know the public can hear their rational. I don't understand why we don't mike refs and VAR officials and equally coach them on how explain their decisions

[The Thistle Archive]

A goal of the season contender as consolation. In this week's 'Stats Watch' we learn that Mark Roberts (2005-06) and Ben Stanway (2025-26) are the only 2 Jags in history to score in 3 same-season away ties in the Scottish Cup...

St Mirren archived →

[a f kincaid]

Hypothetical perhaps but what would have happened if the VAR people had taken a few more seconds than the 32 they did take to speak to the ref, but in the meantime "T" had run on and scored?

[Duke Gekantawa]

19 minutes ago, a f kincaid said:

Hypothetical perhaps but what would have happened if the VAR people had taken a few more seconds than the 32 they did take to speak to the ref, but in the meantime "T" had run on and scored?

The Thistle "goal" is disallowed and penalty awarded to St. Mirren. This has happened before (more than once).

[laukat]

26 minutes ago, a f kincaid said:

Hypothetical perhaps but what would have happened if the VAR people had taken a few more seconds than the 32 they did take to speak to the ref, but in the meantime "T" had run on and scored?

It would arguably have been easier if we had of scored and then VAR interjects. At that point either the ref is giving a penalty or confirming the goal. Any break of play would have been preferable as its either penalty or a goal-kick, throw-in etc. We were on the attack with St Mirren not set as a defence how does the referee restart the game if he doesn't award the penalty without penalising us?

Stopping the game before a natural break in play really only makes sense if VAR is saying its a definite penalty. If so that means the VAR official refereed that part of the game. David Dickinson going to the monitor was really just a bit of performance art.

[Jaggernaut]

I meant to mention this earlier: we played two beautifully worked corners (maybe more, as I've only seen highlights): the first one when Stanway hit the post, and then the one where he scored. Both were top notch, looked like well -rehearsed moves.

[jags on tour]

Robinson now in talks with the Dons, just shows you how big a win is, vs the famous Jags. Hopefully the Buddies don’t come knocking for Wilson!

[Albert's Ghost]

20 minutes ago, jags on tour said:

Robinson now in talks with the Dons, just shows you how big a win is, vs the famous Jags. Hopefully the Buddies don’t come knocking for Wilson!

Why would Wilson forego life in the top tier?

[sandy]

On 3/9/2026 at 9:35 PM, exiledjag said:

Ah! Then provided there is only one VAR official with the name of Aitken then he is the same Aitken who was the VAR official at the infamous Ross County game a few seasons ago.

This is starting to smell of an ongoing conspiracy against the Jags carried into last night's game - a controversial penalty given against and a blatant handball, the result of an out-stretched arm, not given or even queried!!

Maybe Aitken was just preserving the status quo by keeping St Mirren Suite?

[New Jersey Jag]

Silence has been deafening, regarding an explanation from the VAR officials about the penalty decision.  Another failure of responsibility to provide a justification. I guess the procedure is to count to 100 and hope that any focus on them moves somewhere else.  You couldn't make up how amateurish this is. 

[JeanieD]

2 hours ago, New Jersey Jag said:

Silence has been deafening, regarding an explanation from the VAR officials about the penalty decision.  Another failure of responsibility to provide a justification. I guess the procedure is to count to 100 and hope that any focus on them moves somewhere else.  You couldn't make up how amateurish this is. 

Absolutely agree - all the attention has been focused on the antics at Ibrox so no need to bother with any football related going-ons elsewhere..