VAR too many poor referee calls against Derry City for Kevin Holt's liking
KEVIN HOLT is quickly getting used to life in football without VAR but the Derry City defender insists his teammates must ensure the outcome of matches are taken out of the hands of on-field referees.
The former Dundee United centre half has enjoyed the benefit of video assistant referees [VAR] playing in the Scottish Premiership but since his move to League of Ireland he's seen first hand how controversial decisions from the officials are going unchallenged and having an adverse effect on Derry City's early season form.
Carl Winchester will serve a two match suspension after Derry's appeal for wrongful dismissal was rejected by the FAI's Independent Appeal Committee following his harsh sending off against St Patrick's Athletic on Monday night.
Derry lost the game 2-0 after two debatable penalty decisions - the first of which was awarded by the assistant referee who overruled the man in the middle Gavin Colfer despite the match referee initially waving play on when Mason Melia went down under pressure from the retreating Ben Doherty.
The game has been consumed by controversies since the introduction of VAR which often infuriates fans and players with its long-winded checks but no doubt plenty of Derry fans would be in favour of its introduction after some of the below-par officiating at Derry games this season.
It's an unwritten rule in boxing to never let the judges decide the fight and while Holt wasn't advocating for VAR after Monday night's game, his message is clear. The centre half insists Derry must not rely on the referee to get it right and 'win games on our own accord'.
"I thought the red card was harsh," said the Scotsman. "It was early and there were a few tackles like that in the first half and the referee kind of just let them go.
"I've not seen it back but for me, I've come from Scotland where we have VAR so things like that always get looked over and the referees get a second chance but they've not got that chance here. All three big calls going against us didn't help us."
Stephen Bradley has previously called for VAR to be used in the League of Ireland when Shamrock Rovers' title bid hit the skids as Patrick McEleney won a controversial last gasp penalty in the 1-1 draw against Derry at Brandywell last season.
There has been talk of the Irish League potentially getting a streamlined, budget-friendly version, VAR Light, which continues to be developed for smaller leagues involving significantly less cameras [between 4 and 8].
The introduction of VAR in the SPL since 2023 costs over £1.2 million per season and it's unlikely to be used in Ireland anytime soon and so Holt knows players and staff must simply learn to live with these controversial decisions.
"We need to live with their decisions and make sure we take it out of the referees' hands and make sure we win games on our own accord and do it ourselves.
“That's a few bad decisions that have gone against us and it's up to us to sway games and get the ball in the back of the net."
That's all that was missing in the opening 15 minutes of Derry's performance against the Saints as the visitors dominated possession.
"I thought we started really well and carried on from where we left off in the Waterford game which we finished really strongly.
"We dominated the game and it was going to plan without us being too threatening in the final third.
"We couldn't get it to click but we were definitely controlling large parts of it before the penalty came and then obviously the red card makes it an uphill battle for us.
"Without being too creative we were dominating the game and that's what the plan was, to come here and dominate the ball and impose ourselves on other teams in the league. They didn't cut us open which is frustrating when you come away from a game losing 2-0 after two penalties."
It's not been the start to his Derry career that he would've envisaged when making his deadline day move to Foyleside from Tannadice after back-to-back defeats in the space of four days.
Holt, however, is confident this Derry team can quickly turn the tide.
"You're disappointed but you just have to move on to Friday and spin that on its head and get results. I see every day the quality the boys have in training.
"We need to obviously turn that into results on matchdays.
"It's a great group of boys but they're all disappointed and desperate to put it right on Friday.
"It's not an ideal start but we know where we want to be and there's enough experience in there to drive the standards and make sure we get to where we want to go." He enjoyed his Brandywell debut against Waterford last week despite the result and he's looking forward to getting another taste of it against Galway.
"It was great. The place was packed out and noisy. It's not the biggest of stadiums.
"Coming over from Scotland where there's a few big ones but it was noisy and great to play in.
"It's just people who love the club and as a player you can't ask for much more than to go out and try your very, very best for people who love the club and want to see everyone trying.
"You can't beat that winning feeling and winning breeds confidence so going forward this season we need to put a run of wins together, build a bit of momentum and see where it takes us,” added the Scotsman.