Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

JIM SPENCE: Dundee United star’s red card shows how VAR will force robust players to adapt or face consequences

Hearts' Andy Halliday complains about a tackle by Dundee United's Ryan Edwards at Tynecastle. Image: Ross Parker/SNS
Hearts' Andy Halliday complains about a tackle by Dundee United's Ryan Edwards at Tynecastle. Image: Ross Parker/SNS

I wasn’t surprised that Dundee United lost their appeal against Ryan Edwards’ red card against Hearts.

It crystallised something I’ve increasingly thought since VAR’s introduction; that players now need to be much smarter in winning the ball, rather than using the traditional meaty challenge beloved of fans.

Despite both managers agreeing the card was harsh, Edwards will miss two games, including this week’s Scottish Cup tie v Kilmarnock.

I think increasingly, many players will need to tailor their game to jockey, badger and hustle opponents more than make full-blooded contact, unless absolutely imperative.

I saw a very similar red card in Serie A in the Sassuolo game the night after Butcher’s dismissal, when Atalanta had Mæhle sent off on 30 minutes for dangerous play.

A tackle where the ball is won but the follow through catches the opponent now, more than ever, runs the risk of being nabbed as serious foul play by using excessive force and it’s always going to attract the referee’s attention.

That’s because, as we saw with ref Nick Walsh initially playing the game on, but then having his attention called to the matter, VAR then gave him several extra bites at the cherry in deciding the United man’s fate.

It’s not worth giving officials the opportunity to enjoy several reviews of an incident.

Multiple angles

Edwards’ challenge was ten yards inside Hearts half and losing possession there shouldn’t have proven fatal, with plenty of opportunities to win the ball back.

I think players now need to be much cuter and more circumspect in how and where they try to dispossess opponents.

Where once refs got perhaps only a glancing look at a tackle, they can now dwell on multiple angles of replays on the monitor, and any dubiety which might’ve existed before VAR, when they only had a cursory glimpse has ,now gone.

This will change the way more robust players approach the game and they’ll need to adapt or face the obvious consequences.


Dundee could’ve done without a draining 120 minutes and penalties in their SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final. 

At this stage, maintaining physical and mental energy levels and fitness for the task of winning promotion is their only target.

Clubs are professionally obliged to insist all games are important, but some are more crucial than others and Sunday’s league fixture against Cove is in that category.

This season’s Championship is tighter than a ducks rear end, so it’s crucial that Bowyer’s men are fully focussed on bagging every available point.

Dundee boss Gary Bowyer. Image: SNS.

I think the manager’s judicious strengthening in the window will pay dividends come the season’s end but, with Queens Park four points ahead of Dundee, every point is gold-dust.

In beating Owen Coyle’s promotion rivals at Dens recently, the pace and punch shown by Gary Bowyer’s team, particularly in the second half, was impressive, but drawing at Hamilton undid some of their good work.

In adding to their strike force Dundee’s Championship credentials look seriously reinforced.

There are now no further calls on their focus except league business, so everyone – including new signings – must step up to the plate fully concentrated on the big prize of promotion.

Conversation