Hibs' Josh Campbell has his say on VAR and opens up on relationship with refs

Hibs' Josh Campbell says he has a good relationship with referees.

The technology makes its debut in Scottish football when Hibs host St Johnstone in the cinch Premiership, with all eyes on whether it will be required to judge on a contentious call.

Like all footballers in this country, Campbell has watched games in England and on the continent with VAR and has had his enjoyment of football diluted somewhat by the stop-start nature of it.

"Not really, if I'm honest with you,” Campbell answered when asked if he likes VAR. “Not when I'm watching it, but I can understand why it is getting brought into the game. It'll help the officials massively for those big decisions. Obviously you're maybe angry if it goes against you, but if it goes with you, you'll be over the moon. There will always be debate. The wee things will get brought up when there are cameras everywhere, so you've just got to be that extra-bit cautious. The final decision will be made from wherever the VAR room is and when the official gives it, that's it, you can't do anything about it.

Campbell, who has been a regular starter for Scotland this season, says he gets on well with referees, but thinks the relationship between players and officials will get stronger with VAR. “I get on quite well with the referees,” he said. “I'm quite friendly. I call them by their names, they call me by my name, I feel we have a good relationship. You can get a few bits of banter – I'm not going to say some of the things that are said on the pitch – but it's good. I think it will [help the relationship]. Obviously there will be that timescale between decisions, but you just need to deal with it, it's the way the world is moving.”

Campbell knows how big a match it is for Hibs, who lost 6-1 to Celtic at the weekend. “What a game to be back, under the lights in front of a big crowd, with the new technology. It's nothing short of three points for us,” he added.