Dundee’s introduction to VAR this season has been anything but smooth. Far from it.
Manager Tony Docherty has been unable to contain his fury – and often bafflement – at some of the decisions reached.
Already this campaign, the Dark Blues have been found to have come out on the wrong side of two key VAR errors.
And they themselves have pointed to five penalties conceded in four games before pressing referee chief Crawford Allan for answers.
Then came more VAR controversy at St Mirren on Wednesday night.
Courier Sport looks back over Dundee’s biggest gripes with the technology.
Josh Mulligan red card
This was the first of those as the Dark Blues led at home to Kilmarnock.
Youngster Josh Mulligan made a poor challenge for the ball and was rightly penalised with a foul.
However, referee David Munro went one further by showing a straight red card. And then when VAR suggested he have a second look because there may be a mistake, he stuck to his original decision.
Dundee’s subsequent appeal was rejected by the SFA disciplinary panel but an independent review found the decision to be wrong.
The match would end 2-2 with Dundee netting a late equaliser. Mulligan was suspended for two matches.
Bakayoko goal
The second call to go against Docherty’s side came at Livingston with the score 0-0.
The Dark Blues were dominating at the Tony Macaroni and thought they’d scored a vital opener when Amadou Bakayoko found the corner.
The flag stayed down, but VAR intervened, with Willie Collum going to the monitor to check if Jordan McGhee, in an offside position, had interfered with the goalkeeper’s view.
The whistler ruled he had. The subsequent independent review said that was the wrong decision.
Dundee would go on to win 2-0 anyway that day.
Tynecastle penalty
This decision didn’t receive quite as much scrutiny thanks to Trevor Carson’s brilliant save from the spot.
However, Dundee would have a strong case in arguing VAR overstepped its remit on this one.
Owen Dodgson was adjudged to have pushed Lawrence Shankland over as the Scotland man went for a header.
It was perhaps a naïve decision by a defender to put a hand on the striker, yes, but there is also a big argument to be had whether the incident was a clear and obvious error by the on-field referee.
This would be the first of five penalties awarded against Dundee in just four games, with the Dark Blues disputing four of them.
Livingston penalties
Livi were given two penalties against the Dark Blues last month but were only able to profit from one of them.
Dundee have questioned both. The first was a debatable foul by Luke McCowan on Jason Holt on the edge of the area.
The referee gave a free kick outside, but VAR said it was inside after a lengthy check.
Harry Sharp saved the day for the Dee by denying Andrew Shinnie from the spot.
That was at 1-0. At 2-0, Dodgson was penalised again. This time after stretching to tackle Joel Nouble in the area.
This was another debatable decision – some replays show the striker knocking the ball away, others that Dodgson toed the ball.
Goalkeeper Sharp certainly felt his team-mate put in a good tackle and again Dundee felt aggrieved.
VAR didn’t have a good day that afternoon, with Livingston also putting in a complaint about a Michael Mellon push for Dundee’s third goal.
Ashcroft handball
Handball hadn’t been a major issue for the Dark Blues this season, until Saturday’s defeat to Hearts.
First they had an appeal of their own when a cross struck Beni Baningime on the arm in the area.
Then, with Dundee leading 2-1, Shankland saw an effort on goal blocked by the hand of defender Lee Ashcroft.
There was very little the defender could do. But referee Graham Grainger pointed to the spot immediately.
The VAR check found no error had been made.
Docherty insists the referee should have gone across to the monitor to review his decision.
Hearts went on to score the penalty and win 3-2.
St Mirren handball
Dundee’s handball triple whammy came late on at St Mirren.
They trailed 1-0 after an underwhelming performance, but a big dark blue appeal went up when McCowan’s shot was blocked in the area.
The ball hit a St Mirren arm, no doubt. Dundee players appealed, manager Docherty was booked for protesting.
But referee Steven McLean ruled the Saints player’s arm was in a natural position and VAR agreed.
Once again Docherty insists the referee should have reviewed it on the monitor to be sure.
It all added up to another decision that left Dundee deeply, deeply frustrated with VAR.
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