Former Manchester City defender Mick McCarthy has labelled the VAR officials during the game between Liverpool and Tottenham at the weekend as ‘clowns’ for erroneously ruling out a goal by Luis Diaz.

Despite the two-time Republic of Ireland manager’s disgust at the decisions made against Liverpool, he does believe a replay should take place, saying ‘that’s football’.

McCarthy played for Manchester City between the years of 1983 and 1987 – he made 140 appearances for the Sky Blues during this period, scoring two goals.

What did former Manchester City player Mick McCarthy say regarding the VAR decisions at the weekend?

On the VAR decisions at the weekend, McCarthy said [via William Hill]: “I think the VAR were wearing makeup, and had red noses on, because they were clowns on Saturday. I am pretty unforgiving, but what would you be thinking coming away from that game if that had happened to your team?

“I would never forgive them. I would be fuming for the rest of the season and every time I saw them, I would let them know. That was an easy decision. I want to listen to their discussion, that would be interesting.

“I felt for Simon Hooper after the match. I like Simon and I think he’s a good referee but he’s getting the blame for what happened in that game even though it wasn’t his fault.

“I thought he got his own decisions right and I was surprised at some of the comments made about him. The VAR has let Simon Hooper down and he is the one getting pelters for it.”

Does McCarthy think there should be a replay?

On the possibility of a replay, McCarthy stated: “I think the statement Liverpool put out was just to appease the fanbase, because they can explore all the options they want – nothing is going to change.

“So many times decisions have gone against teams and there’s nothing you can do, the game is over and it isn’t going to be replayed. It would be ridiculous if it was because then they’d be replaying games everywhere. You have to accept the decision, as tough as it might be. You get some for you and some against you – that’s football!

“We’re talking about things that simply happen in football, that have been happening for years. Sir Geoff Hurst might have only had two goals if VAR had been around. It’s been going on since 1966 and we’re talking about it despite all the technology we now have in the game.”