NafisaMartin O’Neill has branded two of Scotland’s leading referees as absolutely crap!
A week ago there were several controversial moments during Celtic’s 2-1 victory away to Hibs.
David Dickinson officiated the game while Don Robertson handled VAR duties from Clydesdale House.
Dickinson has taken charge of 20 SPFL Premiership fixtures this season, with Robertson overseeing two more on the pitch.
When they are not refereeing matches directly, they are often found operating inside the VAR room.
Out of the six Glasgow Derbies played this season, Robertson has refereed two. Nick Walsh takes charge of his second today, while Steven McLean and John Beaton handled the others.
O’Neill said little immediately after the Easter Road clash, but criticism surrounding the officiating has continued to build throughout the week.
O’NEILL STEPS UP CRITICISM OF DICKINSON AND ROBERTSON
In an interview with Celtic TV on Wednesday, he questioned several of the calls made during the game.
Then during Friday’s broadcast media conference, he singled out assistant referee Douglas Ross for flagging Daizen Maeda offside despite being four yards behind the play.
That was one of two first-half decisions eventually overturned by VAR.
Celtic supporters were furious over Joe Newell’s equaliser, with the ball appearing to strike his arm twice before crossing the line. Later in the match, a clear push on Ben Nygren inside the box was not reviewed by VAR.
O’Neill also held separate interviews with daily and Sunday newspapers on Friday afternoon. Later that same day, the SFA’s KMI panel ruled a penalty should have been awarded for the challenge on Nygren.
The Celtic manager did not hold back when discussing the officiating controversy with the Sunday papers.
The Sun reports O’Neill saying:
“To tell you the truth, I thought they were pretty crap really.
I hadn’t realised how bad the foul was when the boy pushed Benjamin Nygren over.
It was a definite penalty.
At the Hibs goal, the boy admitted to everybody in the aftermath of the game that he handled it.
Now he’s wheedling out of it. He’s saying, ‘I’m not sure whether I handled it’.
Well, either you did or you didn’t.
But it looked pretty clear that there was a handball.
I spoke to Willie. I’ve never done this, honestly.
This time I made up my mind and phoned, just to see what his thoughts were on it.
If the referee had disallowed the goal for handball, then VAR couldn’t have overturned it.
But the push on Nygren was an absolute definite penalty.
People say, and I’m sure it is true, that it’s over the whole season.
But now that it’s got down to three games, or four games as it was in the time, you might as well try and get the decisions right if you can.”
Under normal circumstances, those remarks could potentially leave O’Neill facing disciplinary action from the SFA.
His spell at Celtic is officially set to end in two weeks’ time following the Scottish Cup Final on May 23.
Attention will now shift towards Walsh at Celtic Park today, with Beaton overseeing VAR responsibilities.
On Friday, O’Neill also sat down with Sky Sports News, although there was no mention of the controversy surrounding the Hibs match during that interview.
Nafisa
