Ex-Premier League referee swipes at Celtic coach as Ange Postecoglou fumes at unexpected development
Celtic can have little complaint about having not been awarded a penalty all season, according to Keith Hackett.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee claimed there have been no major controversial penalty decisions that have gone against Celtic and the handball shout in the 4-3 win over Hearts on Saturday (22 October) was not a clear and obvious error.
The Hoops wanted a penalty when a James Forrest pass appeared to hit the arm of defender Michael Smith but Nick Walsh waved away their appeals and VAR did not intervene.
As quoted by Glasgow Live after the game, Ange Postecoglou pointed out that his side have not been awarded a spot-kick all season as he suggested VAR will not sort out the perceived refereeing problems in Scotland.
“The scenario often is that the teams that attack are the ones that get offences against them in the penalty area,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“You can look through the statistics and say what’s possession in the penalty area and what are the scenarios?
“I can say I’m surprised but then I’ve not seen any major foul-ups by referees. You can only make a decision if an offence has taken place and in their view, no offence has taken place.
“On the one at Hearts, it’s a scenario that makes you ask, what is a clear and obvious error?
“It’s an easy throwaway line. There are all sorts of statistics. The manager can get fed statistics all day from joe-boy in front of the laptop saying ‘Oh, boss, we’ve had no penalty kicks this season’.”
In other news, Celtic have set aside “significant cash” to sign a proven star and a January deal is possible.