Exclusive: Referee set for response after Celtic ace Kuhn and Hibs’ Iredale clash
Keith Hackett has suggested that referee Colin Steven will receive advice over his handling of a scuffle between Celtic attacker Nicolas Kuhn and Hibernian defender Jack Iredale.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the referee should have done more to stop situation escalating to begin with.
Kuhn had attracted transfer interest from Premier League clubs earlier this season following an excellent start to the campaign.
However, the second half of this season has seen his form dip dramatically, despite his side still marching towards a domestic treble as things stand.
That had led to suggestions that the likes of Newcastle have been put off a move for the Celtic star ahead of the summer transfer window.
Even so, Kuhn has started to rediscover his scoring touch for Brendan Rodgers‘ side, providing a goal and an assist as they came from 1-0 down to beat Hibernian 3-1 at Parkhead on Saturday (10 May).
That though, was not the only drama he was involved in over the course of that particular game.
Nicolas Kuhn and Jack Iredale booked after coming together
Five minutes after half time, Kuhn and Iredale were involved in a bust up on the edge of the Hibernian penalty area, with the pair attempting to wrestle with each other.
Despite that, referee Steven elected not to intervene initially, with footage showing the official walking away from the scene of that developing skirmish.
| Position | Played | Points |
| 1. Celtic (C) | 36 | 88 |
| 2. Rangers | 36 | 71 |
As a result, other players also became involved as they attempted to calm the situation or support their teammate, as things were allowed to escalate amid lack of intervention from the officials.
When things eventually died down, both the Celtic and Hibernian instigators were shown a yellow card for causing that trouble.
Now, while Hackett has suggested Steven made the right call by booking Kuhn and Iredale, he had also criticised the referee for not acting sooner to diffuse the situation.
Celtic and Hibernian scuffle leads to referee scrutiny
After being asked by Football Insider what he made of the way the official handled that incident, Hackett said:
“I think the first thing in a situation like that the referee’s got to be blowing the whistle. I do criticise the referee on this one in that I think walking away from it wasn’t the thing.
“He ought to have read it a bit better. He ought to have had cognitive skills to be able to see that this could escalate.
“Sometimes, I know there’s this desire to get to the right position for the next phase of play but I think he ought to have held his position here, blew his whistle really forcibly, because that stops people generally, and I think it could have managed it more effectively.
“The danger here is if you’re a six foot four inch referee it’s easy to get involved with physicality, but the problem you’ve got with that is under modern forms of refereeing – I’d have ploughed in there and separated them like a boxing referee – but under the modern game and era of refereeing there is this view of blow the whistle, view it and then take action.
“I think recognising it in the first place before it escalates, holding your position, whistle in mouth from the referee, I know that he’ll receive some coaching advice and he will have learned from this particular incident.
“But the observation [is] he’s walked away from it a little bit, he has. He’s thought that what he awarded is good enough and it hasn’t been.
“The outcome then is where there’s the potential of a match confrontation, a minimum two yellow cards. So in issuing the yellow cards he’s done his job. So in his role he’s done his job.
“What I’m saying is: part of the role of refereeing is the prevention, and he could have prevented it by staying there, blowing the whistle and he might have prevented an escalation that results in a yellow card.”