Craven and McDonald
Scott Severin had his arms at unusual angles on two occasions without being penalised for a penalty- one of them on eagle-eyed Craven’s side of the pitch.
John Daly was allowed to stay on the park after raking his boot down Glenn Loovens back having earlier been booked for an earlier incident with Daniel Majstorovic.
In injury time Craven was able to pinpoint Loovens from the incident that saw Georgios Samaras booked and earn the Dutchman a card as well.
Those incidents pale into insignificance with the penalty-oh-no-it-isn’t incident in the 69th minute where Craven played a significant role.
McDonald couldn’t have been better placed to decide on the incident but for reasons best known to himself decided to consult his linesman who television replays showed ran straight to the corner flag- a sign often interpreted as agreeing with the referee’s decision.
Standing on the edge of the D McDonald had a clear view as Gary Hooper forced himself clear from another challenge from the lumbering Garry Kenneth. As goalkeeper Dusan Pernis appeared the Celtic striker got a toe to the ball but was unable to get a second touch as the keeper launched into the challenge.
Penalty said McDonald.
After a delay and after consulting Craven McDonald restarted the game with a drop ball.
Perhaps the referee has learned a lesson from his eagerness to send off Scott Brown at Ibrox where he broke into a sprint to race past players to wave the red card at the Celtic captain without a passing thought for how his assistant may have viewed the incident.
Players are often told that it’s pointless protesting to the referee, clearly with McDonald in charge it’s well worthwhile asking him to consult with his assistant who may or may not be better placed.
Even with a perfect unobstructed view of the incident today McDonald felt the need to speak to Craven. With that level of self doubt about his decision making perhaps it’s time to demote McDonald to running the line at a lower grade of football.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match Neil Lennon said: “I noticed the linesman’s position, once he’s taken up a position as if it is a penalty, there’s a lot of confusion afterwards. The incident wasn’t explained to me so I think that we’ll have to put that down to another honest mistake.”
After today’s game the new crop of Celtic players know exactly what they are up against on a weekly basis in the SPL. The only consolation from today is that McDonald and Craven won’t be involved in next week’s Celtic-Rangers match… or will they?
Interesting stuff. Nice one!!