Bitter Butcher targets Emilio Izaguirre
Caley Thistle defender Stewart Duff was booked for his lunge on the Celtic full-back with Joe Ledley heading home the winning goal from Biram Kayal’s free kick.
Former England and Rangers skipper Butcher, who once kicked in a door at Celtic Park after losing a Scottish Cup tie, couldn’t contain his anger when he was interviewed after the match.
“I’m bitterly disappointed for my players, we deserved more out of the game than we got,” the Englishman claimed. “Decisions have gone against us again tonight. OK we got the penalty but there was no red card, I’m sure that if it had happened down our end one of my players would have been sent off.
“I don’t think it (the free kick for Celtic’s second goal) would have been given at the other end where our fans were.
“The Celtic fans all jumped up to claim the free kick and the referee has given it. We didn’t think that it was a free kick and our player got booked as well as a consequence.
“We still have to defend the free kick but you know it’s too soft for me. My players learned a lesson tonight on how do you say, players get a touch and their down. I think our players are looking at what it’s like at the top level, with one of the top clubs in Britain, and saying ‘if that’s the way to play then that’s the way that we have to play. If you can’t beat them join them’.
Caley took the lead through a 44th minute penalty from Adam Rooney but Ledley equalised in first half stoppage time before heading the winner in the 68th minute.
Butcher added: “It was Celtic’s first effort on target in the first half, let’s be honest about this. Celtic came here, had all the possession and didn’t create one chance, my keeper has not had a thing to save until that equaliser.
“They’ve had one shot on goal, we’ve had the best chances of the first half and we had some great chances in the second half as well.
“You have to give my players credit because of the way that they played. Their keep has had to work harder than my keeper so what does that say?
“It’s disappointing when you go 1-0 up just before half time and don’t hold onto the lead. For us it was a soft goal because he was free in a lot of space and unmarked- we were watching the ball- and he finished it really well.”
Celtic assistant Alan Thompson was much more dignified in victory saying: “Celtic have had one or two bad experiences in the past here and tonight it was important to approach the game in the right manner and our attitude was spot on. We came away with the right result
“Even when we went 1-0 down the message was don’t panic or start going route one. We know that if we play we’ll get chances.”
After the match Celtic flew back to Glasgow to give the players as much time as possible to prepare for Sunday’s Co-Operative Cup Final with Rangers at Hampden.
Alan Thompson praises pigeon chaser Izaguirre.
Follow Video Celts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
[bet_365 type=’generic’ size=’468′ af_code=’365_050711′]