Bobby Madden fails to stop ten-in-a-row

Despite a flurry of honest mistakes from Bobby Madden Celtic defeated Motherwell 3-0 to rack up their tenth consecutive win in the SPFL.

A double from Kris Commons and an own goal from Stephen McManus stretched Celtic’s lead at the top of the table to 13 points over Aberdeen.

2013 was a year to forget for the Lanarkshire whistler but despite the benefits of a five-star training break in La Manga with fifty fellow officials he turned in a dismal performance from virtually the first whistle.

A second half red card for Anthony Stokes is likely to be the most talked about incident but there was a series of other decisions that made supporters wonder how Madden has made it through the ranks to the pinnacle of the Scottish game.

The most incredible decision occurred late in the first half when Motherwell ‘keeper Gunnar Nielsen touched a dropping ball over the crossbar. Corner almost everyone in the stadium anticipated but Madden pointed for a goal-kick indicating that the keeper had touched the ball after it had gone over the woodwork!

Minutes later Madden was awarding Motherwell a corner after an Ian Vigurs fizzed a low shot across goal with Fraser Forster adamant that he hadn’t touched the ball.

Rounding off his first half misery Madden opted out of red carding Nielsen after the keeper sent Stokes tumbling to the ground in the penalty box. Stokes was shaping up to go round the keeper and while it would have been a tight angle for the striker to hit the net from it was certainly a goal scoring opportunity denied.

There were numerous other incidents throughout the match that illustrated that Madden doesn’t have the ability to read the game and apply the laws.

Celtic fans are often accused of being bad losers blaming honest mistakes when their side fails to win.

Not for the first time this season the club has been on the wrong end of some horrendous decisions, last month Stevie McLean failed to award two penalties in the corresponding  match at Fir Park when Stevie Hammell handled a cross and Teemu Pukki was chopped down. McLean awarded a corner for Hammell’s handball and booked Pukki for simulation despite clearly having his legs taken from him.

Finding referees isn’t an easy task but with Madden clearly way out of his depth questions should be asked about how he has worked his way through the system to be given the task of refereeing matches among the top teams in the country.