Tomorrow night, if he is lucky, Odsonne Edouard will watch Celtic’s match against Hibs from the stand with his right foot in a protective boot.
Joe Shaughnessy will be facing Hamilton Accies while Willie Collum takes a break from his highly lucrative side job. Edouard will miss out on an appearance fee, possibly a win bonus and a goal bonus.
The crisis in refereeing has brought about the situation, one that has been wholly created by SFA Head of Refereeing John Fleming and his good friends in Lanarkshire where Collum is one of the top men. The SFA has seven referees on the elite FIFA list enjoying the best continental trips, four of the seven are from Lanarkshire.
Celtic’s domination of the game has brought in a new dynamic, under Fleming’s reign match officials try to balance out against the superiority of Brendan Rodgers’ side.
So no offence with this “studs up” challenge on Edouard then – no penalty, no card just a stretcher for the player ! pic.twitter.com/7ySpw87eQR
— Embramike (@Embramike) February 3, 2019
Christie gets volleyed straight into the stomach no ball played & Shaughnessy goes in studs up on Edouard that forces him off injured, all inside the box, no penalty given!!. Where does it stop?. pic.twitter.com/H7OqQMHgaG
— Paul Sheahan (@sheahanbhoy10) February 3, 2019
When a referee allows early challenges in a match to go unpunished it sends a message out to every player. When Jason Kerr crunched Oliver Burke in the penalty box it gave every Saints player licence to put the boot in.
When Ian Maxwell laughed off Peter Lawwell’s request for John Beaton to explain his decisions in the December 29 Glasgow derby it let every match official know that they had the protection of the SFA to do whatever they like without being called to account.
With Celtic pushing for a goal at St Johnstone Kerr had no hesitation to kick out at Ryan Christie’s ribs six yards from goal, in full view of Collum. When the ball broke free Shaughnessy went in with a straight leg knowing that he would take the ball and clear out Edouard.
Collum and Shaughnessy continued while the Celtic striker was stretchered off.
Under Fleming’s reign Beaton, Collum and the rest can do as they please and still pick up the top matches, the big part-time fees and the international appointments.
In return Celtic and their silence on these issues have a growing injury list and are having to pay out additional salaries to get 11 fit players on the park.
