Since Sunday afternoon Celtic have sat back and allowed an all out campaign to attack Scott Brown.
On Monday John Kennedy presented some facts, on Tuesday Callum McGregor did likewise but from the very top of the club nothing has emerged.
The Celtic captain was elbowed off the ball, punched to the ground then confronted by half a dozen opposition players for celebrating with 59,000 fans.
This morning Brown has been charged with the SFA for not acting in the interests of Association Football. Presumably all of the other players on the pitch after the final whistle were acting in the best interests of the game?
The origins of today’s charge can be traced back to December 29 at Ibrox. With barely a word from referee John Beaton Alfredo Morelos attacked Brown, Ryan Christie and Tony Ralston.
When no retrospective punishment was made by the SFA Celtic were stirred into action to protect their players- through a statement.
On Friday January 4 they expressed their dissatisfaction over the failure to protect their players from injury, they also requested publication of the referee’s explanation.
Three months later nothing more has been heard about the matter. On Sunday open season continued on the Celtic players.
For the second game running Bobby Madden refereed a Celtic match. Earlier this year he failed to take action when Allan McGregor clearly kicked out at Aberdeen’s Lewis Ferguson, Madden clearly has issues spotting serious foul play. Last May he failed to punish Steven Naismith for stamping on Brown’s genitals.
With Brown in the dock today the time for statements is long past, it’s time for Peter Lawwell to stand up for the club and ensure that players are protected with the laws of the game applied without fear or favour.
