A year ago Celtic reached for their angry statement template, it is tried and tested for taking the heat out of situations as the club backs off and does nothing.
Previously it had been used for Aleksandar Tonev’s racist charge and the Josh Meekings hand ball during the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final against Inverness Caley Thistle.
Tonev served a suspension on the balance of probability, Steven McLean refereed the 2016 Scottish Cup Final a year after missing the Meekings handball.
This time last year Celtic fans were dismayed at the way Alfredo Morelos got away with physical attacks on Tony Ralston, Scott Brown and Christie during the December Glasgow derby.
While John Beaton took no action it was assumed that the Compliance Officer would apply retrospective justice. Already at that stage of the season Scott McKenna, Dolly Menga and Steven MacLean (Hearts) had been given retrospective punishments for incidents missed during matches against Celtic.
As each day passed it became clear that Morelos had again escaped- along came the angry Celtic statement:
In order to fully understand what is going on, Celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters, and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in other similar circumstances.
In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell, and the Association’s Head of Refereeing.
What happened next only came to light at the Celtic AGM at the end of November.
Lawwell’s call for transparency was completely blanked. At a private meeting with the SFA transparency was ditched with Beaton continuing to get high profile fixtures including two Aberdeen v Celtic matches in 2019.
The Sun reported:
THE board are asked whether there was any follow-up to their blistering statement about referee John Beaton.
Celtic blasted the whistler and called on him to explain his decisions after last December’s defeat to Rangers. Lawwell answers that the club had a meeting concerning this and received an explanation. But he insists it was a private meeting and therefore a private matter.
After dropping the baton on that issue the SFA have surpassed themselves today by banning Christie for three matches.
Tonev, Meekings/McLean, Morelos and Christie are the high-profile incidents where Lawwell has been shown up as being utterly toothless. Worryingly on the back of today’s verdict it seems certain that there will be further incidents when Celtic are on the wrong end of justice SFA style with absolutely no comeback.
Celtic Football Club statement regarding Ryan Christie’s sanction ??
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 6, 2020
