Celtic have gone official with their criticism of Willie Collum’s decision not to award them a first half penalty in today’s Glasgow derby.
Right in front of goal Odsonne Edouard had to move sharpish to get out the way of a reckless challenge from Borna Barasic. Minimal contact saw the striker lose his footing and fall to the ground. Rather than award a penalty Collum booked the striker for simulation.
Normally club media avoids highlighting moments of controversy but John Kennedy opted to bring it up when he was interviewed by Celtic TV after today’s match.
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I’ve seen it again, I’ve spoken to Odsonne as well. As much as people say that there is little contact there, if you play that at full time (speed?), the player comes in recklessly. You know Odsonne is trying to avoid that, he gets clipped in the process, it is six yards out from the goal- it’s a goal.
The player knows what he is doing, he’s in the wrong position, he knows he is caught out and he goes into a reckless challenge and you have to avoid that. There has been contact, again it’s the referee’s decision but it is a poor decision in my opinion.
The incident came four minutes after Celtic had taken the lead through a Moi Elyounoussi header. Collum is rarely far from the centre pf attention with a string of dubious penalty decisions on his CV.
With little accountability and referees on a loose contract basis with the SFA punishments rarely amount to more than a couple of weeks in the Championship before returning to the top flight, the top match fees and being put in line for lucrative international appointments.
