When Phil Clement whistles the media messengers jump, the only issue is how high.
Twice in less than a month the Ibrox boss has been bleating about penalty decisions although, to be fair there has been no claims of his phone overheating following the travesty of justice inflicted at Easter Road.
John Beaton of all people has refereed the last two ‘controversies’.
After watching his side chuck away a 2-0 and a 3-1 lead there was of course no mention of Liam Kelly’s comical goalkeeping or how out of his comfort zone Robin Propper is.
An awkward forward’s challenge by Ianis Hagi on Josh Campbell resulted in a penalty to Hibs with Martin Boyle smashing the ball into the net.
Clement’s side still had time to get in front then chuck away two points but after the draw Clement’s post match interviews with Sky Sports, BBC Scotland and the all-in media conference was all about a penalty.
Quite a turnaround from the cumulative 18/19 to 23/24 stats. pic.twitter.com/FwsTA2AQyv
— GrandOLTeam (@JBLuvsCeltic) January 6, 2025
Some interest is now being shown on this season’s penalty totals, it is strange that the team in second place hasn’t had a penalty in 20 SPFL matches but there has been far stranger patters in the last five years.
With Crawford Allan handing out the appointments it was quite clear how referees gained favour with the former Head of Refereeing at the SFA.
On 18th January 2022 Kevin Clancy was subjected to the full treatment after awarding a penalty for Aberdeen that Lewis Ferguson scored against Allan McGregor.
It wasn’t until 3 January 2024 that Beaton awarded Kilmarnock a penalty at Ibrox that another referee had the courage to apply the Laws of the Game. Social media had been highlighting the second trend in five seasons, this one lasted 74 matches, covering three managers and over three seasons.
Perhaps at a push that sort of run could have been justified, at a push had the Ibrox club been running away with the SPFL with record breaking points totals and goals scored.
They weren’t. Celtic won the title in each of the three seasons with the freakish penalty statistics simply reducing the points gap at the top of the SPFL Premiership.
Is that penalty differential in the league from 2018-19 to 2023-24 of:
Rangers +49
Celtic +25
Hearts +10
Kilmarnock +9add this season it would be:
Rangers +45
Celtic +28
Kilmarnock +11
Hearts +4Celtic have won 5 of the last 6 titles.
Sample size & differential ? https://t.co/Wr2vOZ14Aw pic.twitter.com/H0sLGjH6I3
— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) January 6, 2025
Myself, James and Eric discuss a week of contrasting Celtic emotions including Brendan Rodgers’ surprise post-match comments following the St Mirren match and how 2025 is shaping up.
