Barry Ferguson left ‘absolutely baffled’ by the Liam Scales incident for Celtic at Hibernian

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Celtic should have had a comfortable victory over Hibernian on Sunday, only for the penalty call to add extra nerves to proceedings.

After Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels scored two quick-fire goals, Celtic were in control and in command of the match.

But in the second half, as Hibernian tried to put the pressure on the champions of Scotland, the on-field referee Nick Walsh, guided by VAR, awarded the home side a penalty and punished Liam Scales for handball.

A lot has been said on this Scales incident, with many raising mixed views, but even Barry Ferguson’s comments will shut up any of those who thought it was a penalty kick.

• READ MORE: Who is Liam Scales? Meet Celtic’s Irish-speaking centre-back

Barry Ferguson backs Liam Scales after Celtic handball against Hibernian

Even with his Rangers hat on, Ferguson told Go Radio that it was never a penalty for Hibs, as he compared it to Rangers getting away with not being punished against Livingston a couple of weeks ago at Ibrox.

The former midfielder described these calls as ‘absolutely baffling’, and what he is seeing right now simply ‘isn’t good.’

“I didn’t think it was a penalty,” said Ferguson. “I have seen some of the decisions this season. They are absolutely baffling.

“I go back to even the Rangers game against Livingston. How that wasn’t a penalty for Livingston? I know they got the apology.

“But some of the decisions I am seeing are not good.”

Scottish football is going back to ‘daft territory’ after Scales call

The handball rule isn’t black and white. With so many buzzwords used to determine what is or isn’t a penalty, rather than just using outright common sense.

But as Andy Walker rightfully pointed out on Go Radio, everything is now returning to the ‘daft territory’ of how handball calls are being made.

“I didn’t think it was a penalty,” agreed Walker. “It reminded me of the penalty Celtic got against Kilmarnock, that should never have been a penalty, because it’s coming off someone else’s body at speed.

“You are almost half a yard away, not even not. It looked as though it came off his shoulder and then onto his hand. I don’t know what you can do about that. It wasn’t a penalty, in my eyes.

“The penalty decisions that we are seeing, or the non-penalties that we are seeing. We are going back to a place where we were a couple of years ago, which wasn’t great. I thought we had improved a great deal. We are going back to the daft territory with some of the decisions we are seeing.”