Celtic have been the subject of controversy after Rangers’ penalty claim for a tug on Vaclav Cerny in the Bhoys’ Premier Sports Cup final victory over their rivals last weekend.
Today, Willie Collum confirmed a spot-kick should’ve been given to Rangers in line with his and the SFA’s protocols, with a promise that ‘accountability in refereeing’ will be forthcoming after the incident.
For Celtic fans, this repetitive discourse has become a little jarring and understandably so when taking everything into context.
Their side deservedly won the Premier Sports Cup, which should be the main talking point after last Sunday’s spectacle at Hampden, but the external storyline has veered left due to circumstances outwith their control.
While others try to make the final about something else, Brendan Rodgers and company will move on to preparing for a trip to face Dundee United this weekend, safe in the knowledge that they have the first trophy of the season under wraps.
Anthony Ralston spoke to the media earlier today as Celtic return to Scottish Premiership action and captured how the Bhoys’ dressing room are feeling in the wake of the fallout on Glasgow’s southside.
Anthony Ralston addresses cup final fallout involving Celtic
Speaking ahead of the Bhoys’ trip to face Dundee United, Ralston admitted the Celtic dressing room aren’t overly bothered about the penalty fallout from the Premier Sports Cup final and insisted the responsibility to make sure decisions are right lies with the officials.
“It’s not obviously our place to do that. From my point of view, I didn’t really look too much into it after the game.
“There was an on-field decision made at the time, which isn’t down to us to make as players. There wasn’t much said about it until after the game, when ultimately we’d won. So it’s part and parcel of football. I can speak on behalf of the other lads; we don’t take much to do with it, to be honest.
“Let the officials do that side of it. And the important thing for us is we had a job to do, which was win the trophy, which we’re all delighted that we’ve managed to do.”
Later, he added: “I don’t feel it has put any sort of dampener on our success. We’re all buzzing; we’re all extremely happy with the outcome of the game.
“We got our hands on the trophy, and that’s all we really care about to be honest, everything else is not something that we’re going to overly pay attention to.”
Celtic don’t need to answer for anything after cup final success
Although the media have a duty to ask difficult questions, it isn’t like Ralston or anyone else connected with Celtic is responsible for events that unfolded from a refereeing standpoint.
Ultimately, the playing staff and management set out to win the first trophy of the season at Hampden, which is something they achieved in the cold light of day.
Celtic can enjoy their success as it’s well earned, and the mentality they showed throughout normal time, extra time, and penalties must be commended.
However, the matter has already been clarified by the authorities. Furore will always exist, but the Bhoys have already moved on to sizing up the task of defeating Dundee United.
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