Bobby Madden may have retired but that hasn’t stopped him keeping up with the big moments in Scottish football.
The former Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) whistler often chimes in with his thoughts on the controversial refereeing decisions on a weekly basis and Celtic were on his mind this weekend.
Madden watched the Hoops’ clash with Kilmarnock where Brendan Rodgers’ side won 2-0 to remain at the top of the Scottish Premiership thanks to goals from Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn.
There were moments of controversy for both clubs on Sunday at Rugby Park when Nick Walsh refused to send off Joe Wright for an elbow on Adam Idah which left the striker with a bloody nose.
Then Hoops midfielder Reo Hatate perhaps escaped a red of his own for a high tackle on Liam Donnelly in the engine room.
The latter was a topic of discussion with Kris Boyd on Sky Sports perhaps inevitably insisting the Japanese international should have been sent off.
Killie boss Derek McInnes was not too convinced with the manager explaining how there was not too much force in the tackle which might have gone in Hatate’s favour.
But now Madden has had his say and revealed the 26-year-old was lucky to avoid being shown a straight red as he felt it was a bad challenge and VAR should have intervened to upgrade the initial yellow he was shown.
Ex-referee Madden delivers red card verdict over Celtic’s Reo Hatate
Sharing footage of the clash via his own Instagram page, Madden analysed: “Here you see the Celtic player misjudge the ball and then lunges in, makes contact with the studs on the knee.
“Undoubtedly this should be a red card for serious foul play as it endangers the safety of the opponent. the contact is there so a red card have been recommended by VAR.”
On Wright’s elbow on Idah, Madden added: “So consideration for the referee is does the Kilmarnock player use his arm as a weapon or as a tool?
Adam Idah was left with a bloody nose after an elbow by Kilmarnock’s Joe Wright
“I think you can see he never once looks at the Celtic player using the arm for leverage so the yellow for reckless is correct.”
Donnelly was later booked over a clash with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel which left the Dane furious and Madden admitted it could have been a red card previously.
However, he said: “Yellow card correct. It shows a disregard for the opponent – strike or attempt to strike was removed from the laws as a red card 10 years ago. So yellow for disregard, correct.”
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