Dundee Utd boss Tam Courts clearly unhappy with Celtic Park penalty incident

By David Walton

September 27, 2021

Dundee Utd manager Tam Courts was clearly left unhappy after his side were denied a penalty at Celtic Park yesterday.

Minutes after the Tannadice side equalised through a bullet header from Ian Harkes, there was another big moment in the game. Carl Starfelt was robbed of possession leaving Nicky Clark in on goal. Before he could pull the trigger, however, he was bumped by Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Some may argue that Starfelt was felled in the build-up. However, Carter-Vickers appeared to get away with one. Up the other end, we all would’ve been screaming for it.

And it’s something that was clearly niggling away at Courts post-match also. He’s been discussing the incident and said the following in the Daily Record [print edition, 27/09, page 46]:

“I have contrasting emotions just now. First and foremost I’m really proud of the players for their bravery to come here and put in a performance like that. But I’m also slightly frustrated because in the first half we were denied a stonewall penalty.

“I accept that Celtic had a couple of chances and hit the woodwork but I thought we probably just merited the three points on the balance of play. I’m standing diagonally behind the incident and I can see there’s a barge on the back. It’s a huge call at a huge stadium with a lot of fans here.

“Also, the referee might have had to produce a red card. For whatever reason he has decided not to award the penalty. I will show a bit of professional decorum but I’m really expecting better from the officials.”

Both sides get away with big decisions in Celtic Park draw

Did Celtic get away with the penalty incident? Absolutely. For me it’s a penalty. Simple as that. And as for Starfelt, he has to be stronger and was too easily bullied off the ball for the incident to happen in the first place.

However, let’s not pretend United didn’t get away with one every now and again. Jeando Fuchs was lucky to expect with a yellow card for laying a nasty one on James McCarthy. This is likely the reason he had to come off at half-time too.

Let’s also not forget that Ben Siegrist was also fortunate to stay on the pitch after flicking a boot out towards Liel Abada. United had their causes for concern when it came to game-changing decisions.

So a draw was probably fair over the course of the game. Neither side did enough to win the match, and both could’ve been had some major decisions go their way that didn’t.

Courts should hold his head high and not allow himself to be deluded into thinking anything was robbed from the Tannadice players. They got exactly what they deserved from the encounter, and so did we.

In other news, John Hartson alarmed with Ange Postecoglou Celtic responsibility comment