Former SFA referee tells Stuart Kettlewell to ‘read the laws’ after his Celtic red card comments

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Celtic are now back at the top of the Scottish Premiership after their impressive win over Motherwell at Fir Park yesterday.

After a slow start, Celtic eventually took control and beat Motherwell fairly convincingly after goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah sealed the three points.

However, the game was marred by controversy after Liam Gordon was sent off for a dangerous lunge at Celtic striker Adam Idah in the closing stages of the match.

Brendan Rodgers believes the red was justified despite believing Gordon didn’t intend to hurt Idah but Motherwell manager, Stuart Kettlewell’s comments certainly raised a few eyebrows.

Former referee explains clearly why Liam Gordon deserved his red card vs Celtic

Kettlewell said the red card Motherwell was dealt against Celtic was ‘extremely harsh’ but the Behind the Whistles podcast account has told the Fir Park boss he needs to learn the rules of the game after hearing his comments yesterday.

The account which is run by former SFA referees Des Roache and Steve Conroy said, “He can’t be serious it was a potential ankle breaker. Leading with studs endangering the safety of his opponent therefore Red Card. We’ve seen plenty of similar examples in recent years.

The former refs explain further, “Absolutely every reason for why he doesn’t think it is red is not a consideration in the Law.

“He’s talking about no intent to injure. Managers need to read the Laws on Serious Foul Play. It’s clear there does not have to be intent. Taking the risk you may cause injury “endangering” by the risk is enough for Red.”

The IFAB Law that says Liam Gordon deserved his red card vs Celtic

No one can deny that the laws of the game are clear on how football should be officiated. It’s the interpretation of the laws by the match officials that causes controversy.

However, Dickinson interpreted the IFAB Law perfectly in terms of serious foul play. The rule states, “A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

“Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.”

So not only was the referee to give Gordon his marching orders, but the Motherwell defender ticked all three boxes to get himself sent off by the letter of the law.

Maybe Kettlewell should not only read the rules, he should watch the incident back and rethink what he said.