Ian McCall shares what he really thinks about the SFA’s decision on Celtic’s red card appeal

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With Celtic privately seething about the SFA’s decision not to overturn Hyunjun Yang’s red card, the manager now needs to plan for the next three league fixtures without the South Korean in the side.

Indeed, Brendan Rodgers himself will also face charges from the SFA after his full-time outburst about VAR operator, John Beaton, so all-in-all it has not been a good week for the club both on and off the park.

However, with many of the games’ top pundits believing that Yang’s ordering off was harsh, Clyde manager, Ian McCall has stepped into the row and given his thoughts on the SFA’s decision not to rescind the Celtic winger’s red card.

McCall said [Scottish Football Podcast], “There’s absolutely no surprise that they rejected the appeal, I don’t think.

“Because I think Celtic and a lot of people working in the media were so vociferous about how bad a mistake it was.

“My take is I didn’t think it was a sending off but I do think it was a 50/50 ball.

“But I do think Yang wasn’t deliberately endangering an opponent. As I already said he was playing the ball over the defender’s head, but I could see why it was a red.

“My view was it was not a red, a yellow card in the game would have sufficed.

“But I didn’t think it was a great shock that it wasn’t overturned just for the very reason that, for me anyway, it was a 50/50 call.”

I don’t think many will disagree with that assertion. The red card given to Yang absolutely changed the game as did the penalty award.

But what is most galling is that even after getting the third chance to look at the challenge, for the SFA not to overturn the decision on appeal seems even more bizarre.

But I think it’s time we moved on from this. I’m not saying we forget about it as I still think the club should still pursue an explanation from the match officials about their decision-making.

But with the Scottish Cup coming up and nine games of the season left, full concentration and focus must be put on what’s in front of this Celtic side if we are to come away from this season with any kind of silverware.

In other news, Why Brendan Rodgers SFA hearing can’t be fast-tracked as Celtic boss faces Ibrox ban