Under-fire official Kevin Clancy will referee Celtic again next week, less than a month after he was publicly criticised by Neil Lennon.
The 25-year-old was the man in the middle when we dropped points at Hibernian late last month, and he came under fire for denying us two stonewall penalties in the second-half.
Both Moritz Bauer and Ryan Christie had surefire claims turned down as we were held to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road – the first time we dropped league points this season.
After the match Lennon, who also described Clancy as an “amateur” last year, spoke about his frustrations at the decisions.
“I know we dropped points and people will be saying ‘Oh, it’s Lennon’, but we should have two penalties today,” he told the Daily Record.
“The one on Moritz Bauer is a clear penalty and the one on Christie is a clear penalty.
“They were not debatable penalties, they were clear penalties and would have changed the psychology of the game.
“The referee got a lot right but in my eyes he got some big decisions wrong.”
Clancy given quick Celtic return
Clancy was subsequently left out of action the following week but he did return to referee Rangers’ draw at Tynecastle on Sunday. And now it seems that he will be thrust back into the Celtic spotlight next midweek when we host St. Mirren.
The SFA’s referee appointments website have Clancy down to take charge of the game on October 30th with Frank Connor and Andrew McWilliam as his two assistants. Celtic fans will at least be pleased to know that neither of those men were present at Easter Road.
We should have no problem beating St. Mirren next week even accounting for a few dodgy decisions, but it is interesting to see the SFA putting Clancy back in the spotlight so quickly. The Celtic support may not be quite as forgiving.
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