Martin O’Neill is not somebody who regularly dives into refereeing debates, which is exactly why his latest comments carry so much weight.
The Celtic manager admitted he personally contacted Willie Collum after the controversial decisions against Hibernian, and that alone says plenty about the level of frustration surrounding the game.
What makes the situation even more significant is that the SFA later accepted Celtic should have been awarded a penalty during the match.
Do you agree with Mark Clattenburg on Hibs’ goal against Celtic?
Martin O’Neill’s Willie Collum admission changes the tone of this debate
O’Neill revealed he spoke to Willie Collum directly after the Easter Road controversy.
He said about the handball goal and the denial of a penalty, “To tell you the truth, I thought they were pretty c**p really.
“I hadn’t realised how bad the foul was when the boy pushed Benjamin Nygren over. “It was a definite penalty.
“At the Hibs goal, the boy admitted to everybody in the aftermath of the game that he handled it.
“Now he’s wheedling out of it. He’s saying, ‘I’m not sure whether I handled it’. Well, either you did or you didn’t.
“But it looked pretty clear that there was a handball.
“I spoke to Willie. I’ve never done this, honestly. “This time I made up my mind and phoned, just to see what his thoughts were on it.
“If the referee had disallowed the goal for handball, then VAR couldn’t have overturned it. “But the push on Nygren was an absolute definite penalty.
“People say, and I’m sure it is true, that it’s over the whole season.
The SFA verdict only strengthened Celtic frustration after Hibs controversy
The frustration only grew stronger once the KMI panel reviewed the incidents. The SFA later accepted the challenge on Benjamin Nygren should have been awarded as a Celtic penalty.
The review concluded VAR should have recommended an on-field review, which validated one of O’Neill’s biggest complaints from the match.
The Joe Newell handball incident remains more divisive.
VAR allowed the goal to stand because officials believed there was “inconclusive evidence” to overturn the on-field decision.
That explanation will not convince everybody, especially after O’Neill claimed the player initially admitted handling the ball.
O’Neill also made an important point about timing, “People say, and I’m sure it is true, that it’s over the whole season.
“But now that it’s got down to three games, or four games as it was in the time, you might as well try and get the decisions right if you can.”
That is difficult to argue with.
When somebody as measured as Martin O’Neill feels compelled to publicly challenge officiating standards and personally contact the referees chief, it tells you just how bad the decisions look now.
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