Michael Stewart produced one of the more extraordinary reactions to Celtic’s title success after claiming Hearts would have “comfortably” won the league if officiating decisions had gone differently.
The former Hearts and Hibs midfielder did not just question individual VAR calls. He effectively attempted to rewrite an entire title race between Celtic and Hearts through hypotheticals.
And in an astonishing rant, Stewart dismantles his own argument with his strange Celtic outburst.
Ex-SFA referee’s take on the KMI Celtic penalty verdict vs Motherwell.
The bitterness continues. Let us know your thoughts Celtic fans 👇
Michael Stewart’s argument falls apart immediately
Ten days after Celtic beat Hearts to win the title, Stewart’s pain at the Tynecastle club’s Parkhead collapse is in full view.
The Premier Sports pundit said, “I just want to make this point finally because I don’t think it’s clear enough. Every season you understandably, and correctly, would say the league table doesn’t lie.
“The best team won the league. Celtic have won seven games in a row. Brilliant. And Hearts only won one game out their last seven away from home. They are all undeniable facts as it is.
“But what’s also an undeniable fact is that had the decisions been the way they should have, Celtic wouldn’t have won seven games in a row and Hearts would have won five in a row and won the league title at home against Falkirk. That’s an undeniable fact had the decisions gone the way they had gone.
“It’s very difficult to say as you would under any normal circumstances that the league table doesn’t lie because Hearts and Celtic, without doing anything different, in their performances across the season, if those officiating decisions were reversed, and should have been the way they were, all of a sudden, Hearts win the league title comfortably.”
The obvious problem with Stewart’s claim is that football seasons cannot be selectively recalculated around contentious moments.
Every club across a 38-game campaign can point to refereeing calls they disliked. Celtic can. Hearts can. Rangers can. That has always been part of football.
Trying to reverse individual incidents while assuming every other result, performance and momentum swing remains identical is simply not how elite sport works.
Stewart even contradicted himself during the rant. He acknowledged Celtic’s seven-game winning run and Hearts’ poor away form as “undeniable facts” before effectively dismissing those realities because of subjective officiating opinions.
The league table either reflects consistency over a season or it does not. You cannot abandon that principle whenever Celtic finish on top.
Celtic earned the title, Michael Stewart just ignored it
The strangest part of Stewart’s comments is how little credit he gave to Celtic’s sustained form.
Title races are not won through one refereeing decision or one VAR intervention. They are won over months of pressure, consistency and resilience.
Celtic’s winning run was earned on the pitch. Suggesting Hearts would have “comfortably” won the league otherwise sounds far more like frustration than serious analysis.
If Stewart genuinely believes title races can be rewritten through selective refereeing hypotheticals, then every league table in football history becomes meaningless.
There is absolutely room for debate around officiating standards in Scottish football. There always will be.
Celtic won the league because they were the best team. Stewart’s rant does not change that reality.
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