Some Celtic fans have been raging with Willie Collum’s performance in today’s 2-0 loss at Livingston.
Goals from Scott Robinson and Lyndon Dykes secured a huge three points for the West Lothian side. The two goals, however, came after Celtic were reduced to 10 men. Ryan Christie was correctly sent off for a high boot on Robinson before the break.
However, supporters aren’t happy with the lack of consistency in Collum’s refereeing. He ridiculously allowed Keaghan Jacobs away with a shocking challenge on Jonny Hayes towards the end. Despite committing 19 fouls, Livi only ended the contest with three bookings.
And, as fans reacted to the referee’s display on Twitter, it’s fair to say many weren’t happy.
https://twitter.com/marknicolson66/status/1180828704567709697
https://twitter.com/Turlough_OCoinn/status/1180827628896423938
Collum lacked consistency, but Celtic only have themselves to blame
There’s no denying that Collum lacked consistency all afternoon. His red card for Christie was spot on. The challenge was poor and deserved to have action taken on it. No Celtic fan can have a complaint with it.
But the Jacobs challenge on Hayes towards the death was a shocker. He seemed to fly in with two feet and totally took Hayes out. Incredibly, Collum only gave the Livi man a yellow card. It’s typical of the lack of consistency in Scottish refereeing.
Added to that, there was also a case for Robinson being red-carded. After being booked for celebrating in front of the Celtic fans, he then managed to get away with a deliberate hand-ball to block a Moritz Bauer cross.
Meanwhile, Robinson was booked for his celebration, but Lyndon Dykes, who ran towards the Celtic support and tried to wind them up, was let away with it. It was yet more inconsistency from Collum.
But when it comes to blaming someone for today’s defeat? We need to take a right good look at ourselves and how we’ve approached the last two domestic matches. Complacency has crept into our game, and instead of increasing our advantage, we’re now likely going to be second heading into the international break.
We need to refocus after the break and click ourselves into gear. Once we do, hopefully, we rediscover that relentless form of a month ago.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
