With plenty made of the Leigh Griffiths incident from Sunday, some Celtic fans aren’t pleased with one particular challenge from Hamilton’s Aaron McGowan.
There has been plenty reported regarding the Griffiths’ apparent “stamp” on Sam Woods. A panel of experts today didn’t come to the conclusion that it was a red card offence either (Glasgow Times). Yet it seems to be the main talking point regardless of where you turn. The Daily Record even published an article providing every pundit’s verdict on it.
Yet later on in the first half, McGowan went right through McGregor with a high challenge on him. The big defender didn’t take the ball, and instead went right through the Celtic midfielder in a painful-looking collision.
Below is a still image of the challenge, followed by some supporters’ reaction to it:
https://twitter.com/erinxmccormackk/status/1224289433597251585
https://twitter.com/shaun_gil/status/1224719003131817984
https://twitter.com/citlecevolifm/status/1223976777497837568
Nowhere near the same level of coverage
It’s crazy to think that there wasn’t anywhere near close to the same level of coverage between the Griffiths incident and the McGowan one.
Sure, you can see why the Griff case has dragged out. With disciplinary action being involved then the story obviously has longer legs. McGowan’s challenge couldn’t be upgraded to a red card as referee Nick Walsh spotted the incident and had already given a yellow card.
However, if there’s going to start being widespread debates about whether the Griffiths case is a red, why isn’t there a similar spotlight on this one?
You can see some of our fans’ frustrations above, and they’re quite right. McGowan’s foot is extremely high on McGregor and could’ve done some real damage to him. Thankfully, McGregor simply got up and got on with the game, but that’s more to do with his own mentality than a lack of danger in the challenge.
So where are the articles detailing every pundit’s view on whether that tackle was a red card? It’s disappointing considering some of the criticism Griff has had to take and the spotlight put on him over the last couple of days.
Even if McGowan couldn’t have had any retrospective action taken, he’s a lucky lucky man to have stayed on the pitch regardless.
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