Celtic boss Neil Lennon didn’t hold back when talking about the Scottish FA’s recent decision to hand a three-match ban to Ryan Christie following an incident with Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos.
“We are extremely disappointed and bewildered by the outcome” he said, as quoted by the Daily Record. “We don’t understand it and are very angry about it.
Lennon and Celtic’s anger is unlikely to be quelled by the SFA publishing the reason why Christie was given the ban.
The reason given for the ban, as reported by STV, is that the player committed an act of ‘brutality’. The decision to ban Christie was taken by a panel of compliance officer Claire Whyte and two former referees, who consulted a three man panel of former referees before making the decision to ban the player.
Inconsistency will infuriate club
What will infuriate Celtic most about the decision is the inconsistency shown by the SFA. It should not be forgotten that last season Morelos wasn’t cited for a very similar incident to the one which saw Christie banned.
It will be interesting to see what Celtic’s response to the decision will be. The majority of the Celtic support will demand some sort of statement at least.
The statement should at the very least point out that Morelos was not cited for a similar incident last season.
Hoops boss won’t be pleased with explanation
Neil Lennon won’t be happy with the report either, you would think. He has already made his point on the matter, but could be compelled to do so again.
Will Ryan Christie make a statement on the matter? It would be good to hear from the player at the centre of the incident. The club will no doubt back what he has to say on the matter.
Celtic can hopefully use this anger to foster a siege mentality that drives the Hoops on to nine in a row.
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