This is unusual for him because, generally on Twitter, Ewan Cameron is queuing up to stick the boot into Celtic (which I will get to later) but even for him, this is a fairly balanced and fair point of view on the Matt O’Riley ‘penalty’.
Many pundits and ex-pros have had their say on the incident and now it’s the turn of Cameron.
Speaking on The Big Scottish Football Podcast, Cameron said, “It’s just awful. I’m tired of talking about handballs.
“That handball rule needs changing because there’s no consistency either.
“I mean, I watched some horrendous decisions over the weekend in England and in Spain.
“And then you’ve got the one Celtic Park as well.
“It’s never a penalty in a million years. Where is O’Riley meant to take put his arm?
“When you’re running or you’re jockeying when you’re trying to position yourself to defend and a player strikes a ball off your arm? At a yard away?
“I mean, it’s just a joke of a decision. And even though that VAR have a look at it, you’re thinking, ‘They’re not gonna give that’, and they still give the penalty.
“I think referees are still not quite sure what the law is when it comes to handball.”
Very balanced from Ewan.
The self-confessed Hearts fan also claimed that the Michael Smith handball against James Forrest wasn’t a handball either so I’m thinking he is also confused about the rules of the game.
Hopefully, this will start to calm down now that the World Cup is set to kick off soon and we can focus on the players who are representing Celtic at the tournament.
We have a month’s respite from the domestic scene, will the SFA take this time to fine tune the handball rule in time for the season kicking off again on the 17th December?
I hope so, but I highly doubt it.
When the anti Celtic media appear to support our arguements that’s when we need to most vigilant.
Not to be trusted imo.
We’ll need to wait to see what their real agenda is.
Seems to me that he was consistent in saying both handball decisions should not have been given, though perhaps he’s simply using O’Riley’s decision to support his argument that Smith’s wasn’t a penalty. Smith’s hand moved out to the ball and O’Riley’s hit him after hitting his body onto the hand. So different scenarios to consider but similar in that both were from about a yard away from the kicker of the ball.
A clearer definition and interpretation are required by the SFA or these hun refs will continue to cheat for ibrox under the guise of (mis) interpretation. In this respect the SFA are guilty of leaving scope for the cheats, indeed in supporting them, so need to act to counter this accusation. Celtic FC need to ask for immediate clarification and change and the SFA need to act immediately or overtly remain a clear and obvious administrator of this bigotry.
The hearts player played the ball with his hand that is the difference the ball did not hit off him it was deliberate.