Michael Stewart referee blast and his bizarre take of last nights Celtic result

It’s not very often I say this, but that was a hard fought result for Celtic last night.

And it could be pivotal in terms of the title race this season.

Winning ugly is the mark of champions but, apart from a 10-15 minute spell in the game, Celtic were comfortable throughout with Hoops keeper, Joe Hart, not being called on too often.

And that last part is key.

For all Hearts’ endeavour, there was never really a threat on the Celtic goal.

And that is what makes Michael Stewart’s comments all that bit more bizarre.

Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Stewart was giving his analysis of the game and whilst his basic point was centred around VAR, he made a claim that just does not stand up, “I mean, there was a lot of decisions, you heard the Celtic  supporters where unhappy with a few decisions.

“Officiating in these games, where it is very tight, can be difficult, but I’ve just seen the still of the the goal.

“The cut of the grass, the positioning and the linesman, they have to get those decisions right.

“And it does emphasise again the importance of VAR but that to me, isn’t even as tight as what I thought it was.

“To have that as the defining issue in the game when there was so many good aspects to that.

“The positives for Hearts is that this was night and day from the performance a few months ago in the League Cup.

“Hearts came here and they rocked Celtic there. And that is a huge positive for them.”

First off, his evaluation of the refereeing performance is spot on. Bobby Madden had a terrible game and I will delve into that a little later.

As for his statement that Hearts ‘rocked’ Celtic. Really? 33% possession and only 8 shots on goal. Two, of which, were on target.

That’s not rocking Celtic. Hearts played better than they did in the cup tie. No doubt.

But Celtic were never really under any real threat last night and the statistics prove that.