Refereeing standards have been a bone of contention for Celtic fans for decades. For as long as I have been a fan (45 of my 45 years on this planet), the Hoops supporters have looked on the men in black with a distrusting eye.
Sometimes it’s justified. Sometimes not.
But there was a decision on Saturday’s game that drew the ire of journalist and pundit Hugh Keevins.
And it was when Aberdeen striker, Duk, skipped past Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and appeared to have been fouled by the American.
On closer inspection, it was a clear dive by the forward and with the referee positioned right beside the incident, Keevins could not believe that the foul was given.
Speaking on Superscoreboard, Keevins said, “Steven McLean is one of the poorest referees in the country.
“I stand by that because I have just witnessed another shocking decision made by him.
“There is no contact whatsoever, he’s standing right beside it.
“It’s no wonder Celtic supporters get paranoid about this stuff.
“Like I said, there is no global conspiracy. Any team that’s got a Quadruple Treble cannot have a conspiracy going against them but these decisions are laughable.”
I’ll say it again as well, Celtic won those Trebles despite the poor refereeing standards in this country but at least I agree with one point be made.
The decisions that go against our club are laughable but I certainly wouldn’t call us paranoid for calling them out.
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To be fair to McLean,l reckon that’s about the only decision he may have got wrong if it was the challenge that led to the direct free kick outside our box in the first half.
It’s got to the stage where l am unable to second guess these officials now because of his performance on Saturday.
There was a few occasions where he blew for a foul and l was dumbfounded to find he had awarded the free kick to us.
Usually,any sort of contract, real or imagined results in us being penalised while our players suffer repeated physical assaults without sanction.
If pushed l would say that was the fairest performance l have seen from any ref against us in years.
Will it continue ?…….l won’t be holding my breath 💚
To be honest, his performance on Saturday is was one of the Best we have had in a long long time
Who’s the sevco supporter..employee’s…Masons in the black.
Spfl refferee’s that’s who , no conspiracy just facts.
For transparancy, like other countries should have to declare and prove which club they supported before becoming a referee.
“no global conspiracy”?
Who tf ever suggested there was?
Nobody i know, that’s who….but i know tens of thousands of people who can show you piles of video evidence that only an idiot and/or corrupt media could deny.
‘Pictures or it didn’t happen’ is a well known phrase…well,there are pics and vids from every angle you care to see..they exist in abundance. They are real. Not paranoia, not a figment of imagination. Real living proof, denied by liars and cheats and by cowardly ‘journalists’ afraid of the baying mob.
Must feel terrible to be a journalist, who at the end of his/her time,and look back and realise you said absolutely NOTHING of any significance in your career.
Scotland is full of them.
I disagree with HK, I thought the referee had one of the best games I’ve seen, and seemed very fair. I know what I’ve said about him in the past but I must give credit where credit is due.
Keep trying my man.
Hugh Keevins is correct there is no global conspiracy against Celtic.
What there is just simple human nature give a rangers supporter a whistle a flag or a tv monitor and bob’s yir aunties live in lover.