Three Kilmarnock incidents that shame the silence of Nicholson and the Celtic board

With a week to go in the transfer window the Celtic board are being accused of many things. Safe to say leadership and ambition aren’t amongst them.

Over the last 18 months the recruitment process to appoint a Chairman and Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment both arrived at candidates with the same surname. How remarkable is that?

Almost as remarkable as their silent support and approval of whatever decisions the SFA and SPFL come up with, especially when it comes to match officials and their decision making.

This feeble acceptance can be traced back to July 2012 when the Celtic board stared into the abyss and didn’t fancy the challenge of doing things differently.

Since then the authorities have become bolder and bolder knowing that no-one inside Celtic would ever ask Fergus McCann type questions, at a push the club would issue a statement to take the heat off them before tea and biscuits with the SFA and Hampden and a reminder of the 2012 documentation ensured all was glossed over.

Alan Muir and Don Robertson managed to cram in three critical honest mistakes into Sunday’s match which proved too much for Celtic to overcome.

Last season under VAR Ange Postecoglou’s side could get a victory over one or two key decisions going against them but never faced a third.

On day one of VAR at Tynecastle Michael Smith handled a James Forrest cross with VAR deciding not to action it. In stoppage time Liel Abada had a ‘goal’ disallowed, 10 months later no image has ever surfaced to explain that decision. Nick Walsh and Steven McLean were on duty that day, later in the season they were rewarded by being put in charge of Glasgow Derby fixtures.

Asked about VAR issues at the Celtic AGM, the Daily Express reported Michael Nicholson saying:

What we have as a club – and all clubs in Scotland have it – is an interest in having the best possible match officials and regulation of matches so we can focus on football. As we mentioned last year – and as Ian Bankier almost got into trouble with – we have for many years lobbied the SFA and the SPFL to make sure we got the best match officials possible.

The first step with that was pushing for VAR – which worked out well! The second stage was to raise our concerns about VAR with the SFA. In relation to the specific incident (at Hearts) we did ask questions about how the rules had been applied.

I think it is inevitable that with the early stages of VAR there are going to be some teething issues. But you can rest assured that we do continue to press that issue with the SFA and the SPFL. There is a working group that the SPFL have brought together of all the clubs.

The teething issues that Nicholson mentioned will continue into this season now that the Celtic CEO has provided match officials with a free pass.

Incident that seen Taylor go off for treatment on a cut was caused by this elbow thrown by the Kilmarnock player. https://t.co/FuiCktn385 pic.twitter.com/XQo8lcEZWk

— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) August 20, 2023

On Sunday three key issues all went against Celtic with Robertson on VAR backing up every decision from Muir.

In 56 minutes Daniel Armstrong fouled Greg Taylor with his leg then smashed his opponents head with his elbow in full view of Muir. Robertson had plenty of time to review the incident as Taylor was treated, he agreed that no serious foul play had been committed.

With Taylor off the park Kilmarnock put the ball in the net with a goal from down Celtic’s left. ‘Scorer’ Marley Watkins checked his celebrations for fear of offside, after a quick review Robertson allowed the goal to stand then shared the most unconvincing of images as evidence.

Difficult to judge if a player is off or on from a still photo Andy

— Mark Halsey (@RefereeHalsey) August 21, 2023

A clunky blue line was drawn across the pitch, bent in places and clearly showing Watkins’ shoulder goal side. Nicholson will probably put it down to teething issues.

In stoppage time Celtic were pushing for an equaliser, the Kilmarnock defenders were tiring when Lewis Mayo slid in on Sead Haksabanovic.

There was contact, the Celtic substitute was felled with plenty of space between Muir and the contact. Again, after the briefest of reviews Robertson agreed with the original decision, it was as if he never watched Ryan Kent’s speciality act during five years at Ibrox.

Only once while in charge of Celtic did Ange Postecoglou speak out about the teething issues that dogged the introduction of VAR, five months later he left Celtic.

As every fan knows the time to raise concerns about these issues is when your team is winning, if there is a real fuss on social media one of Celtic’s favoured mainstream reporters will be told that the club has expressed some concerns to the SFA about Sunday’s match officials.

At a real push the surprised and disappointed template will be refreshed and updated. It has been on standby since the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final against Inverness Caley Thistle at Hampden.

The fact that McLean and Muir are still getting the top fixtures eight years later tels you all you need to know about the influence the Celtic hierarchy has within Scottish football and especially the SFA.

Contact was made with the attacking player when upright.
Please delete your account. https://t.co/bbaUiWOxMn pic.twitter.com/WR8lJLNLvG

— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) August 21, 2023

pic.twitter.com/Jazrb6AS6N

— Stuart (@Stuartie1972) August 22, 2023

The difference in quality is unbelievable. SFA got their VAR from Wish pic.twitter.com/hJxOHIF9bZ

— Michael MacDonald (@MikeMacDonald89) August 21, 2023