Fresh footage has emerged showing the extent of Jefte’s attack on Nicolas Kuhn that left the Celtic winger with a busted nose just before half-time in the Glasgow Derby.
The incident took place right in front of assistant referee David Roome who flagged for a free-kick but didn’t seem to make any recommendation to Don Robertson, unlike Douglas Ross in March 2019 who was squealing for a red card.
Roome is a very close friend of Bobby Madden who seems to have kept quiet on the January 2 clash at Ibrox.
Robertson decided that the incident warranted a yellow card, with the winger getting more than three minutes treatment before play restarted Nick Walsh on VAR duty had plenty of time to replay the incident.
He opted against sending Robertson to the VAR monitor, on Monday Walsh will return to the day job at Boclair High School working on the fitness of Murray Park starlets.
Read all comments & watched challenge by Jefte on Nicolas Kuhn in super super slow-motion now. Gets worse & worse every time you watch it – so late & ball is miles away – 100% red card. Was the turning point because after that assault Kuhn was rattled & nullified – 100% cheated. pic.twitter.com/x6rGGehMMQ
— Timothy Fellowes (@FellowsT1888) January 2, 2025
Better coverage than the clip above is available in the VAR room.
From this angle you can see Jefte aim his left foot at Kuhn’s left knee, the Celtic winger anticipates that and knocks the ball back.
As he keeps his eye on the ball Kuhn feels the full force of Jefte’s elbow on the bridge of his nose producing a cut.
In summary Jefte elbowed Kuhn on the nose, a painful incident in any circumstances.
True to form Robertson, Walsh and Roome decided that a booking was enough punishment, in UEFA competitions Jefte won’t be so fortunate.
Yesterday’s incident was similar to the 10th minute attack on Adam Idah by Joe Wright of Kilmarnock on November 10.
While waiting on the delivery of a free kick he elbowed Idah in the face, on that occasion Walsh was the match referee with Robertson on VAR.
There is no debate about either incident, Celtic players take elbows in the face, free-kicks are awarded with the punishment a booking. A decent trade off to reduce the effectiveness of a key opponent.
Kuhn and Idah joined Celtic last January, it is doubtful if it was put to them that their opponents in Scotland would be almost immune from being red carded for violent contact.
With the bar set future opponents of Celtic know that they can commit similar attacks to those on Kuhn and Idah with virtually no chance of being sent off.
Grant Irvine, a colleague of Walsh at Boclair Academy will referee Sunday’s match between Celtic and St Mirren.
Asked about refereeing issues at the 2023 Celtic AGM Michael Nicholson answered ‘penalty to Rangers’ to the amusement of his elderly colleagues on the Celtic board.
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