With Michael Nicholson taking up his traditional vow of silence it looks like Celtic fans will be denied an explanation over why a ‘goal’ from Daizen Maeda was disallowed against Hibs on Saturday.
More than 48 hours after the final whistle there has been no media appearances from Willie Collum to explain the decision that denied the visitors an 83rd minute equaliser.
When Maeda popped in the ‘equaliser’ after Jordan Smith spilled a cross from Alistair Johnston the match referee and his assistant saw nothing wrong with it.
On the line no-one had a better view than David Roome, his flag stayed down without any protest from the Hibs players, their resistance had been broken.
Meanwhile in the VAR studio Alan Muir was hard at work, Celtic fans know what to expect from that official who was promoted into a full-time role during the summer.
Premier Sport were unable to show that the ball was over the line before Johnston crossed but Muir came to that conclusion, during the remainder of the match no image or graphic was shown to explain the decision. Sky Sports and BBC Scotland have also been unable to show an image of the ball out of play.
Speaking after the match Brendan Rodgers asked:
My take is that the official Alan Muir has had a guess at it. The linesman arguably has the best view in the stadium and he doesn’t give it. So for that to get overturned I am assuming there is an absolute clear image of the ball being out of play. In my experience up here with VAR, you don’t have all the angles and they don’t have the equipment to say it was conclusively out. So you are actually viewing it from a secondary position and at that point you are then having a guess. That is the huge disappointment.
That image has still to appear.
Celtic fans paid £34 to watch Saturday’s match, behind the goal they celebrated Maeda’s equaliser, two minutes later the ‘goal’ was disallowed with only Alan Muir knowing the reason why.
The Celtic team had a bad day at Easter Road but that doesn’t dilute their rights to have the Laws of the Game applied fairly, so far no evidence has been provided to justify Maeda’s 83rd minute effort being disallowed.
From Rodgers’ comments today it seems that Celtic are happy to keep discussions, if any with the SFA private. Nicholson, as usual doesn’t want to break his cover.
When Muir and Steven McLean combined to deny Celtic a penalty and red card when Josh Meekings handled during the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final the club wrote to the SFA seeking clarification, no answer was ever made public.
It looks like Nicholson has decided to repeat the actions of his mentor, the current Celtic Chairman.
Despite being one of only three full-time VAR officials Muir has been left out of the rota for the six Premiership fixtures this week, the usual reaction of the SFA in these circumstances.
Muir could yet have a role to play in Celtic’s season, there are 11 SPFL Premiership matches to be played and possibly three Scottish Cup ties.
Unless the SFA are forced to produce the evidence from Saturday or explain Muir’s decision there is every chance that a repeat will occur before the end of this season, next time it could be as costly as Muir and McLean’s actions in 2015 against Inverness Caley Thistle.
QUESTION: Just on the goal that didn’t stand, have you spoken to Willie Collum at all this morning? Have you spoken to anyone about seeing footage of why the decision was overturned?
RODGERS: No, I don’t think there’s any more footage on it. I think the club go through the process. We don’t make statements and do all sorts of things. We just go through the procedure and the process, which is for the club to speak to the SFA and just get a feeling of what they think.
Obviously, we haven’t had any back yet. My feeling is still the same having watched it and seen the various images. There are a couple of images that you see where the illusion is that it’s out, but then there are others that will look like it’s clearly in.
I’ve seen one image of one right on the actual goal line which was an incredible shot really and that looked in. It’s more the process really. I was disappointed for the guys in the game, Steve and the referee and the linesman, because they actually got it correct in the game. I didn’t feel that they should have been overruled on that without a definitive answer which is what I said at the time.
Brendan Rodgers is “hugely disappointed” with the decision to disallow Celtic’s goal today that would have made it 2-2 against Hibernian 🍀
“My experience here with VAR is that they don’t have all the angles or equipment to say it’s conclusively out.” 🗣️#HIBCEL pic.twitter.com/P4SIiTEcm9
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) February 22, 2025
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5 Comments
by Thomas P Donnelly
I agree with most of what you are saying,but my problem with parts of it is why ,take a poke a Nicholson I am pretty sure he has voiced his opinion to the SPl,SFA,
Why would he bother as far as I am concerned they hire these cheats they are allowing them to cheet, Celtic don’t have backing obviously from the other clubs or there would be changes,.Nicholson goes to complain.they say honest mistake.Its Time to go to FIFA, UAFA, Expose the corruption we believe is going on. Refs, VAR, are at the madam knit picking at the Celtic Board makes no sense they are not the ones who are creating the honest mistakes, We all know who is behind it.
by Editor
With his £800,000 plus salary comes responsibility, Nicholson is constantly in hiding, speaking behind the scenes gets you laughed at by the SFA, look at how many times we get Beaton, three of the five Glasgow Derbies in 2024.
Saturday was a step too far by Muir, there is no evidence to justify his decision, he can’t be allowed to continue as simple as that.
If he continues to get paid for this sort of performance he will continue pushing it, other officials will do the same.
There are potentially three Scottish Cup ties, a repeat of Saturday could be very costly.
A year ago Rodgers called out Beaton as incompetent, Celtic said nothing to back their manager, Beaton got the next Glasgow Derby and excelled himself, the highlight being the Silva penalty u-turn. Lots of other smaller decisions to break up Celtic’s play while Goldson and the rest get free kicks to order, even when they are not looking for them.
Silence encourages them, see Muir and McLean at the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final v Inverness Caley Thistle.
by Gerry Mackay
Look on YouTube for an excellent Sky Sports analysis called ‘Ambiguity. An optical illusion’. Gary Neville positions a ball marginally in, then we see the view from the VAR camera which makes it look out. The only doubt with Johnston’s cross is that still pictures from Saturday show the ball a couple of inches further outside the line than on the Sky Sports analysis.
by Ianbhoy1888
Good article but on one point it’s factually incorrect. Alan Muir is not Aberdeen based . In fact his day job is in Lanarkshire. Don’t want to say exactly where ,unlike some supporters of other teams.
by Editor
Corrected that, thanks.