SFA Decisions That Impacted Celtic's Game

Celtic were up against the full might of the SFA at Easter Road yesterday.

As well as Nick Walsh delivering free-kicks on demand to the home side there were three major decisions that required VAR intervention.

And who was on VAR duty to help Mr Walsh out? One of his colleagues from Boclair Academy, Grant Irvine, another from the PE Department at that remarkable school in Bearsden.

Only 14 referees have been in charge of SPFL Premiership matches this season.

What a coincidence that two of them share the same workplace. What a coincidence that that school is the partner school for the second best team in Scotland over the last four seasons.

HONEST WILLIE COLLUM

It is no coincidence that Willie Collum decided to put Walsh and Irvine together for a high profile match involving Scotland’s most successful club.

Out of all the referees in Scotland and all of the workplaces it is remarkable that two work together Monday to Friday. The SFA are well aware of this.

Working on the fitness and education of the next generation of stars from Murray Park.

Then working on a critical match for the club that has denied the Ibrox Tribute Act of honours since 2016.

It is a set up that should never have arisen.

CONFLICT?

Conflicts of interest should be declared to the SFA. Walsh and Irvine should never be involved in any match that can impact either of the big two clubs in Glasgow.

Every week Honest Willie Collum has dozens of fixtures to arrange officials for.

Being such a great honest guy Collum knows about the backgrounds and day jobs of the officials. He is especially accommodating for Douglas Ross after a year out of football.

On Sunday Walsh and Irvine were making critical decisions impacting on Celtic. Today they were on the day job working on the fitness and education of players at their biggest rivals.

THE VAR DECISIONS

Of the three strange decisions taken at Easter Road the Hibs penalty was the most contentious.

From a few angles it looks like the ball struck Liam Scales on his left arm. But there is absolutely no clear cut evidence that it did.

Sky Sports tried their best to find evidence. The best that they could come up with was from behind the goal, left of Kasper Schmeichel’s left hand post. No clear evidence is available.

It may well be a penalty. It may not be. The ball may have grazed Scales head, it may have struck his arm in what is known as the T-shirt area.

There was nothing conclusive.

Yet Irvine intervened, saw a handball and passed the decision to his colleague from Boclair Academy.

Handball is factual, not subjective. If Irvine saw a handball he instructs Walsh to award a penalty. He doesn’t pass that decision to his staff room colleague.

MCGRATH AND BUSHIRI

There were two other incidents where VAR should have stepped in, the evidence was there. Irvine chose not to get involved. Today he was working on the fitness of Murray Park starlets.

When Arne Engels scored Celtic’s second goal he took a kick to the face. The top of Kieran McGrath’s boot hit the Belgian right on the nose. He forcibly endangered an opponent.

Walsh opted for a yellow card while Engels received treatment. His colleague from Boclair Academy agreed.

VAR OPTS OUT

Midway through the second half Rocky Bushiri head-butted Yang Hyun-jun just after the Korean had headed the ball. Inside the penalty area the big decision was whether Bushiri gets a red or yellow card. A penalty kick was the easy part.

Walsh opted to play on then stopped the game for an unknown reason. Irvine watched the evidence and decided not to get involved. He agreed with his colleague from Boclair Academy.

The assistant VAR was Ross Hardie, the referee that missed the Manny Fernandez handball at Ibrox against Livingston.

The talent pool in Scottish refereeing is shallow enough.

Only honest Willie Collum of the SFA can justify the circumstances at Easter Road that resulted in three big decisions going one way.

Had the correct decisions been made Gordon Duncan would be rammed with callers to Super Scoreboard for at least a week.

Duncan and honest Willie will explain the decisions and release the audio on their next VAR Review show on Sky Sports.