Over the weekend, both Scottish Cup semi-finals were decided by late goals. On Saturday, Garry O’Connor gave Hibs a first half lead, before Rory Fallon scored a wonder volley to equalise.
Leigh Griffiths then scored in the 87th minute to win the game for Hibs. On Sunday, Rudi Skacel gave Hearts the lead, before Gary Hooper equalised, also in the 87th minute. There was more drama to come, when referee Euan Norris awarded Hearts a penalty in the last minute, after Victor Wanyama handled in the box, and former Celtic striker Craig Beattie scored to set up an all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final.
But when the final whistle blew, Celtic manager Neil Lennon was incensed, and marched onto the pitch to confront Norris, shouting in his face and pointing his finger. After the game, it was first team coach Alan Thompson who handled the post-match interviews, claiming Celtic should also have had a penalty late in the game. Later in the afternoon, Neil Lennon took to Twitter to air his views on the game, where he said “Referee told players he thought Wanyama handled…feel so sorry for players and fans..I think it’s personal myself”, retweeted a Celtic fan who said that the SFA was run by ‘crooked officials’ and said that Gary Hooper was not offside for Celtic’s equaliser, despite replays clearly showing that he was.
Being critical of referees is not a new thing for Neil Lennon. After last month’s defeat in the Scottish Communities League Cup, when Celtic lost 1-0 to Kilmarnock, he said that referee Willie Collum’s decision to book Anthony Stokes for diving instead of awarding a late penalty was ‘criminal’ and had cost Celtic a treble (even thought at that point, they hadn’t even won the SPL). Lennon was also sent to the stands at half-time during the last Old Firm match at Ibrox, after Cha Du Ri was shown a straight red card for a denying Lee Wallace a goal scoring opportunity. After the game Lennon claimed to be mystified as to why referee Calum Murray had sent him off, believing that he is entitled to question the referee’s decisions.
Lennon has already served touchline bans since becoming Celtic manager, receiving two last season after being critical of referees and arguing with Rangers manager Ally McCoist after a fiery Scottish Cup replay at Parkhead. That resulted in Lennon being given an 8 game touchline ban, although ultimately he sat out 5 games, with Celtic arguing that the bans should run concurrently. He also received a suspended £5,000 fine.
At the end of last month, it was revealed that the SFA compliance officer had written to Lennon three times in a week after his criticism of Collum and Murray, and then for talking about referees ahead of an SPL fixture with St. Johnstone. Now, just over a fortnight later, he’s publically accused referees of bias, and it is time for the SFA to take action.
In the hours following the final whistle at Hampden, an increasing number of Celtic fans also took to Twitter to abuse Euan Norris. Some wanted to know his address, and some wanted to cause him harm. When the manager of a football team is claiming in public that there is a refereeing bias against his team, some fans are going to start to believe it. Lennon should know better, but he seems to question the integrity of referees after every defeat. It is now up to the SFA to give Lennon a hefty fine and long touchline ban, or attacks on referees will continue, from Celtic employees and their fans.
Failure to do so would be a failure to back their referees, and having gone through a refereeing strike last season, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan cannot allow Lennon to go unpunished. Lennon has managed Celtic to their first SPL title in four years, but instead of enjoying that success and learning to take a defeat with dignity, he is bringing the Scottish game into disrepute. The SFA cannot allow him to continue in this fashion, so they must force him to end the season in the stands, and begin the 2012-13 season there too.
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What a lazy piece of journalism…
yawn…
You should get a job in the Daily Record.
Don’t forget to blame the Catholic schools & the Pope! Personally I blame Jesus! If it wasn’t for him and his whole inventing Christianity thing Catholics wouldn’t exist and then we wouldn’t have people like that horrible little Neil Lennon!
Don’t forget to leave those important points out of your next anti-Celtic piece you care to write.
On a serious note, even Goebbels would have struggled to write an article this one-sided! It’s sad that with Rangers dying the only thing their fans can think to do is launch personal attack after personal attack against Neil Lennon!
WE ARE ALL NEIL LENNON! HAIL HAIL!
*to “not” leave those
Why are you bringing up religion? It’s a very strange angle to take.
To emphasize that if you’re going to write the same old anti-Celtic, anti-Neil Lennon drivel other Rangers fans do you may as well come out and say what you really mean.
Lets not act like it’s a secret that the hatred towards Neil Lennon comes from the fact that he is a Catholic from Northern Ireland who had the audacity to play for and then manage Celtic!
That’s your opinion. Other people (and not just Rangers fans) dislike Lennon for exactly the kind of thing he did on Sunday.
Do some people hate Lennon because of his religion? Almost certainly. But that is definitely not the main reason that he is disliked.
Lennon’s reaction was a disgrace. The decision was harsh, yes. But to react in that way is shocking. No referee should be subject to that amount of abuse.
well not much to say about ur comments would seem u have said it all in ur opinion.And just as well its ur opinion and not everyone elses very bias opinion if u ask me u have our manager guilty as charged before he has been in front of anyone but then nothing ever is he is guilty of everything according to u lot. Whatever become of innocent until proved guilty but then a forget neil lennon doesnt have that luxury does he.
oh some celtic fans wanted to cause euan norris harm is that so. make a definition of some idiot spewin drunken drivel on a social network & when some1 runs from the stands to attack an official, player or even a MANAGER!
ot how about when a couple of thugs beat a PLAYER unconcious or wot about this 1
WHEN 2 BIGOTED SCUMBAG FKKERS PLAN CONSPIRE TO MAKE A BOMB, SEND IT TO THE ADRESS OF A RIVAL CLUBS MANAGER & TRY TO BLOW HIM UP!!!!!!
is that what yo mean by cause harm?
or do you mean something else entirely?
clown!
This is lazy, sensationalist and plain stupid
“These attacks will continue…”
What attacks are these?!
And please don’t start on about “integrity” -Scottish Football is already a laughing stock thanks to refereeing incompetence, officials ADMITTING to lying and sectarianism, not to mention financial doping.
Jog on, you idiot.
The decisions in both Cup ties were highly questionable to say the least and Mr. Lennon reacted . He is not a compliant “take it on the chin ” person .He knows injustice and is subjected to sectarian abuse at every SPL ground . The SFA and its referees are a WASP organisation and not representative of modern Scotland . Over the years it has become obvious that htere is a cultural bias against Celtic and lrish Catholics as shown by the resignation of mr Dallas,SFA head of referees for sending an offensive anti Pope e mail . Mr. lennon knows it is a waste of time with the SFA and their culture ,the over reaction is frustration
You are, of course, correct. I mean, there’s no evidence to back your claims, but you are correct.
There is no evidence? The offensive emails were widely available onine and show a clear willingness to propulgate offensive material at the expense of the catholic church at the higher echelons of the SFA. What more do you want?
How about the crime stats (only up to 2004 available since someone commissioned the current ones to be shredded before they could be published) that show that catholics are more likely to be the victim of sectarian (or any crime) per head of capita. Also that they are more likely to do jail time if convicted of a crime. It proves nothing about the SFA but does show fundamental bias in the application of law of the land, if not the laws of the game. Head burying and denial of the existance of a problem is part of the problem.
Noone would dream of ridiculing a black man complaining of racism or a woman complaining of sexual discrimination in todays society. Its not okay when the victim is a catholic either. Similarly, just maybe, Neil Lennon actually had a genuine greviance. I mean why would the referee’s dislike him after the Dougie Dougie incident that prempted their strike when their corruption and lies became exposed. Again – this is publically available if you need more evidence.
Sam, playing the victim card, is that the same SFA that Liewell holds such an esteemed position in? That Eric Riley once held, although he stepped aside and holds sway in the SPL. Is it that same SFA? aye?. Let’s get a few things straight here. Stokes dived against Killie, BOTH Ledley and Wanyama hand balled it against Hearts, the ball hit Webster on his hip. ALL Decisions were spot on, now just because your manager can’t accept that (He still thinks fkn Hooper was onside for his goal), and it would appear you can’t either, does not give him license to act like a fkn ned, as he does oh so often.
Ex-players, and managers are now coming out and speaking out about his behaviour. Lennon isn’t hated because he’s an Irish Catholic, he’s hated because of antics like Sunday, he’s a cock. Tell me why fans of EVERY club in Scotland hate him??? He’s dragged Scottish Football back 20 years, and panders to the muppets, like yourself, in your alwayscheatedneverdefeated support, to defelct from his inadequacies as a manager. Tell me, in the now 2 full years he has been at the helm, how many games has he won that carried any importance?? He’s won 2 out of 7 trophies available, yet you muppets hail him as a messiah, and that is against a team that have been on their knees for the last 2+ years.
His ned outbursts hide his inability to win the games that matter, and in turn manages to pull the wool right over you mobs eyes.
Do you realise if you say gullible slowly, it sounds like Oranges?
Collum refuses pen for Celtic at League Cup Final(result sealing decision) Collum 12 pens for Rangers in 22 games and ONE to opposition. 3pens for Celtic in 20 games and 3 to opposition. Murray in OF game at Ibrox (Cha red card LUDICROUS-hateful decision),Wanyama wins ball cleanly without touching opposition player-red card (should be yellow),.Rangers 2nd goal clearly off-side-GIVEN,Samaras constantly fouled (largely unpunished)
Calum Murray SHAFTS Celtic. Cup semi Euan Norris fails to send off Black,awards Hearts ludicrous pen (neither Celtic player moves towards flight of ball-NOT DELIBERATE) then refuses Celtic similar.Hooper goal incredibly close-perhaps 5″ off-side-not discernible in real time.
NORRIS 5 pens for RANGERS in 3 games (hello hello)
That’s 3 massive games in a short space of time where ALL match-turning decisions went against Celtic.Lightning keeps striking in the same place ? Unnatural I say. I THINK NEIL LENNON IS ENTITLRD TO BE ANGRY,VERY VERY VERY FF-ING ANGRY. ANYONE THINK THAT COLLUM,MURRAY AND NORRIS WOULD HAVE GIVEN THOSE DECISIONS AGAINST RANGERS ?
Your article Dougan is a huge distortion thus you are obviously of the lap-top loyal persuasion.Forget your hatred for a few mins and just LOOK at the facts. Celtic fans-send DVDs of the action to Michel Platini and start lobbying UEFA-for a 100 years THEY’VE been out to get US and THEY STILL ARE.For 25 years I have been saying TAKE THE ISSUE TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
We Celtic supporters are totally,utterly,completely sick to death of these Celtic hating West of Scotland bigots masquerading as referees with the authorities completely passive in the issue.Cheat away is the order of the day.Most countries refer to it as racism in Scotland they have a convenient euphemism-SECTARIANISM.Notice NO Hearts fans arrested for sectarian abuse ?
Hooper was clearly offside, and his goal should not have been given. If it wasn’t Hearts win 1-0. The ball did not strike Andy Webster’s arm for Celtic’s penalty claim. No Rangers goals were offside in the 3-2 win at Ibrox.
I’m sure Mr. Platini will be delighted to watch your DVDs, he’s got nothing to do this summer.
I think Platini will be busy looking into how Rangers lspent beyond their means fo years
Eh? No offside Rangers goals at Ibrox? Take off your blue-tinted specs. You’re able to see Hooper is off by 5″ but Lee Wallace being feet offside at the 2nd goal passes you by?
Time to do walking away methinks.
Biased Muppet.
Away and enjoy the last days of your dying club.
Wallace was onside when the ball was crossed and onside when it fell in front of him and he shot. When do you think he was offside?
As I mentioned to your fellow paranoid pal, Mr Bucket. Is this the same SFA that Peter Liewell is so highly involved with??
Did the ref cheat when denying Lee Wallace a perfectly good goal at the Doo Hut in the New Year game, or what about the Hearts goal chooped off against your lot?
Or maybe Brines is a cheat then, he chopped off 2 perfectly good goals for Rangers at Ibrox recently, and awarded a penalty that never was. DO you think he’s manage to break the spell that i sheld over the refs that tells them to give you yahoos nothing??
Take your paranoid face for a well deserved sh**e
Your not right in the head
look at the stats dont just make them up
celtc had more penaltys than anyone last yr
and have half the yellow/red cards of every other team in the league this year
your club trys to intimidate the refs this in turn
has your scum fans doing likewise
funny how when you win no`ones out tom get you
ALWAYS CHEATED NEVER DEFEATED.F.C
Mr. Dougan , thank you for your reply . l would invite you to go to You Tube and watch several videos of matches involving Celtic and would refer you to the comments made by Mr. Levein ,now Scotland’s manager,in 2006 . The evidence re the SFA being a WASp organisation is there for all to see from the current President and several Senior staff.lt may not be comfortable but the SFA totally failed in their duty to govern Rangers over the last 2 decades. l would refer you to the Channel 4 documentary and the recent interview of Mr. Thomson on Radio Clyde . There is an instituonalised bias in the SFA and the Scottish media. lf these are only perceptions then Scottish football still has a serious problem as its integrity is seriously questiioned by a vast amount of fans . A disproportianate punishment for Mr . Lennon will only reinforce these perceptions . it is time the SFA admit that their referees make mistakes and are inconsistent.
Let’s worry about Lennon’s behaviour when he has to be restrained from attacking match officials, or charged with assaulting other managers.
David Dougan what a piece of absolute bitter rubbish this article is. Why did you not write anything about Terry Butcher when he had a go at the SFA and referee’s?
tick tock… not long now before your team disappears…
Let me guess, he is also to blame for every bit of abuse he has received since moving to Glasgow too.
Neil reacted correctly in my opinion. How many times under his time in management has there been massive decisions wrong given against Celtic which have cost us games? Let’s have a look:
1. Dougie McDonald gives us a penalty, changes his mind, lies to the manager & is rightfully sacked.
2. Willie Collum gives Rangers a penalty when his back was turned & there was no contact.
3. Celtic denied a stonewall penalty against Kilmarnock in the League Cup final. A tackle from behind & no contact made with the ball.
4. Cha given straight red card against Rangers although there is minimal contact.
5. Neil sent to the stands at half time during the same game with no explanation.
6. Penalty given against Celtic in the Scottish Cup final for handball when the shot is blasted right at Ledley from 2 yards away. Penalty given for handball against Wanyama!
7. 2 minutes later Celtic are denied a penalty although Webster has clearly handballed in his own box.
These are just off the top of my head but I’m sure the list goes on.
Now the arguement in the 2 cup games is that Celtic played poorly & missed a lot of chances so the other team deserved the win. This is completely irrelevant as Celtics performance, good or bad, does not justify the referees constantly getting the big decisions wrong. It is not about who deserved the win or who played better. The referees are making far to many game changing mistakes & for the most part they do seem to be happening mostly to Celtic.
How long will the SFA allow these massive errors by referees to go unpunished. If a manager criticises the ref, he is punished. If a ref makes a massive error in England he is demoted. If a ref makes a massive error in Scotland he goes unpunished. Where is the justice? I hope Celtic & Neil Lennon continue to stand up to the SFA. Lennon is justified in his criticism for the referees & will not lie down and take it.
Again, let me remind you that Celtic equalised in the semi-final with a goal that should not have stood as Hooper was offside.
Andy Webster did not handle the ball. Cha was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. The level of contact is irrelevant.
Paul:
1 – MacDonald made the correct decision, that point seems to by pass every single Celtic fan
2 – Collum DOESN’T give Rangers a perfectly good goal inthe New Year game, although the ball is clearly over the line.(Thomson gives Celtic a penalty when Stokes dives(more of that in a minute) which could have handed Cletic the lead for the league, thankfully that tranny bottled it.
3 – Stonewall? There was no contact with the ball?? there was no contact with STokes either!!
4 – I’m guessing in point 3 you are intimating that there was ‘minimal’ contact on STokes, which makes point 4 a bit hypocritical, but not a surprising comment from a Celtic fan.
5 – The ref doesn’t need to give the fans an explanation. Lennon knows why he was sent to the stand, and it will come out in the wash (i may be wrong here, but I think it’s against the rules to approach the referee at halftime, you have to wait till full time, but i’ll stand corrected on that point)
6 – Penalty was given for the ball hitting Wanyama’s hand, which it clearly did, after hitting Ledley’s.
7 – As mentioned previously, it clearly shows, and has been acknowledged by everyone ( paranoid celtic fans apart) that the ball clearly hits Webster on his hip.
You can get something from the doctor for your distorted vision pal.
A truly terrible article, at no point in the article does the well i wont call him a Journalist ( the person who wrote the article)say that every decision the Neil questioned was incorrect and Major. I believe like in England all referees should declare the team they support, I would much prefer to see English refs up in Scot at least the mistakes may even themselves out
Why is it that referee’s are not allowed to be questioned ? their performance and decisions are expected to be just accepted by all even when during the course of a game and within minutes they can make totally different decisions on very very similar incidents.
Everyone else in life can be held to account for their actions and made to provide answers for their actions so why not referee’s.
Clearly when so many decisions go against you and at critical times in games there is going to be questions asked, it may well be just incompetence but if the SFA won’t allow debate on the decisions then how do they expect to rectify any poor refereeing performances and ensure that the fans have faith in the ref’s. denying people the right to question the decisions and receive appropriate answers merely shows how detached from the fans these people are.
Gary Hooper was offside when he scored in the 87th minute, but the goal was allowed to stand. I think you’ll find that’s a decision that went in Celtic’s favour at a critical time, and changed the game.
so was ian blacks over the ball tackle on ledley he was not even look ing at the ball but the man the stud marks on ledleys leg show how bad it was should have been a straight red not a yellow then he deliberately handles the ball foul given but rules say card those decisionscould have changed the game because hearts would have been down to 10 men if you study the footage again you will see the ball did not touch wanyama.
“if you study the footage again you will see the ball did not touch wanyama” you’re right, you will see wanyama touches the ball.
Dougie – if you are saying he got the decision wrong about Hoopers goal, wouldn’t that lend credence to Neil Lennon’s argument that he made ludicrous and ridiculous decisions in that game? Seems a bit hyprocritical to slate Lennon for being upset at the referee’s decisions and hold up as evidence a decision you think he got wrong.
Not really, as Lennon said on Twitter that he didn’t think Hooper was offside, and Alan Thompson said that it didn’t matter if Celtic benefitted from that decision, because a later decision went against them. I can’t debate with people when they refuse to accept the facts.
Arfur , Mr. Lennon has been abused since his first game as a Celtic player . We are not talking about his success rate in “big “games ,we are talking about something else which you refuse to contemplate .As regards gullible ,l leave that to the judgement of the Rangers board re Mr Whyte .l feel it may fit them and the Scottish media better .
are you sure yuor surname is Dougan and not Leggat? What an appalling, lazy, one sided article that is.
David Dougan- all you keep saying is Hooper is offside. So it your world, 2 wrongs make a right…? If that is the case, heaven help us.
Lennon is sooooooooooo nasty that he shouts and swears and steals the poor refs lunch piece. What a bully, eh..?!
What about the abuse he gets week in week out, the physical assault at the Edinburgh piggery and attempted assault (?) with a viable explosive device… yet calling out a cheating ref is soooooo bad.
Get a grip of yourself. Maybe if you had more of a backbone your wife would open her legs more often….!
KTF Hail Hail
What’s he supposed to do when he gets cheated,just take it like a good boy. Don’t be silly. You push we, push back and see you in court.
K
First time that I’ve read this site and it will be the last. Go and look at the video of all the incidents before you write what was obviously premeditated! Show me the part in the video where he is “shouting in his face and pointing his finger”. Your picture above actually shows Norris point his finger in Lennon’s face!
Are you Keevins in disguise?