The Kilmarnock manager, Derek McInnes has admitted that he should probably ‘let go’ his claims that Killie should’ve received a penalty against Celtic in the semi-final of the Viaplay Cup in January.
During a press conference earlier today at Rugby Park, ahead of Celtic’s clash with Kilmarnock in the League Cup on Sunday, the Killie boss revealed his lingering annoyance at the penalty claim which was dismissed by referee, Willie Collum during the Viaplay Cup Semi-final.
The incident itself consisted of Giakoumakis apparently bundling over the Killie defender Joe Wright inside the penalty box. However, McInnes’s claim does come from biased eyes, as the incident certainly wasn’t a penalty.
The score at the time of the claim was 1-0 to Celtic, so McInnes reckons that if it were awarded it could have changed the course of the match, as he felt Killie could have taken the game to extra time. As reported by Football Scotland, McInnes said…
“Last season, at Hampden in the semi-final, we felt really aggrieved not being able to take it to extra time,” he said. “Nothing will change my mind that we should have had a penalty in the last minute of the game. It showed we did a lot right in that game to take Celtic close.”
“I believe the referee was told it was probably worth maybe having a look at but he saw it for what it was – a defender trying to buy a penalty. Maybe he should have been told to go and see the incident, Here’s me, let it go, Derek, Christ.”
“He should have been made to go and see the incident again, that’s what I feel, and if he still arrives at the same conclusion then it is down to the referee’s perception of it. But I felt it was a penalty.”
Although the penalty was rightly never awarded, Celtic still went on to score again and win the clash 2-0 and would proceed to lift the cup in the final after defeating theRangers 2-1.
Is the Kilmarnock manager hinting that the referee on Sunday should ‘even thing up’ by awarding his side a penalty kick on Sunday? Stranger things happen all the time in Scottish football.
Had it been theRangers that he was facing on Sunday, McInnes wouldn’t have bothered to mention a long forgotten incident from the start of the year – like the stonewaller we were denied at Ibrox the week before his ‘Hampden injustice’. Well, the Killie boss like everyone else in Scottish football, knows that referees don’t award penalties against THEM.
CONFIRMED: Celtic defender Bosun Lawal has signed a contract extension until the summer of 2026 AND has now joined Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan. pic.twitter.com/WG0E7kCImP
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) August 17, 2023
Del boy has previous for this when he was at Aberdeen, constantly saying he is looking forward to playing us and moaning about previous decisions. You would think he would learn to keep his gob shut if he is privately confident and relays that to his players that’s fine but all he wants to do is get his excuses in and if a decision goes against him he will say, see I told you so. Serial loser and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.