Surprise, surprise, the SFA’s Key Match Incident report panel for last weekend has adjudged Reo Hatate’s challenge on Kilmarnock’s Liam Donnelly as serious foul play…
Celtic unconvincingly defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 at Rugby Park last Sunday with goals from Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn sealing an important three points for Brendan Rodgers’ side who enter international break number three of the season unbeaten domestically.
Despite there being three key talking points in the match, one incident was glaringly omitted from the KMI report yesterday. There was no mention of Liam Donnelly’s attempt to deliberately elbow Celtic shotstopper Kasper Schmeichel.
Meanwhile, unlike Donnelly’s malicious attempt on Kasper, Joe Wright’s elbow on Adam Idah in the opening minutes of the match was discussed in the SFA’s findings for last weekend’s Premiership KMI.
The panel came to a unanimous conclusion that a yellow for Kilmarnock’s towering defender was the correct outcome. They said, “the onfield decision was unanimously supported [5:0].”
Experienced onfield referee Nick Walsh brandished a yellow card for Hoops playmaker Reo Hatate for a lunge on Liam Donnelly in the second half. This was backed up by VAR official Don Robertson at Clydesdale House who felt a recommendation to the VAR monitor was not necessary.
However, the Key Match Incident report made up of five panellists [three independent panel members with established careers in Scottish football such as a former player, coach, or a member of the media, one representative from the Scottish FA, and one representative from the SPFL clubs]claimed that there was one VAR error last week in the Scottish Premiership. According to the review completed by KMI, Reo Hatate should have been sent off in Ayrshire.
In their reasoning it was outlined that, “the panel discussed this decision at length with the majority [3:2] deeming the onfield decision incorrect. The majority [3:2] believed that VAR should have intervened and recommended an OFR for a red card to be awarded as they believed that the challenge endangered the safety of the opponent. Two members of the panel highlighted that they don’t think the potential foul was clear and obvious enough for VAR to get involved and a caution sufficed.”
When you do the maths on this, three panel members reckoned it was a red, but two of their colleagues plus the match referee and the VAR believed it was a yellow card offence. That’s 4-3 in favour of Reo then who was perhaps fortunate to get the benefit of the doubt.
Having established during the game that rough-house tactics from Kilmarnock were going to be tolerated perhaps Welsh and Robertson felt that getting one back from Celtic was going to be managed in a similar fashion, thus a yellow and not a red.
Who knows but it is perhaps about time that they could point to a decision going Celtic way as it’s been all too one sided so far this season from the MIBs and their pals. I’ll refer you to Sandman’s Definitive Reviews for the best analysis on this incident.
READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitive Ratings – Celtic at Salem’s Lot
Conor Spence
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Only in Scottish football, the word “Intent” over the incidents at kille, conveniently seems to be overlooked as per usual?
Hatate overran the ball, after miscontrolling upon a dreadful surface?
Yet Hatate was pulling out of the tackle, and no intentions of following through with it whatsoever?
Hence no real reaction from the players on the field, even if still images could have been used, which makes the tackle, look like a straight red card offence?
So common sense applies to that incident and even more so with Hatate as the player involved, especially when “Intent” to endangering an opponent isn’t within the nature of Hatate whatsoever?
Yet can the word “Intent” can and should have been applied to the 3 kille thuggery incidents, that conveniently get overlooked, against ourselves?
The concerns remains as all of the scum cheerleaders are currently promoting another lie, within the media, trying to claim that ourselves receiving all of these so called favourable decisions?
The lie remains as thuggery football is the acceptable face of Scottish football, in its attempt to try and stop ourselves, because no-one comes close, with footballing ability, despite the use of dreadful surfaces, cheating officials etc etc?
All of this, when we were nowhere close to our best either, yet another 3 points won?
Still would have concerns regarding our next match up against the mini huns as a result now?
Open season has been declared on thuggery football against ourselves, and the minis more than capable of applying it also now?
Yet any mistimed tackle from ourselves, will result in straight red cards getting applied, from ourselves going forward?
The scum cheerleaders within the media have done nothing more than trying to promote the 12 year lies, that we are about to smash, in the meantime another lie is allowed to be promoted yet again?
…🤔👍😎🙏HH🍀