Ten Shocking “Honest Mistakes” Against Rangers

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Earlier in the week, I wrote an article on why I thought the thing we had to fear most, especially in the Scottish Cup, was the intervention of The Brotherhood.

Today I thought I’d look back on some of the most egregious and galling decisions that have gone against us in Celtic – Rangers games.

Now, I know this isn’t one of them but with the Survival Myth still prevalent at the SFA I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that they might act like it is.

What follows are my Facebook friends’ worst memories of Brotherhood intervention against us; believe me when I say there were many, many more and because this only focusses on games against one opponent a lot of incidents aren’t here which otherwise would have made any top ten, including the Inverness incidents, Dougie Dougie and the Jim Farry episode to name but a very, very select few.

These are in no particular order; they’re also all of fairly recent vintage, and the fact that I’ve been able to find so many – and had to leave other past examples out – tells you just how many there actually are. Too many to adequately cover in one piece.

I would say enjoy … but that’s not quite the point here, is it?

Giving Rangers A Penalty When The Ref Wasn’t Even Looking At The Incident

On 24 October 2010, Celtic hosted Rangers at Parkhead in what was to prove a telling encounter. When Gary Hooper put us 1-0 up early in the match the stage seemed set, but two goals from Rangers put them in front. With our team pressing for an equaliser, we witnessed one of the most infamous refereeing decisions of all time … the Kirk Broadfoot dive and the referee’s awarding a penalty, without talking to any of his officials, for an incident he hadn’t even seen ….

You can watch the footage of this one 100 times and still not quite believe your eyes. In Willie Collum’s first match between the two teams, he gave us an awful foretaste of what was to come in a game riddled with inexplicable moments, but this one towers above them all.

This decision is a travesty, an absolute unpardonable scandal which ought to have seen this guy demoted to the junior ranks.

He’s gone on to become “Scotland’s best referee.”

Scott Brown Sent Off, Bougherra Somehow Stays On

A truly unbelievable day and one that lives long in the memory of every Celtic supporter who witnessed it.

Few who saw it know, to this day, why Dougie McDonald sent off Scott Brown. Even fewer can comprehend why he didn’t send off Madjid Bougherra, who was booked inside the first ten minutes and then proceeded, all day long, to kick Robbie Keane from one end of the park to the other. It was an astonishing display of naked thuggery, sanctioned by an official who seemed hell-bent on letting the Rangers player away with murder, but couldn’t wait to send the Celtic captain off for an incident in which Kyle Lafferty was, at least, as much to blame if not the absolute aggressor.

It remains one of the most scandalous pieces of blatant Mibbery the Celtic fans have ever had the misfortune to see.

In the aftermath of this game, Celtic complained to the SFA and sought clarification over this and a number of other incidents, including the Fortune goal that was chopped off earlier in the season and an absymal failure not to award Shaun Maloney a penalty kick … an incident made all the worse for the fact Rangers went right up the other end and scored.

This was truly the game that shattered the patience and tolerance of our club though.

Jorge Cadete Disawllowed Goal … A Match That Could Have Stopped The March To Their Nine In A Row

It took us long enough to get Jorge Cadete in a Celtic shirt, but once he was there he quickly proved his mettle and his goal-scoring prowess with some astounding performances in a Celtic strip. He and DiCanio played well on 1 January 1997. This was one of those games we were never going to be allowed to win, as Rangers were heading for nine in a row. Before this match, Cadete had scored in the two games prior; he went on to score in the next six. This one, literally, denied him his own nine in a row record.

To this day, no-one of a Celtic persuasion can say quite why this goal wasn’t given … except that it was scored by a superlative finisher, wearing the Hoops, and we had enough in that team to have gone on to win that match outright had it counted.

It is a travesty of a decision, one that lives long in the memory of everyone who saw it.

Alan Thompson Sent Off Over For Non Existent “Header” On Lovenkrands On The Day O’Neill Lost It With Ibrox “Racists”

20 November 2004 was another day of notoriety, but one that had a sting in the tail for the Ibrox club and was to have a major impact on their future standing.

The headline decision – to send off Alan Thompson for a non-existent headbutt, on Peter Lovenkrands, which the Danish cheat played up for all it was worth, was disgraceful enough, but Celtic finished the match with nine men after Chris Sutton was dimissed for two “bookable offences.” Nacho Novo got away with an appalling piece of thuggery in the match, and ironically should never have played in the first place as he had been banned from the game, but took the decision to appeal and the SFA granted it!

The match saw Novo and Camara investigated by video review panels in the aftermath, and was generally bad-tempered and volatile from start to finish.

Celtic lost 2-0; we’d been 2-0 when Thompson walked.

The most important part of that day was what happened afterwards; Martin O’Neill made a public show of support for Neil Lennon, walking him up to the Celtic crowd with an arm wrapped around him, after he’d suffered appalling abuse all day long.

“Neil Lennon, for whatever reasons, suffers dogs abuse at every single away ground and in particular here obviously,” he said. “He is well thought of by the Celtic fans for what he has done for us over the last four-and-a-half years. It was to show that Neil Lennon is very popular with our fans and I didn’t want anyone to forget that.”

A short time later, Martin was sitting in a press conference in Turin, in preparation for the Champions League match with Juventus, and was asked to clarify his comments. He told the attending journalists that what Lennon had suffered was “racist and sectarian.”

The floodgates were open.

UEFA started scrutinising Rangers games from that moment on.

The rest is history.

Paul Lambert Carried Off On A Stretcher After He Concedes A Penalty By “Breaking Albertz Knee With His Jaw”

7 November 1999 was another ghastly day at Ibrox, and another horrendous refereeing decision … as Paul Lambert wins a 50/50 ball in the Rangers box, with our team 2-1 up, only to collide with Albertz knee. He was carried off the pitch in a stretcher, losing teeth, spitting blood … and watched as Albertz scored the penalty which the referee that day had rushed to give.

This one has boiled my blood for years and years. The decision is a joke, and it’s all the worse as Lambert clearly took the worst of it.

I’ve watched this video 100 times; Paul Lambert wins the ball. It’s that clear, it’s that simple. Albertz goes down holding the knee that smashed the Celtic player’s jaw, and the ref gives the spot-kick as if it was Lambert standing over a prone footballer.

The stats that day – 5 Celtic players booked to Rangers’ 1 – make it sound a rougher game than it was.

How come it was only the Celtic midfielder who ended up in the hospital?

Mark Antoine Fortune Scores Against Rangers … Oh Wait … No He Doesn’t ….

Sunday 3 January 2010 was another red-letter day for the Mibbery, with more than a few moments of controversy.

In the 19th minute of the game, Mark Antoine Fortune looked as if he had put Celtic 1-0 up. Steve Conroy thought different. The goal was chopped off for an alleged infringment on the Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor. As if this decision wasn’t infuriating enough, just eleven minutes later Kyle Lafferty was allowed to stay on the park after a disgraceful, bone crunching tackle on Celtic’s right back Andreas Hinkel, a tackle that could have ended the German’s career at a stroke.

This wasn’t a classic, finishing 1-1 after a Scott McDonald opener had been cancelled out by a Lee McCulloch equaliser just minutes later … but it will live long in notoriety nonetheless.

John Hartson’s Heartbreak As His Goal In League Cup Final Is Scandalously Chopped Off

16 March 2003 is one of those days that I can’t even think about without anger. Rangers beat us 2-1 in the League Cup Final, in a match where Neil Lennon was shown the red-card and we had an absolute perfect Hartson goal chopped off by a linesman who was never held to account for it. To cap it all off, and make matters worse, Big Bad John saw his last minute penalty saved when it would have given us extra time and a right good chance.

Instead it’s one of those days that depresses all Celtic fans, and infuriated Celtic.

I am not exaggerating when I say this remains one of the most shameful pieces of cheating I’ve seen in all my years watching football. It was that bad.

Martin O’Neill was scathing at full time in this one, both about the disallowed goal and the Lennon sending off.

It mattered not. The Mibbery had struck again.

Thankfully, Hartson was to put all that behind him just four days later at Anfield, with one of the finest goals of his career.

We were on the way to Seville.

Neil Lennon Denied A Stonewall Penalty At Ibrox As The LeGuen Revolution Hangs By A Thread

Sunday 17 December 2006 was an important, must-win, game for Rangers as Paul LeGuen’s revolution hung in the balance.

Celtic had taken the lead due to a Thomas Gravesen slammer, and we looked certain to claim all three points. Not long later, Lennon went through the defence and was brought down by Steven Smith. The referee was right there, on hand, but turned his back amidst furious protests from the Celtic players, and the captain in particular, as well as a raging Gordon Strachan.

This was another disgraceful decision, and it was made worse when Rangers snatched an 88th minute equaliser through Hemdani.

Hugh Dallas’ “Finest Hour” As He Sends Off Mahe, Gets Hit By A Coin And Gives A Penalty Seconds Later

On 3 May 1999, Rangers won the league title at Celtic Park in a game marred by the worst cheating I’ve ever seen from a referee, in any match, anywhere in football, in my whole life watching the sport. The incident is now notorious, coming as it did on a day of mayhem.

Celtic fans don’t look back on this one with any pride; we were routed on the park and the behaviour of a number of our fans was shocking. But Dallas couldn’t help but be the centre of attention.

We were already 1-0 down when he decided to send Stephane Mahe off for a second bookable offence. Chaos ensued; a fan ran onto the pitch. Coins were thrown. Dallas was struck by one, and spent a minute or two on the turf being treated.

No sooner was he on his feet than he lashed out at all inside Parkhead, awarding Rangers a penalty kick after Vidmar went down. The reaction at Celtic Park to that was an explosion. Another fan tried to get onto the pitch, the Celtic players protested bitterly, but to no avail. It was 2-0 to Rangers just before half time.

Dallas was widely praised for his courage; what I saw was a moment of sheer spite, understandable, perhaps, having just been hit by a missile from the crowd, but cheating nonetheless.

Dallas, of course, became more famous later on, when he was fired from his job at the SFA for sending a sectarian e-mail.

No longer held in such high regard in Scotland (except at the SFA, in the media and with Sevco fans) he somehow wound up at UEFA, making a mockery of their anti-sectarian initiatives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCiILF4UIgA

Elbows McCulloch Assaults John Guedetti, Rangers Get The Free Kick

Just because they’re not Rangers, doesn’t mean they don’t get decisions against us …. this one, from last year, probably doesn’t belong here but it’s included because it’s important to remember just how biased these people are and how tough it will be for us to get a break.

Celtic won this game 2-0 and were already assured a place in the final when Guidetti and McCulloch tussled. What followed was an unbelievable piece of Mibbery, as the Swedish forward wound up on the ground with McCulloch’s boot on his back.

Not only did Sevco get the free kick, but the SFA later studied the footage and decided McCulloch had no case to answer.

Look at the picture. Watch the footage. Who’s kidding who here?

Astonishing, and one of several decisions that means we’ll never trust the new “review panel” as far as we could throw Ibrox itself.

https://vine.co/v/OFrdpj2Xav2