The Scotsman has just published a quite incredible stat; by the time our game kicks off at the weekend we will have gone 200 days without getting a penalty kick in league action. It is surprising only because it spells out what we’re up against, but the idea of it does not shock people in the least. Anyone who watches us knows that we don’t get major calls.
The weekend was a clear-cut example of what we’re up against. The decision not to award us a spot-kick after Hearts had gotten a highly debatable one was appalling. So much for VAR making these decisions easy. The ref certainly found it easy to ignore.
In the aftermath of the game, Ange took one of his best shots at the hacks when he said that “the only penalties we take are in training. I’m looking forward to one.” It was so on the nose that the hacks must have winced. The stats now bear it out.
200 days. It’s quite incredible to think that the most attacking team in the country, the team that spends most time in the opposition penalty area, hasn’t had a spot-kick in such a long time. It is no surprise which club sits at the top of the penalty kick league table in terms of those which were awarded; it’s the Ibrox club.
Think for a moment of the disparity between the two. If this was about attacking teams getting more penalties than others we would not be so long without one.
Later on I’ll be talking about Jackson’s latest piece of wailing bitchery, and a few other issues peripheral to this, but when you see the media reaction to the weekend and the way so many of them have sought to defend and utterly indefensible decision it becomes ever clearer how we’ve gone this long without a spot kick … and you wonder how long it might be before we get another.
The next time Celtic get a penalty we will already be 4 or 5 up.Scottish refs and media rotten to the core.Time our board grew a pair and started kicking up f*** and banning a few media outlets from Celtic Park.
The answer to that lot getting so many penalties was always the same .
It’s because they play attacking football
Would love for statistician to work out the probability of this situation
I remember huns getting FOUR pens in SAME game. Cheating basterts. HH
If you want to make a play out of penalty kicks, ie let’s say from when Jock Stein became the Celtic manager, only count the amount of game changing penalties, not the ones given when the team is 3 or more goals up. I think you will see some difference.
Celtic don’t do this, but other teams always play for penalties (try to cheat the ref). Devlin did it twice for Hearts on Saturday. On both occasions, the Celtic defenders made the mistake of getting to the ball a fraction late (cue Devlin down like a ton of bricks). With the benefit of having studied the replays, Devlin led with studs against Carter-Vickers, so could quite easily been a foul for Celtic and a booking for Devlin (dangerous play for studding the Celtic defender whilst he was committed to a challenge he could not pull out of). The second one, big Jenz was clumsy and paid the price for allowing Devlin the opportunity to go down like a sack of spuds.
Jack I thought the same as you, he leads with his studs. he then went down like a sack of spuds. Carter Vickers could easily have been injured. Celtic players will have to be alert to this kind of decision, VAR being here won’t make any difference and might make matters worse. I’m in my late 70’s and I’ve said for the last 60years that we needed foreign Referees in Scottish football. The SFA has been riddled with anti Celtic, Catholic and Irish prejudice during all of my life. From Sir George Graham to Jim Farry and down to the recent Rangers Liquidation debacle. Its a stain on sporting integrity in Scotland, sadly the few people in Scottish sports journalism from a Celtic background are too frightened of the sack to tell the truth.Unfortunately our board haven’t anybody with the backbone to take this head on. We support a great club that has overcome these people and their biased prejudices time and again with pure skill and determination.
Where’s the Celtic Board in this? If this was the other crowd they would be shouting from the rooftops, better still they get their way. The Board are doing a great job bringing in some fantastic players, the manager has turned the team into a fantastic one and yet all of this hard work will be undone if the cheating/corruption or whatever you want to call it by the officials is not challenged.
I have a feeling that if you use Saturday at Tynecastle as an example, I think you may find it may be the reason that Big Ange finally quits Celtic.
It has been raised. Now see Celtic get a “soft” penalty when we’re already out of sight, so the hacks and everyone can say “you can’t complain, look at the penalty you got last week!”
Nothing surer.
The reason we didn’t get the goals or the penalty at the weekend was because they would have impacted our chances of winning. We only get decisions when it doesn’t matter.
Exactly Martin.
Martin, I think there is evidence out there that proves you right.
Well… When we get our next penalty (probably within the next 4 games) and it’s while we’re well ahead and it’s soft, all of us will see how predictable they’ve become.
How many penalties has sevco been awarded in the last 200 days?
How many penalties have been awarded against them?
Save Scottish football.
Expose the cheats.
We need independent refs (not teachers at ranker’s youth academies), and independent VAR operators (not the brother of ex rangers’ players) as we had adjudicating Celtic at the weekend. Coincidence?
Not sure of the stats, but I’m sure that, in the recent past, James Tavernier has come very close to being the top scorer in the Premier League in Scotland. He also has a similarly “impressive” record in European competitions. Quite simply unbelievable for a journeyman defender!