McAvennie slams bias against Celtic

Former Celtic player Frank McAvennie has claimed that the Scottish officials have a bias against Ange Postecoglou’s side.

The Lowdown

The Parkhead club were denied a penalty in their SPFL game against Hearts last weekend after defender Michael Smith appeared to have handled the ball in the box.

After the match, which ended with the Hoops winning 4-3, Postecoglou launched a scathing attack on VAR and its use in the game.

Now that some days have passed since this match, it appears as though McAvennie has felt the need to share his thoughts on the officiating in the SPFL towards Celtic.

The Latest

Speaking to Football Insider about Postecoglou’s comments, the former Celtic figure had this to say when asked whether he thinks the officials are biased against the league champions:

“Yes… It has happened for years. When I played, the gaffer used to say we will get nothing off the referee. It is going way back. There is no way it is a coincidence.

“It does not matter that VAR is in. Against Hearts he [Smith] stopped the ball with his hand and we got nothing, and that is with VAR. It is just not right.

“I get how the referees can miss things but not the people watching it. The whole world saw it was a penalty. It is just a laughing stock.

“I just find it strange that we have not had any, especially with the amount of attacking play that they have got. There would be one or two.”

The Verdict

With 11 games played, the Parkhead club have not been awarded a penalty in this current campaign.

Taking all of this into account, it seems as though Postecoglou and McAvennie could have legitimate gripes in terms of VAR and the officiating of Celtic from the Scottish officials.

Is there a bias against Celtic from the Scottish officials?

Yes

No

As the Hoops managed to win their game last weekend, this will have allowed them to move on from the handball incident easier than had they dropped points in the match, and the only thing Celtic can do is to make sure their performances do not allow for VAR to cause disruption.

That said, a similar incident this weekend and we could really see some fireworks from Ange after the match, and rightly so.