Jack Snakes

I'm sure such things happen - but I never really had a choice...

You can't argue with extremists of any persuasion... As for me, I just don't like cheating, and I don't like seeing others cheated. It is a moot point as to whether or not Celtic would have gone on to win the game or not if the penalty had not been given - I would obviously prefer to believe that we would have won anyway since for me to accept that our win was solely down to a dodgy penalty would sour it slightly for me, but I can understand why that is being said. It has been said that the penalty decision turned the game and was the sole reason for the defeat... Without wishing to pour petrol on any embers, I would not have been happy with that as an excuse on Celtic's part had the scoreline and the dodgy decision been the other way round, although as previously mentioned I do understand that chances (or unjust decisions) are at a much higher premium for other sides at the moment than they currently are for Celtic. I'd have been spewing had that been a game where we needed the points and been cheated out of them...

You see for me, I see Celtic players being flagged offside unfairly, simply because they are too fast and the linesman is wrong... I see a Celtic player being blatantly obstructed in the box against Aberdeen Wednesday night and nothing given, I see our players being chopped down on their way towards the box and no reasonable sanction being given... although admittedly none of these makes as much of an impact as a penalty decision that was quite clearly not a penalty...

Personally, at first sight, I might have sided with the ref, given that when you see his view of it, you can understand why he thought it was a penalty (although my opinion is that a penalty award is similar to a criminal conviction - if it isn't beyond reasonable doubt, it shouldn't be given...). Even as a Celtic supporter I felt very uncomfortable after seeing the replay and was hopeful MD would miss... Had a decision like that gone against us I would imagine that some of the more extreme members of our support would have come out with some very unsavoury comments indeed. I'd have been raging for a significant period of time... The Brown/Swanson thing had it been given, I don't think there would have been too many complaints. I have seen penalties given for far less, with opponents deliberately falling over an outstretched leg or whatever. It didn't look like yer man did that although I am personally an advocate of 'if you can stay on your feet you should' and abhor the current mantra of "he felt contact so he was entitled to go down" - utter baws - and I am honestly not sure how much was due to being unable to stay on his feet and how much was due to looking for the foul - although it did look more like the former. To be honest I could probably go through the game again and see a few decisions that didn't go our way but, as previously mentioned, I understand that an unfair decision given against Celtic is currently unlikely to be as costly as an unfair one given in our favour

I am sure it might seem like that sometimes - I probably don't see injustices against the opposition as much as I see them against Celtic, and I understand that at the moment they probably matter less to Celtic. If we're through on goal and an offside flag goes up unfairly, the chances are we'll be through again on goal in a matter of minutes. For a team like SJ against Celtic, it may seem that that one chance was the one golden opportunity that was stolen from them. Out of interest, in games against the other teams, is the refereeing always fair? Are mistakes never made? Is it just games against Celtic where it is felt that referees are more inclined to give decisions one way but not the other?

As a Celtic supporter, I have a great deal of respect for St Johnstone and TW... was never a penalty and I was hoping Dembele would miss it or yer man would save it. Would prefer to win fairly but them's the breaks. Was hoping BR would say that it was never a penalty in post match interview but don't know how much he saw. Anyway, best of luck for the rest of the campaign.