CHRIS SUTTON has rubbished Robbie Neilson and called out his lack of consistency when it comes to Celtic complaints in his latest Daily Record column.
The former Celtic man pointed out that Neilson is always finding something to complain about, even if he acknowledges that he decision is correct!
On Wednesday, the Hearts boss said that Celtic would need to ‘decapitate’ a player before the referee would pull out a red card, despite Celtic seeing the card quite a few times this season.
Writing in the Daily Record, Sutton called out Neilson, saying:
“And thanks to Robbie Neilson lighting the blue touch paper, there should be an extra level of spice to proceedings. I wouldn’t slaughter the Hearts manager for his comments after the game the other night. He’s entitled to his opinion and he’s obviously trying to put a bit of pressure on the match officials. Neilson’s had previous with this kind of stuff though. It seems like every time his side loses to Celtic there’s a moan about something – even correct decisions.
“I remember he once complained about a goal being given when it was close to the line. Replays showed it was a mile over but Neilson claimed there was no way the officials could have known it! Good effort Robbie. His gripe the other night was similar. The Alexandro Bernabei challenge was never a red card in a month of Sundays.
“Excessive force? A tickling stick would cause more damage. Callum McGregor was on the end of a worse one at Tynecastle a few games back and Neilson argued it didn’t merit a red. As for needing a decapitation to get a red card at CelticPark? I’m not sure about that as we’ve seen a couple of sendings off this season.
“Don’t forget there were a few dodgy calls that went his side’s way the last time Celtic were at Tynecastle as well. But Neilson went in two feet on the officials the other night and if he thinks it might put a seed of doubt in the minds of the referee then he might think it was worth it. Either way Celtic will have their hands full.”
It’s good to see Robbie Neilson called out on his attempt to pressure the officials heading into the second meeting of the two teams this week.
From being at the games, you know just how much of a complainer the Jambos gaffer is. He’s constantly at the fourth official; in fact, I struggle to think of a time when I’ve looked over at him, and he’s in his technical area.
