GUS MacPherson, the St Mirren manager, yesterday claimed referee Eddie Smith winked at him after awarding Celtic the controversial penalty kick which saw the SPL champions notch a 1-0 victory on the opening weekend of the new campaign.
Despite starting his post-match media briefing by insisting he would not discuss the performance of the official, MacPherson left no-one in any doubt as to how wronged he felt by the decision which saw Will Haining sent off after Smith ruled he had f
ouled Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
MacPherson was also highly critical of Scottish referees in general, accusing them of seeking the limelight and of potentially singling out certain managers, himself included, for special treatment. "At the referees' annual meeting this summer, they had photographs of some SPL managers up on a screen," said MacPherson. "You start to think you are a target. It is a concern if they are talking about individual managers and I was one of them. I don't know the context of it but I think it was a dangerous thing to do. It is worrying. The referees like being the centre of attention and if we talk about them, they are quite happy with that.
"I haven't seen today's incident again on TV yet, but people I trust and respect have told me it wasn't a penalty, that he (Vennegoor of Hesselink) was offside and that it should have been a free-kick to us. There are a lot of questions there, but there is no point in asking them because you won't get any answers. He (Smith) was winking to me from the park after the penalty. I don't know why he did that, he would need to explain it, whether he was trying to irritate me."
Smith also upset St Mirren at Love Street in February when he judged Gary Mason to have fouled Shunsuke Nakamura for a debatable free-kick which the Japanese player converted to give Celtic another 1-0 win.
"Eddie Smith thought he got that one right last season," said MacPherson. "He said that he and the referees' observer at the match agreed he had got it right. So there's no chance he is going to say he got this one wrong.
"I thought my players were outstanding, from the first minute to the last. We put so much into it, worked so hard, had a good shape and passed the ball well for periods. If we had got the break that Celtic had got, then we might have won the game."
Gordon Strachan, while unhappy at the level of his team's performance, disagreed with MacPherson's view of the penalty incident and felt Celtic should have been awarded another one earlier when Vennegoor of Hesselink went down under a challenge from St Mirren goalkeeper Mark Howard.
"I thought the referee was terrific," said the Celtic manager. "I thought it was a penalty and I thought it was also one just before it. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. We weren't very effective today, but I didn't feel St Mirren were going to score.
"That's the fourth opening game since I've been here and that was the least effective and the least enjoyable. At the end of the season, the result will be big, but at the moment it is about the performance. It seemed low key throughout the game. We had four good players out there, and I've told them who they are, and that's not enough to get a good performance. You would think raising the flag before the game would inspire players. I'm not proud of the performance today."
Celtic have concluded the signing of 20-year-old Spanish midfielder Marc Crosas from Barcelona for an initial fee of £415,000 which will rise by a further £750,000 depending on appearances.
Crosas has signed a four-year contract with Barcelona having a buy-back option for a fee of £1.75 million in two years' time. The newcomer was introduced to the fans before kick-off yesterday.
"He will need time to settle, but we are delighted to have him here," said Strachan. "He is a young player but it is a good investment for us in someone with potential."
The full article contains 719 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
