Ed Freeman

@jhnmcgnly Celtic fans like you are scum. Imagine having the arrogance and ignorance to call out abuse on referees after Celtic fans forced the Scottish FA to offer protection to the same referee after he was threatened by Celtic fans and had his home life/family put in danger

Maybe this is a chance for broadcasters to bring a more thoughtful, considered approach to match coverage. What I heard on TV and radio lacked knowledge, balance and set the tone for a fervour that has been magnified to an absurd degree, even if you think it wasn't a penalty.

@davidstoker_lfc The day a referee had to get a police escort to a game in Ayr after Celtic fans doxed him & put out his his address to be attacked should have been a line in the sand. Nothing was done & the same ref was left in a horrible position looking at VAR in injury time & gave a pen

Numerous comments on here about how referees should be demoted, sacked or whatever if they make mistakes (which is inevitable by the way). Who referees the games when we go down that road? There aren't enough referees as it is. (cont)

@scotsunsport Celtic fans threatening him & needing police escort to games a few years ago you would have thought he'd have retired. After what happened during the week he can't/shouldn't referee again. Penalty decision was a joke & people will assume he gave it as hes afraid of Celtic fans

SFA reveal referee John Beaton needs POLICE protection as they blast fans, pundits, clubs, players, managers and ex-refs thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/16267938…

@PaulJohnDykes You need to contact @changemh_ You clearly have issues and these people are there to help you.

As the meltdown enters its second day, people like Kenny are scouring social media for Celtic content. This has irreversibly damaged everyone in Scottish football who can’t bear to see Celtic still in this title race. Kudos to Shebahn Aherne, Chris Sutton, Charlie Mulgrew, Si Ferry & Neil Lennon for offering some balance amongst the chaos and delusion. Has anyone checked on Ally McCoist?

@ScotlandSky That's really support. Not like the bandwagon/sectarian scum like @newryhurler1 who hop on the Celtic bandwagon and abuse anyone who disagrees with them

🎶 For the final time this season… Colin Chisholm sings The Hearts Song at Tynecastle before kick off! ⤵️

@PaulJohnDykes You are the perfect advert for don't do drugs. You embarrassed yourself on national tv

“The reaction has been disgusting.” Stand by every word of this.

@newryhurler1 Celtic released a clip from behind the goal that proved the Motherwell player headed the ball Scottish football got humiliated during the week for that decision and bitter sectarian clowns 🤡 like you defending the decision are why Scottish football is ridiculed

@andrewhdonohoe @jim_demps Are you for real??? Connaght player could have had his leg broken and/or knee wrecked. You need to cop on lad. If that was a Munster player who got taken put you'd be screaming for a red card.

@EdFreeman9 @jim_demps No? It's not agreeing to disagree when we could all see it wasn't a croc roll and a disciplinary panel agrees and rescinds. It's not lucky or unlucky, it's a contact sport so a rugby incident that comes with that Yeah wouldn't like to be in your shoes alright

The standard of officiating is at an all time low in rugby. Yellow card for a croc roll? Where? Get out of here. Not even worth blowing the whistle for.

@MarkGordonMedia The replay Celtic released from behind the goal showed the defender heading the ball away as well. You seem to think the AI images all over the internet showing the handball were real. Feel free to delete this thread and admit you are wrong

@MarkGordonMedia Its ok to admit you dont understand the rules. Pundits were looking at the same angle everyone else (including the ref) was. Your point is irrelevant. From the one angle shown to the ref, he headed the ball. He might have handled it, but it wasn't in any way clear and obvious

Initially I thought Nicholson headed the ball, after multiple views/images from different angles, I now see it hit his hand. None of our esteemed pundits, one of which can barely string a cogent sentence together, have said this. It’s ok to admit you were wrong sometimes lads!

@andrewhdonohoe @jim_demps We'll have to agree to disagree. Barron is a lucky boy and the Connaght lad is even luckier not to get hurt As a Munster fan I'd be more worried about manager who is suggesting he'll quit, Pendergast already gone, worst squad in years and staff redundancies amongst others

@EdFreeman9 @jim_demps Don't think so. And panel agrees too. It wasn't a croc roll but way they fell after a tackle and unfortunate the way rte foot was caught. Rugby incident like many said at the time, and as the panel agrees

@andrewhdonohoe @jim_demps None of the pundits doing the commentary during the game had any issue with the red card either

@andrewhdonohoe @jim_demps Its a croc roll. You're right though. The fact the Connaght plater didnt break his leg shouldn't mean it wasn't a red

@andrewhdonohoe @jim_demps Barron is blessed. He let go at the last minute, but by then the damage is done and I wouldn't have over turned that red. Lucky he didnt break his leg or worse.

@EdFreeman9 @jim_demps Red card was overturned btw. It was nothing like Hendersons, and I say that as an Ulster fan

@TEnglishSport @billyg277 At least you can laugh at your lack of knowledge Tom. Fair play

@billyg277 😂😂😂

For balance, Celtic might have had a penalty for a foul on Maeda - and Motherwell might have had one, too. Recently, the Kyziridis penalty not given vs Motherwell, the Newell handball not given vs Celtic etc etc. Bin VAR, yes, but you’d still have officials making the same errors

@rangersrabble When you have part time refs who work with Celtic/Rangers fans on a daily basis in charge and a pound shop VAR system that had only one camera for replays last night you are creating a situation that is bringing the game into disrepute. Scottish football a laughing stock today

Ally McCoist on Talksport: I spoke to a former player 5 minutes ago (regarding the penalty decision last night) "The integrity of the game has to come into question after that decision"

@xbasslichtie @p_bov1 @pieandbov That pic (if not AI) shows him heading the ball and maybe catching his wrist

@p_bov1 @pieandbov Nope. Not conclusive. I thought the hand was underneath the ball? That photo shows it was beside the ball.

The morning after the night before. Firstly, it’s 2026, let’s stop using still images to try and confirm anything that happens on a football pitch. Video brings context. Secondly, and related to point one, for fucks sake use some common sense. An image showing two balls and an English Premier League badge on the Motherwell shirt is actually being circulated by some people as “proof” of what happened 😂 Thirdly, unless you are genuinely blind, I think we can all agree on one point now. The ball absolutely DOES hit his hand, the evidence of that in slow motion and zoomed in, is absolutely clear. Fourth, the distance on the ball is because Nicholson does indeed head it, but he heads it with his hand between his head and the ball. Again that is absolutely clear when you watch it zoomed in and in slow mo, IMO. So, and this is only my opinion of course, the only debate to be had is about whether the hand is in an unnatural position or if his hand has ended up there because of contact from Trusty. For me, whilst his arm isn’t making his silhouette bigger, you can’t really say it being on his forehead is a natural position 🤷‍♂️ Whether a nudge by Trusty pushed his arm up there is I suppose up for some debate but that’s pretty subjective, again IMO, and could be argued either way. So, despite the initial furore, by me included, I genuinely can see why this has been given. In terms of “the worst VAR decision of all time”it’s not even close to being as bad as either of the penalties Hearts didn’t get just three days ago at the same ground. Most neutrals, me included, want Hearts to win the league, and that incident last night was massively disappointing, but I think we all need to calm down a bit. What it has shown though, is that we desperately need more and better camera angles if we are stuck with VAR, and we also need much clearer and consistent decisions on handball cos we are making an absolute arse of dealing with it up here. Some refs give what others don’t, and it’s incredibly frustrating (again see Fir Park on Sat night). That’s my 2p worth anyway, all I know for sure is it’s a very good time to be a football forum owner 🤪

@newryhurler1 That's a still going around after he headed it. Ball doesnt travel that direction if it comes off his hand. He clearly headed it. Scottish football got embarrassed last night. For Hearts to have a chance at the weekend officials should be from England but SFA wont do that

John Robertson in the Sky studio.....dumb pri@k couldn't even spell physics never mind understand it!

@BBCSportScot More nuetral fans sat down tonight to watch Scottish football than have ever done before given what was at stake in the games. Alot of them wouldn't take the Scottish league seriously. After watching that sh*t show from the officials tonight in the Celtic game, they're right

'We feel as if we're up against everybody. Siege mentality' Hearts boss Derek McInnes on the late penalty awarded to Celtic at Fir Park. #BBCFootball