Steven McLean’s judgement call was brave but nothing to do with Celtic

They want now want Steven McLean sacked. He should have been binned after the Scottish Cup semi-final handball debacle back in 2015…

The biblical meltdown caused by Celtic’s stunning title win shows no signs of slowing down, with each passing day.

Willie Collum’s monthly VAR review has done nothing to simmer the rage of the Jambos and Bears up and down the country, and despite the calls being rightfully declared correct, it still hasn’t stopped the sniping and hilarious claims of corruption.

One such incident that’s been magnified is the one in the Motherwell v Hearts clash at Fir Park, where Hearts attacker Alexandros Kyziridis dramatically throw himself to the ground in the Motherwell box after the slightest of touches by a Motherwell defender.

It was quite rightly ignored in real time, but after VAR intervened, Steven McClean who was the on field official, bravely stuck to his guns after being advised to take second look on the pitch side monitor.

Steven McLean like the rest of us clearly reckoned that Kyziridis had made the most of the slightest of contact, with the player doing himself absolutely no favours by rolling about in pretence. Indeed I reckon that he was nursing the opposite leg that he claimed was impeded!

Perhaps McLean thought Kyziridis over exaggerated the incident?

It was evident that Kyziridis over exaggerated the situation in an effort to win a penalty kick, and the only controversy was that the Greek escaped without a caution for simulation.

▶️ Here’s what happened when VAR checked if Hearts should have been awarded a penalty against Motherwell.

At 6pm on @SkyFootball watch Scottish Football VAR Review to hear what the SFA’s head of refereeing Willie Collum made of it 📺 pic.twitter.com/1YpfaIqgus

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 29, 2026

That hasn’t stopped the sniping, indeed numerous supporters on social media reckon it’s enough to warrant Steven McLean’s dismissal as a professional referee in Scotland.

I mean, it’s a bit over the top wanting a match official dismissed for making the right decision. Ironically McLean was involved in one of the worst ever controversies in Scottish football 11 years ago, and it didn’t receive as much attention as the present wave of ‘incidents’.

Steven McLean missed the clearest handball ever back in 2015 – and it cost Celtic a treble.

That controversy involved ourselves back in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Inverness CT, when Caley Jags defender Josh Meekings stopped a goal bound Leigh Griffiths on the goal-line with his hand.

Despite everyone in the ground witnessing what was a straight red card and penalty kick offence, McLean who was in clear eye-line of the incident, ‘missed’ it completely as did goal line assistant Alan Muir.

Celtic were leading 1-0 at the time, but went on to lose 2-3 to the Highlanders, meaning that McLean’s major ‘blunder’ cost us a place in the Scottish Cup final, and the chance of completing a domestic treble.

McLean and Muir weren’t  handed their P45s in the aftermath of the Caley debacle so why should that happen now?

Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes they go against you

Ironically the ones calling for his dismissal at the moment were all laughing their heads off back in 2015. I suppose that’s the way it is in Scottish football. Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes they go against you.

When will the meltdown end? Any guesses…

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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