Top Line Summary

  •  Incompetent refereeing display by Don Robertson and John Beaton 
  • Games being refereed outside the field that can cost you
  • Worst officiating in two spells as Celtic manager
  • More twists and turns in the title race
  • Callum McGregor injury update

Everything that Brendan Rodgers said to the media after Celtic's 2-0 Scottish Premiership defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle...

What was your take and thoughts on the match?

My feeling is the game was decided by the officials. On the field and outside of the field. You guys know me well enough and I have been around long enough to know that I don't really comment on officials. I know that they make mistakes and whatever else but today that felt like really poor officiating. I think the first one - the sending off - there is no force but if you show a still image of that then, of course, it looks like a high boot with the head near it. It is not the reality of the move. If you watch the move again Don (Robertson), actually got it right on the field, it was a high boot, okay, so it's a yellow card. There is no malice or force and then for John Beaton to look at that on VAR supposedly under no pressure and to say that was a sending-off, I find that incredible. The second one is worse. To have a penalty go against you for that then there would be penalties every single weekend and midweek. I don't know what Tommo (Tomoki Iwata) is supposed to do. He is jumping and he's got a nudge and he's coming down and the ball goes onto his arm. There is no intention to move it or anything and you get the penalty against you. Again they get the chance to look at it and see it, so to give those two decisions left us with an uphill task in the game. Credit to my players because they fought and kept going and their goalkeeper has made a few good saves which could have changed the momentum of the game. It was a poor day for the officials.

Did you speak to the officials?

I spoke to him (Don Robertson) in the tunnel just briefly, but it’s a waste of time if I’m honest. There is no change and I also think as well that VAR is not the problem here. That’s clear. It’s incompetence. I think the first one is a great example of the game being refereed outside of the pitch. This is the thing everyone is talking about, that the officials do their job and if it’s something that’s clear and obvious maybe step in. The referee made the decision and someone outside made another decision to say it was a sending-off. So that’s the game being refereed outside of the field and in big games that costs you.

Do the managers talk about it?

I think is discussed and I have the delegate wanting to speak to me. Waste of time, waste of energy, because there is no change. ‘I do not come in here crying about referees, be it here or the EPL, because I understand there will be mistakes made. That today was awful officiating in what was a big game for us.

Will Celtic complain about John Beaton?

I don’t know. We will go away and have a look at it. But it doesn’t change anything, that’s the reality. It was so disappointing.

Is that the worst officiating you’ve had in two spells here?

I think so. In my time up here, I’m not one to have a go at refs because I understand it’s a very very difficult position they are in. I try to respect decisions and give the benefit of the doubt. But I think when I see that level of incompetence is the only word I can use, then that makes me worry for the game. In such a tight title race, which it is and it’s fantastic to be involved in, that can make the difference. That today made a difference for us.

What did you think about Adam Idah mucking up the penalty?

Yeah. We have to look at ourselves for that. In fairness to Adam he’s done the right thing, he just needed to lift it a bit more. He decided to go down the middle and didn’t get it as high as he wanted. They made the save and in that little spell we lost a man so we take responsibility for that.

Was this in terms of the title race a missed opportunity or does it show that there will be more twists and turns?

Absolutely. You would never have said yesterday before Rangers lost to Motherwell at home that they would lose. Everything I hear is that they are going to win every single game through to the end of the season. But we know it’s about us. It’s still very much in our hands. We’ve got 12 games to go. Nine league games and we want to be in the cup final on the 25th of May. We will fight for every competition we will be in. We had the chance to go top. It was unfortunate the way the game panned out for us. We now have to recover and go away and get to the semi-finals next weekend.

What is Callum McGregor's situation?

He will have another scan on Wednesday. I don’t think it will be long-term but it may last through to the international break.

How did you think you played?

I think the players fought and gave everything. Clearly, Callum is a really influential player for us but the guys gave their all. They gave everything and fought right to the very end. We showed the spirit we had to show. It was a game that can run away from you because of the atmosphere and everything else and at the end of a long week. A tough week of games with Motherwell last Sunday and the midweek game. You don’t want to go down to ten men after 15 minutes or so. The players gave everything. The fight is there. The quality is there. We will have other opportunities to show that.

Will Callum miss Scotland games too?

I don’t know. He may well do. He has a further scan on Wednesday and then we will get to see where he’s at. If he’s not going to be involved for us he obviously won’t be involved for Scotland.