Kris Commons has slated Hibs Paul Heckingbottom in the aftermath of Hibs’ 1-1 draw with Celtic.
A Kristoffer Ajer own goal handed the Hibees an unlikely lead before Ryan Christie leveled things for the away side.
This is a great result for Hibs, yet Commons is still finding room for criticism.
He hasn’t minced his words either, slating Heckingbottom for various reasons, mainly for pinning blame on Kevin Clancy for poor decisions during the match
Writing in his Scottish Daily Mail column (pullout, page 16, 30/10/09), the former SPFL midfielder said: “Heckingbottom is clutching at straws if he’s pinning the blame solely on Clancy.
“The reality is that his team only had two shots on target and their goal came from a freak incident which saw Kristoffer Ajer put the ball through his own net. Yet, there he is, charging around kicking water bottles at people on the touchline and making a clown of himself.
“Celtic had far more cause to feel aggrieved at Clancy because he denied them two stonewall penalties. If he had given them, like he ought to have done, then Heckingbottom would have been staring down the barrel of yet another damaging defeat.”
Both sides had decisions against them
Commons’ criticism comes across a tad harsh. Yes Celtic should’ve had some decisions arguably, but similarly, Hibs should’ve had some too.
Heckingbottom said post-match that referee Clancy had ‘let down’ Hibs in this game (BBC). One particular incident he was unhappy with was the decision not to send off Olivier Ntcham.
The Frenchman clearly hit Josh Vela in the face, even if it wasn’t the most physical blow to the face you’ve ever seen. Regardless, he did lift his hands to him, so he should be off.
Celtic’s goal was a farce too. As Hibs waited for the ball to be kicked out following a stoppage, Celtic broke up the part and scored. Clancy let the situation spiral out of control, before then sending Heckingbottom to the stand.
Clancy had a poor game on Saturday that affected both teams, not just the one.