BRENDAN RODGERS remains defiant after his comments over the incompetence of match officals in the controversial 2-0 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle at the weekend.
The Celtic manager insists he has no regrets over remarks about the alarming performances of referee Don Robertson and VAR assistant John Beaton after the champions had been on the receiving end of some perplexing and baffling decisions throughout the encounter.
Rodgers has been hit with a notice of complaint from the SFA with the disciplinary hearing set for March 28 and the Irishman could face a two-game touchline ban which would see him miss the match at Livingston three days later and the derby at Ibrox on April 7.
The Hoops gaffer was clearly incensed at the ordering-off of Yang Hyun-jun in the 14th minute after a high challenge had earned a booking from Robertson. However, Beaton intervened and instructed his colleague to review the incident on his trackside monitor.
BRING IT ON…Brendan Rodgers remains defiant after SFA charge.
Astonishgly, the match official returned to the pitch to scrap the yellow card and issue a red.
While the Parkhead boss and his players reeled from that stunning decision, it got worse just before half-time when eagled-eyed Beaton, scrutinising the multi-screens at Clydesdale House in Glasgow, spotted a phantom handball offence against Tomoki Iwata.
Once again, the onfield official reviewed the moment on his monitor and once more the visitors were astounded when he awarded the hosts a penalty-kick from which Jorge Grant gratefully accepted the gift to claim the opening goal.
As he prepared for Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Livingston in Glasgow, Rodgers talked to the assembled media and was asked if he had any regrets on his observations.
The Irishman answered: “No, not at all. My job is to defend the team, defend the club and that’s what we will do in this case.
“We will defend it vigorously and when the date comes we will go from there. I will sit down with the club and the lawyers and we will look at it from there.
“It’s that one game, but my observation is over many games, around the inconsistency of decisions.
SEEING RED…Yang Hyun-jun attempts to flick the ball over the head of Hearts defender Alex Cochrane in the incident that saw the winger sent off.
“I don’t want to go into it too much, I never talk too much about referees, I understand they make mistakes. But I felt the ones last week were clear errors in the game.”
Rodgers added: “The first one, I’ve seen incidents worse than that [not punished with a red card]. I thought the onfield decision was correct, the yellow card.
“We had a report back to say the studs and the boot were in the face of the player, which was clearly not the case when you watch it.
“We’ll go through that and answer it later on in the month.”
Celtic appealed Yang’s red card, but it was dismissed by the SFA and the South Korean winger will miss the visit of Livingston and the home league match against St Johnstone.
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