WHAT A FARCE
McNamara in blast at referee Thomson after red-card gaffe
DUNDEE UNITED manager Jackie McNamara pointed the finger of blame at referee Craig Thomson after Paul Paton was sent off in an apparent case of mistaken identity during a stormy 1-1 draw with Celtic in yesterday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tannadice.
Paton was astonished to be shown a red card along with Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk after the Dutchman and United’s Calum Butcher clashed on the ground following a poor tackle by Scott Brown on Nadir Ciftci — who then appeared to kick Brown’s head in retaliation.
McNamara vowed to appeal in a bid to clear Paton for next Sunday’s League Cup Final against Ronny Deila’s men at Hampden, and it remains to be seen whether SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan will take retrospective action against Butcher, Ciftci or Brown, with television pictures indicating they could all have seen red.
But the United boss claimed that, had the match
Celtic levelling. With United moving to a 5-3-0 formation, it was like the Alamo at times but there were more great saves to come from Cierzniak to deny both Stokes and substitute John Guidetti.
Despite the one- way traffic, Gordon had to look lively to stop Butcher scoring on a rare United counter.
Just as it looked like Celtic’s Treble dreams could come unstuck on an unacceptably poor Tannadice pitch, Griffiths gained his redemption. Running on to Johansen’s beautifully flighted ball, he nodded expertly beyond Cierzniak.
From then on in, United’s nine men battled valiantly to remain in the hunt for a semi-final spot.
‘ It will be a tough game at Hampden against Inverness or Raith,’ nodded Griffiths after the draw was made. ‘ Either side will make it hard for us but that is only if we get through by finishing the job at Parkhead. But we know Dundee United will make it tough for us.’
At the end of a thrilling clash, United had sent out a clear message ahead of the sequel, next Sunday’s League Cup Final at Hampden. Beware the Ides of March. official sent off Brown for the initial challenge, the ensuing melee and embarrassing card blunder would have been avoided. ‘I think we will be appealing,’ said McNamara, whose team were reduced to nine men in the second half when Paul Dixon was sent off for handling the ball in the box. ‘Paul Paton feels a bit hard done to for being sent off for nothing. He wasn’t even involved in the incident. ‘I think the referee should have dealt with the original bad challenge (from Brown) that sparked off the whole thing. But that went unnoticed. It was a two-footed challenge off the deck. It was a bad one but it didn’t get dealt with properly. ‘We should be talking about the football rather than the ugly scenes. ‘For me, the officials should have dealt with it first and we would not have had the problems we had today.’ Asked if he expects Brown to be hit with disciplinary action from the SFA, McNamara replied: ‘No comment.’ Ciftci scored United’s opener on the stroke of half-time after Aiden Connolly appeared to go down easily in the box, with Celtic boss Deila later insisting the player should be punished for diving. Three minutes after the break, United’s Dixon was dismissed for blocking a goal-bound drive by Leigh Griffiths but the striker’s penalty was then saved by keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak. Griffiths had the last laugh, however, with a headed equaliser in the 71st minute to take the match to a replay at Parkhead on March 18. Ciftci was lucky to still be on the park after kicking out at Brown but McNamara claimed not to have seen that incident. He added: ‘I need to see it. I haven’t looked back at the TV footage. When Nadir gets tackled by Brown, the ball breaks and Butcher wins the challenge to put us through. I was looking at that next bit of play. I did not see what happened with van Dijk, Butcher or anyone else. ‘I actually didn’t know the referee had got the wrong man until Paton came over and told me. ‘It was a melee but the referee did not deal with the original bad challenge which sparked it all off.’ McNamara, whose side will now face Celtic four times this month, also defended Connolly. ‘I don’t think he dived,’ he said. ‘I think he (Anthony Stokes) has caught him, although he hasn’t caught him on the leg. It might have been soft but it was a penalty.’ McNamara had no complaints about the spot-kick award and red card when Dixon handled a shot by Griffiths. ‘Rules are rules but Rado made a great save. He didn’t deserve to lose a goal today. But we switched off for one moment and Griffiths peels off and scores a header. ‘We can take certain things from today’s game but Celtic will be saying the same. Cool heads will be needed for the (League Cup) Final next week. ‘It’s a chance for silverware and for the lads to create a bit of history. Will I be sick of the sight of Celtic by the end of our four games this month? Not if we beat them.’