Ibrox howls conspiracy after yesterday’s refereeing decisions at Celtic Park but Walsh’s stats tell a completely different story…
The Ibrox side cannot see that referee Nick Walsh was completely in their corner in yesterday's derby at Celtic Park.
Eric Knott 
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 10: Celtic Captain Callum McGregor pleads with Referee Nick Walsh who shows a yellow card to Alistair Johnston during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on May 10, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Well, it’s the morning of the day after what will probably go down as one of the most exhilarating derby games witnessed at Celtic Park in quite some time.
As usual, the post mortems began on the Ibrox forums as soon as the final whistle was blown.
The game is bent.
Rigged in Celtic’s favour.
Might as well just give the title to Celtic.
We have it all sown up and we have the refs bought off.
On and on and on it went late into the night last night, and it’s still going on today.
Alistair Johnston should have been sent off.
Yang’s goal should have been disallowed.
Beaton has deserted them.
All of the excuses in the world don’t take away from the fact that they are just a poor footballing side, whose weaknesses and frail mentality were totally exposed yesterday.
And if they think that the referees are against them?
All they need do is look at the stats from yesterday’s game.
The story of who the referee favoured is there for all to see.
It seemed to me that Nick Walsh was on a mission to ensure that he booked every single Celtic player on the pitch.
He manged to get 6 Celtic players into his book.
The Ibrox fans were howling that Alistair Johnston should have been sent off based on the below tackle:
Is that not clear evidence that Johnston went in for, and got the ball in that tackle?
Granted his trailing boot may have caught Moore’s ankle, but the still shows the only intent was to win the ball.
A red card is issued when a player shows no intent to go for the ball and hurts the opposing player in the process.
Johnston did not set out to hurt Moore.
He got the ball, clearly.
What happened after that was unintentional.
Should it have been a yellow?
That’s open to debate, but it definitely was not a red card incident.
The other crazy stat in yesterday’s game was the amount of fouls Celtic racked up in comparison to the Ibrox side.
Walsh blew for no less than 25 fouls for Celtic, as opposed to 13 for the Ibrox side, and only two bookings for Tuur Rommens and Youssef Chermiti.
Basically, when any Ibrox player threw themselves to the ground, they were given a foul.
Putting it simply, the Ibrox players were being awarded a foul every 3.5 minutes throughout the game.
Possession was 51% in favour of Celtic, to 49% for the Ibrox side.
In anybody’s language, that is a referee favouring one side over the other in what should be a pretty balanced game of football.
As for John Beaton in the VAR room?
If he could have called Yang’s as goal offside, he would have.
This is John Beaton we’re talking about here.
He would have found a way to chalk it off if he could have, but he couldn’t, it’s that simple.
You can also be guaranteed that if he could have found a way to get Alistair Johnston sent off for his foul on Moore, he would have sent Walsh to the monitor.
He didn’t because Johnston won the ball.
There was no intent on the follow through.
Then you have the elbow from Connor Barron on Arne Engels, this was a red card all day long.
It didn’t even warrant a second look from Beaton, let alone a booking from Walsh.
Are they genuinely this fucking stupid ,😂 https://t.co/vjkQVv2GPa
— Omni man (@Waggyloyal) May 10, 2026
And we were the side being favoured by the referees??
The simple fact is that the Ibrox side were given every bit of assistance possible in yesterday’s game.
The stats do not lie.
Nick Walsh did his utmost to ensure they got every advantage possible.
There were blatant fouls all over the park on Celtic players that went completely unpunished.
Walsh, in fact, left them away with murder.
What’s killing the Ibrox side and their fans is that they lost.
They bottled it yet again when the pressure was on.
And every time they do that, they look for every excuse under the sun to compensate for it.
The bottom line here is that they’re shite.
That’s what they can’t accept.
So instead, it’s all a big conspiracy.
Celtic own the SFA and the referees.
Jesus wept.
Key Takeaways
- Fans on the Ibrox forums claim the derby was rigged in Celtic’s favour, citing various officiating grievances.
- Referee Nick Walsh booked six Celtic players while ignoring many fouls against them, suggesting bias in officiating.
- Despite accusations of referee bias, statistics show the Ibrox side received more fouls called in their favour.
- The article argues that accusations of conspiracy are a cover for the Ibrox side’s poor performance and mentality.
- The bottom line: the Ibrox side struggles to accept defeat and resorts to blaming external factors.
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Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
Bhoycie 
I was there yesterday, Eric.
My mate sitting next to me said we were letting the huns dribble past our players into the box unchallenged in the 2nd half.
I made the observation that Walsh had booked our entire back 4 by that time so our players were reticent in making a tackle of any sort in case they conceded a penalty or were given a red card.
Yet another cheating gobshite In black yet our hologram of a CEO continues to sit at the back of the bus !
I thought Walsh wouldve been chalking off Yang’s goal but was overjoyed that he didn’t, the Sky panel, in unison, said Johnston’s tackle was fair until they saw the final view from the dug outs, Mark Clattenberg explained in detail why it wasnt a red but dont let that get in the way of a good conspiracy.
I used to think Michael Stewart to be a fair pundit, he is until any kind of disadvantage befalls his fave jambo, so MS just GTF.