A statement issued on Celtic's official website broke the news that the club will appeal the red card given to Scott Brown during yesterday's game at Ibrox. The statement then went on to question the impartiality of the man in the middle in a move that will almost certainly take this conflict between the club and the SFA onto a whole new level. 
McDonald puts Timmy in his place
Referee McDonald sent off the Celtic captain in the 65th minute following a minor scuffle with Huns midfielder Kyle Lafferty, who escaped punishment. Most neutral commentators dismissed the incident as a 'handbags at dawn' affair which could have been settled with a quick word with both players but McDonald could barely contain his glee and almost fell over in the rush to brandish the red card at Brown. The official Celtic site were unequivocal in their condemnation of the referee
"It immediately seemed to be a controversial decision to everyone in the ground." said the statement. "And certainly, any fair-minded person looking at the incident at the time or subsequent TV replays could see it wasn't a red card. It was a decision which had a major impact on the game and Celtic will now appeal against the red card, which saw Tony Mowbray's side down to 10 men for the last half-hour of the game."
"Certainly, the Celtic support in the Broomloan Road Stand and beyond were left mystified and angry at yet another refereeing decision in a derby game this season which has gone against the club." continued the release. "In the first derby match of this season at Ibrox back in October, Celtic were denied a blatant penalty by referee Craig Thomson, who admitted after the game that he had made a mistake. And in the game against Rangers at Celtic Park, referee Steve Conroy disallowed a Marc-Antoine Fortune goal, though replays showed that there was nothing wrong with the goal. Now, Dougie McDonald's decision is added to that list and will be the major talking point from the game."
Now whether or not Celtic were good enough to win at Ibrox is irrelevant. Whether or not Tony Mowbray is the man to lead Celtic, whether or not the individual players at the club are good enough to play for Celtic is irrelevant - the fact is that for the third time in a Glasgow derby this season the referee lent the Huns a helping hand and we'll never know how the game would have ended if Celtic had retained their full complement of players. It should go without saying that a poor Celtic side have just as much right to impartial refereeing as a good Celtic side.
Scott Brown's sending off was a pivotal moment in the game and whilst he was punished severely for a minor indiscretion it seemed that Huns defender Madjid Bougherra, a key player in their victory and the man who set up their last gasp winner, was given full immunity from prosecution following his early yellow card. He fouled Robbie Keane from behind with a regularity that suggested that he knew he was protected from further sanction and with a wink to the Hun bench following yet another assault on the Republic of Ireland striker late in the game he seemed to acknowledge his untouchable status.
Celtic fans have been complaining about corrupt officials for decades and it seems that the club have finally drawn a line in the sand. The latest statement appeared on the official site just a few hours after the final whistle but this was no knee-jerk reaction from the club, it is, just like the leaking of our concerns by an unnamed source last week, part of a planned strategy.
Over the years the fans complaints of biased have been mocked and we've been labelled paranoid conspiracy theorists by the establishment and their cohorts but it should never be forgotten that the former head of the SFA, Jim Farry, was sacked for gross misconduct after deliberately interfering in Celtic's business and sabotaging a major Celtic signing at a crucial stage of the season.
Fergus McCann's pursuit of justice culminating in Farry's sacking should have been a monumental moment in the history of Scottish football but it seems that, like the Hydra from Greek mythology, cutting off the head of the monster only resulted in the monster growing another one or two equally poisonous heads. Statements emanating from the club over the last week leave no doubt that Celtic have now declared war on the institutional bias first highlighted by McCann over a decade ago and hopefully the present incumbents will be just as dogged as the Bunnet in their own quest for justice.