Gary Hooper believes referees are against Celtic
Celtic striker Gary Hooper believes that referees are against the club in light of a number of high profile decisions that have been awarded in favour of the opposition.
Hooper was speaking in relation to referee Dougie MacDonald who reversed his decision to award Celtic a penalty in the side’s 1-2 win against Dundee United in the Premier League last month.
After the match, the referee admitted to lying about the reason he reversed the decision.
Hooper was the player who was fouled in the incident and he feels that MacDonald would not be welcome to referee another Celtic match in the future.
"We'd maybe not trust him. He might make a decision that is going to be everywhere three weeks after the game again," said the Celtic striker.
Hooper also felt aggrieved at the harsh decision to award Rangers a penalty by referee Willie Collum in the recent Old Firm game.
Rangers went on to win the match 1-3, but Celtic were still in the match until a penalty was given for a challenge by Daniel Majstorovic on Kirk Broadfoot. The resulting penalty by Kenny Miller sealed the win for Rangers.
The English striker believes that referees are against a side like Celtic because they are one of the biggest teams in the world.
"We are one of the biggest teams in the world and everyone wants to beat us, all the teams. The referee wants to give a decision against us so he can say something after the game. I think all the big teams get it," said Hooper.
Hooper accepted that Celtic would have to deal with these types of decisions and thrive in adversity. The striker believes that all successful clubs are capable of winning even with bad decisions going against them.
“They just get on with it and win games," he said.
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