Retour
Aiden McGeady has challenged Derek McInnes over his claims of injustice surrounding Celtic’s dramatic Premiership title victory last season.
Hearts travelled to Celtic Park on 16 May knowing that a draw would be enough to secure their first top-flight title since 1960.
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Lawrence Shankland had given Hearts the lead before Arne Engels equalised from the penalty spot shortly before half-time.
With the match level at 1-1 heading into the closing stages, the Edinburgh side were still on course to become champions.
However, Daizen Maeda struck in the 87th minute before Callum Osmand added a third deep into stoppage time.
Celtic finished the campaign on 82 points, two clear of Hearts, after winning all five of their post-split Premiership matches.
McInnes has since left Hearts to take charge of Rangers, but the disappointment of losing the title remains a subject of discussion.
Those complaints included decisions in Celtic’s favour, with the late penalty awarded against Motherwell among the incidents that attracted scrutiny.
McInnes has suggested that different officiating decisions could have changed the outcome of the championship.
His return to Edinburgh ended in a 2-2 draw between Rangers and Hearts, but his comments about last season have attracted a pointed response from former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, McGeady questioned why McInnes continued to focus on refereeing controversies when Hearts had entered the final match with their title destiny in their own hands.
“The injustice has been mentioned a few times. What was the injustice? Was it a few contentious decisions, as he said?
“But at the end of the day, it was in your hands and you blew it. It was in your hands and you blew it. All you had to do was draw the last game of the season. Couldn’t do it.”
McGeady also suggested that McInnes was placing too much emphasis on decisions made by officials rather than Hearts’ inability to secure the result they needed.
He added: “So I can understand why you’re going to put it down to, ‘It’s not my fault, it’s not the team’s fault, it’s referees.’
“But, yeah, for me, that’s you glossing over that.”
McInnes has spoken about feeling guilty over his departure from Hearts so soon after the club’s title disappointment.
The final-day defeat also marked the end of their attempt to break Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football, with O’Neill’s side claiming a fifth successive Premiership title.
For McGeady, whatever frustration McInnes has over individual decisions, Hearts still had the opportunity to settle the championship on the pitch at Celtic Park.
They needed one point from the final fixture but left Glasgow with none.
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