The Hearts boss took a thinly-veiled swipe at the Hoops red card record after Trusty’s sending off
08:54, 27 Jan 2026Updated 08:55, 27 Jan 2026
Hearts manager Derek McInnes (Image: )
Former Celtic hero Peter Grant urged the SFA to haul Derek McInnes up to Hampden after his jibe over Auston Trusty’s red card at Tynecastle.
But the Hearts boss showed he doesn’t care what half of the Old Firm it is when it comes to making a dig over perceived favouritism from officials.
That’s because McInnes two years ago McInnes made a similar quip at Rangers after they conceded a rare penalty against his Kilmarnock side.
Trailing 2-0 at the time during the fixture on January 2, 2024, McInnes celebrated on the touchline when John Souttar was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box and Daniel Armstrong stepped up to tuck away the resulting penalty. The spot-kick ended a remarkable run of 74 games without Rangers conceding a penalty in the league.
‘Penalty to Rangers’ had become a joking catchphrase among some Scottish football fans but the lack of spot-kicks against the Ibrox side also led to conspiracy theories on the other side of Glasgow and beyond.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes during his side’s defeat to Rangers(Image: Alan Harvey/SNS Group)
And that was something a smirking McInnes alluded to after that match as he said he was ‘delighted’ just to get a penalty. He said at the time: “We’re just delighted to get a penalty, and who’d have thought at Ibrox! It’s good to get one back, and it was game on.”
Ironically, John Beaton was the man in charge in Govan that day and gave the penalty on the advice of VAR Andrew Dallas. On Sunday, Beaton was behind the controls at Clydesdale House and recommended Steven McLean take a look at a challenge by Trusty which then resulted in a red card.
The USA stopper’s sending off was the first the club has suffered domestically in almost two years, since Yang was given his marching orders at the same venue in March 2024.
And McInnes said: “Celtic don’t get red cards domestically. It was a bit of a shock when VAR turned it and made it a red.”
Ex Hoops midfielder Grant hit out at McInnes, accusing him of trying to put pressure on officials and challenging him to come up with times Celtic should have had a man ordered off. He said: “That’s ridiculous. The SFA should look at that because that’s trying to put pressure on referees for me. I’d like Derek to say where Celtic should have got a red card any time this season.”