Charlie Mulgrew has had his say on Auston Trusty’s red card at Hearts after the appeal by Celtic to have it overturned was thrown out.
The SFA fined Celtic and told the Parkhead club that under Law 12, the red card will remain and Trusty will now face a ban.
The VAR decision has caused fury among the Celtic supporters as many believe that the DOGSO rule was not applied correctly.
Former FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg admitted he didn’t like VAR’s intervention on the Celtic decision immediately after full time.
Celtic’s appeal over Auston Trusty’s red card is thrown out. What do you think? Fair?
Celtic’s appeal over red card shown to Auston Trusty is dismissed.
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 27, 2026
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And now, it’s Charlie Mulgrew’s turn to have his say as the former Celtic defender not only explains, correctly, why Trusty should not have been sent off, he also shows why match referee Steven McLean was ‘bang on’ with his initial yellow card.
Photo by Malcolm Mackenzie/Getty ImagesCharlie Mulgrew explains why Celtic red card was not DOGSO
Trusty now faces a ban for Celtic’s next domestic fixture but Mulgrew explains clearly why that ban will now look unfair as he said DOGSO was not in play.
Mulgrew said on The Breakdown, “For me, he [Kabore] was going away from goal. The angle of the ball is going away from goal.
“The time Dane Murray recovers, using my experience and watching it for somebody in real time, Dane Murray’s in full stride.
“Dane Murray is going to get there before the ball’s inside the box, for me. So he’s going to have to beat Dane Murray to get a shot away.
“I don’t think it’s a clear goal scoring opportunity. I think if you pause it, and you look where the ball is, and you look where it looks like he’s through on goal, I don’t think he is through on goal.
“I think he’s getting caught and he’s going away from goal. In order for him to chop that back towards goal and face the goalie one v one, a real goalscoring opportunity, which is the key thing, I don’t think it’s a sending off. “
Mulgrew says ‘Steven McLean was bang on’ with original Celtic decision
Steven McLean originally brandished a yellow card for the incident and Mulgrew believes the match referee got it spot on.
“I think Steven McLean was bang on,” Mulgrew continued, “And I think the amount of games he’s refereed, what he felt and saw at that moment, was bang on.
“But what’s really hard for referees is the atmosphere at Tynecastle, getting surrounded by players and then the final one, when VAR when you get asked to go and watch that again.
“You start to question yourself because you then assume that the people in the VAR room don’t feel it was the correct decision.”
Not only does Mulgrew do a great job explaining why Trusty should not have been sent off, the former Celtic defender picks the whole episode apart brilliantly.
Have a watch of this:
It’s a great explanation and visual aid that shows that VAR should never have got involved int he first place.
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