Honest Mistakes 2025/26 - To 30th November, 2025
The major calls reviewed up to the games completed on 30th November 2025.
The games are coming thick and fast.
Here, the Yorkshire Whistler assesses the big calls from matches up to 30th November.
22/11/25 St Mirren vs Celtic
Incident 1
Referee: Kevin Clancy
Game Minute: 69th
Score At Time: 0-0
Incident: Scales puts the ball into his own net
Outcome: Goal disallowed for offside
Evidence: St. Mirren 0-1 Celtic | HIGHLIGHTS | William Hill Premiership
At 1:51
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Scales puts ball in own net
IOD: Goal disallowed for offside
Goalkeeper hits a long ball into the box and Scales attempts to clear ball under pressure for two players, one off whom is stood offside as the ball is flicked on.
In Scales defence, he sees the St Mirren attacker in his line of sight. He is in close enough proximity to influence Scales attempt to stretch and play the ball. This movement towards the ball from the attacker means he is active, has made an obvious action on the ball and this is correctly adjudged as offside.
Verdict: CORRECT decision
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Incident 2
Referee: Kevin Clancy
Game Minute: 76th
Score At Time: 0-0
Incident: Maeda is brought down by Gogic
Outcome: Free kick to Celtic, YC to Gogic
Evidence: Provided
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Maeda brought down by Gigic
IOD: Free kick to Celtic and caution for Gogic
Maeda looks to be the favourite to latch onto a though ball and Gogic caught on wrong side of his man appears to drag the Celtic down and a clear foul is committed.
Two considerations here. Was it a penalty instead of a free kick and should it have been a sending off for a DOGSO offence.
In terms of where offence is committed, the contact is initiated outside the box and the players land inside the penalty area. It is a close call but I feel the contact stops just before the players start to fall down in the area and so support the call of a free kick rather than a penalty.
In terms of the sanction for the foul, this is very close to meeting the threshold for a sending off offence for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity given the proximity to the goal.
The one thing that helps Gogic avoid the sending off is that the trajectory of the ball is sending Maeda wide and slightly away from goal, so his next touch was unlikely to be a shot at goal. Hence it is correctly interpreted as simply stopping a promising attack rather than a DOGSO.
Verdict: CORRECT decision
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
22/11/25 The Rangers vs Livingston
Incident 1
Referee: Ross Hardie
Game Minute: 18th
Score At Time: 1-0
Incident: Yengi scores for Livingston
Outcome: Goal to Livingston
Evidence: Rangers 2-1 Livingston | HIGHLIGHTS | William Hill Premiership
At 1:16
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Yengi scores for Livingston
IOD: Goal to Livingston
Yengi latches onto a long ball from counter attack and scores. As the ball is placed over there is a question of being offside, but from the footage provided it appears the player is just onside.
Also at the start of the passage of play the Rangers wide man goes down under a challenge looking for a foul which in my opinion looks a fair challenge.
Verdict: CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Incident 2
Referee: Ross Hardie
Game Minute: 23rd
Score At Time: 1-1
Incident: Yengi shot is blocked by Fernandez
Outcome: No decision
Evidence: Rangers 2-1 Livingston | HIGHLIGHTS | William Hill Premiership
At 2:20
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Yengi shot blocked by Fernandez
IOD: No decision
Yengi hits a shot around the penalty area that the Rangers defender blocks at close proximity. The ball appears to hit Fernandez’s left hand but given how close he is to the shot and that the arm is close to his body, this is correctly adjudged as accidental handball and body shape is considered natural for this incident.
Verdict: CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
30/11/25 Hibernian vs Celtic
Incident 1
Referee: Nick Walsh
Game Minute: 16th
Score At Time: 0-0
Incident: Donovan fouls Obita
Outcome: Foul to Hibs, YC to Donovan
Evidence: Provided
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Donovan fouls Obita
IOD: Foul to Hibs and caution to Donovan
Donovan lunges into a challenge and clearly catches the Hibs man with a late tackle which is at the very least a yellow card, reckless in nature tackle. There is a possibility that this should have been deemed a red card offence given the Celtic player momentarily fully leaves the ground as he makes the challenge. However the contact appears to be relatively minimal at the point of impact. As such, in my opinion, just stays below the threshold of being deemed a tackle with excessive force/brutality that endangers players safety. What I’d call an old fashioned ‘orange card’ kind of challenge.
Verdict: CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Incident 2
Referee: Nick Walsh
Game Minute: 28th
Score At Time: 0-1
Incident: Engels scores for Celtic
Outcome: Goal to Celtic, YC to McGrath
Evidence: Sportscene: Premiership Highlights - 2025/26: Hibernian v Celtic - highlights - BBC iPlayer
At 0:37
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Engels scores for Celtic
IOD: Goal to Celtic, McGrath cautioned
As Engels heads the ball home after getting on the end of cross, McGrath caught just behind his man, raises his foot in attempt to play the ball and it appears Engels head catches his shin. Engels is slightly stooping down at the same time as McGrath raises his foot. His leg is bent and I don’t feel this is more than a reckless challenge that is correctly penalised with a caution to the offending player.
Verdict: CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Incident 3
Referee: Nick Walsh
Game Minute: 52nd
Score At Time: 0-2
Incident: Ball hits Scales in the box
Outcome: Penalty to Hibs for handball
Evidence: Sportscene: Premiership Highlights - 2025/26: Hibernian v Celtic - highlights - BBC iPlayer
At 1:10
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Ball hits Scales in the box
IOD: Penalty to Hibs and Scales cautioned
As a cross comes in, the Hibs player flicks the ball with his head and Scales at close proximity sees the ball hit his arm. I suspect this is accidental and Scales has very little reaction time. Unfortunately for him, he does seem to move his arm towards the ball and this makes his body shape unnaturally larger which in this context can’t been justified. A tad harsh, but I can see why the penalty was given upon review.
Verdict : CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Incident 4
Referee: Nick Walsh
Game Minute: 69th
Score At Time: 1-2
Incident: Yang and Bushiri challenge for a high ball in the box
Outcome: No decision
Evidence: Provided
Yorkshire Whistler Verdict:
Yang and Bushiri go for a header in the box
IOD: No decision
Brave play by both players here as they don’t hesitate to put their head in where it hurts. The ball bounces in the Hibs penalty area and both players feel they can win the ball. There is a clear clash of heads here but given they both appear to make contact with the ball at the same time (maybe Yang gets there fractionally quicker) I don’t believe this should have been adjudged a foul against Hibs. A fair but painful challenge by both players.
Verdict: CORRECT decision.
Expected Points Outcome: No impact
Summary
My thanks, as always, to the Yorkshire Whistler.
Whether you like it or not, and many won’t, as the years roll on, I am becoming familiar with some of his consistencies in some of these scenarios. Which is all we ask for.
The Rangers have been estimated to have been hampered by 1.45 expected points thus far.
Celtic leads The Rangers by seven points after 13 games.