Hibs skipper in 'surprised' Celtic VAR handball verdict as recurring red card nightmare undermines Euro hopes
Three straight losses - with four players sent off - leave Easter Road side struggling for position
Hibs skipper Joe Newell has revealed that he was surprised to see his first goal in almost 18 months survive a lengthy VAR check for handball. And the club captain insists the Easter Road side must find a way out of their recurring red card nightmare if they’re to give themselves a chance of becoming the first Hibs team to pull off consecutive European qualifications in half a century.
David Gray’s men suffered another self-inflicted set-back in yesterday’s 2-1 home loss to Celtic, as Jamie McGrath became the fourth Hibs players sent off in the past three games. A third straight defeat leaves Gray’s side six points behind fourth-placed Motherwell – and just two points clear of Falkirk.
Only the top four teams in the Scottish Premiership are guaranteed a crack at European football next season, although the team finishing fifth will go into the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round if Celtic beat Dunfermline in this month’s Scottish Cup Final. Hibs, who travel to Falkirk Stadium for the third time this season on Saturday, are currently at risk of falling out of the race entirely.
Hanley first of four Hibs players sent off in three games
After losing to Aberdeen away following the dismissal of Grant Hanley, then coming up just short against Hearts with only nine men on the park the previous weekend, Hibs put themselves in a brutal situation when McGrath was sent off inside the opening 20 minutes yesterday. Despite Newell striking to cancel out Daizen Maeda’s opener, Celtic eventually made the most of their man advantage when Kelechi Iheanacho scored 20 minutes from time.
Talking about the long wait to celebrate his goal, with VAR checking it for offside and handball before giving the go-ahead to referee David Dickinson, Newell – still battling his way back to full fitness after two major abdominal surgeries and repeated set-backs - said: “Yeah, I've not seen it, honestly, I've not seen it back. I did honestly feel like it was kind of in between my hip and my arm.
“Whether it touched it or not, I wasn't sure - and you just know nowadays that it's going to get checked, so it kind of kills the emotion behind it. And then obviously it did get checked and because it took so long, I was quite surprised when it did go in our way.
“But yeah, who knows the rules? I don't even know anymore, so who knows?
“On a personal level, it was a great moment. Yeah, 100 per cent. It's the second start of the season and we're in May already. So yeah, only my second start.
“I've had a tough time, but I love playing for this football club, so any chance I get, like I say, I love it. So it was obviously nice.
“But maybe I’ll reflect in a few days and stuff and kind of take it from there. But the initial feeling is, we've lost a game of football under circumstances that are very similar to the last few weeks.”
That recurring indiscipline remains a source of serious concern for Hibs, Newell revealing his instant reaction to McGrath’s red card by admitting: “Yeah, it’s a here we go again type thing, isn't it? It's obviously, that's three games in a row. And you're just giving yourself so much to do.
“And again, I repeat what I said, no one ever means to do it. But it has happened and you've had to deal with it - for a long time again now.
“We had 70 minutes, probably 75 minutes, against Celtic, something like that, with 10 men. So against the top side, it's going to be hard.
“So maybe it needs to be … well, it has been addressed. But I don't know what.
“We need to have a think and we need to have a discussion on it. Because there's three huge games for us coming up now and discipline is going to have to be something at the forefront of our minds.”
Falkirk, Rangers and Motherwell up next
Hibs face Falkirk and Rangers away before rounding off season 2025-26 at home to Motherwell on Saturday week. Newell understands that they’re running out of chances to make up ground on the Steelmen.
“It’s potentially going to take three wins,” he said, adding: “It's kind of, you're in a situation now where it's out of your hands, obviously. So we're looking for Motherwell to slip up as well as taking care of ourselves.
“But that's all you can do. I know you guys will have heard many managers and players say that you can only control the controllables.
“But yeah, it's three massive games for us, none more so than the next away at Falkirk. So full focus will be on that and we'll see where we are come the last game of the season.
“That’s all we hope. You hope you've still got a chance coming into that game.
“Every team or player will say the same thing. Everyone would look at their season and think: ‘Ifs, buts, maybes …’
“But yeah, obviously the last three weeks especially, you could definitely argue for that. We're just not giving ourselves a chance to even get a foothold in the game, let alone go on and win games.
“Looking for positives, as you always try to, the application, the effort is unbelievable. Again, from all the guys, it was defending the box, defending wide areas, defending centrally. It was all really good. The effort, the work rate, the fitness levels showed again.
“So yeah, obviously it's buts and maybes, but it's done now. We're going to have to reflect and we know what we need to improve on, that's for sure.
“We gave ourselves a lot to do again and then it was just a case of, same as last week, just digging in. A lot of effort, a lot of heart, application, all them kind of words was there. I have no doubt about that, I would never have a doubt about that, knowing the team. But yeah, ultimately fell short.
“The frustrating thing is that it comes from a set-piece. You go through all that effort and to concede from a set-piece, that's probably the most annoying thing because I felt like we restricted them to shots from distance, not many real clear-cut chances, defended the box really well. So yeah, the set-piece is probably the annoying thing for us.”