Jim Goodwin blasts Hibs star as St Mirren boss takes aim at Scottish football 'divers'

Jim Goodwin alluded to Hibs star Jamie Murphy in a furious rant about players going over too easily to win penalties in Scottish football.

Aberdeen protest to referee Willie Collum after Jamie Murphy won a penalty during Hibs' 2-0 win. Picture: SNS

The St Mirren boss is still fizzing over decisions that went against his side in the 2-1 loss to Hibs and the 4-0 defeat to Celtic a week later.

The Buddies' hopes of upsetting Neil Lennon’s side for the second time in 10 days were ruined when the visitors got a crucial second goal from the spot after Ryan Flynn was adjudged to have fouled Greg Taylor.

Goodwin says the Scotland left-back should be "embarrassed" by how easily he went down. He then went on to dig out Murphy for what he felt was a deliberate tumble at the SMiSA stadium and for doing similar in Hibs’ 2-0 victory over Aberdeen.

He said: "The penalty the other night was a joke. Ryan Flynn touches Greg Taylor's shoulder then pulls away very quickly. Then Greg Taylor's legs fall away beneath him.

"I can understand players if they are tripped or kicked falling over. I can't understand how players can fall over when someone touches their shoulder.

"People will say he's allowed the referee to make a decision. That's pathetic. It's not a reason to give a penalty.

"We've had similar against Hibs three games ago. It seems to be certain individuals who are very good at it and very clever.

"Not every little bit of contact in the area is a penalty. Hibs got a penalty the other day against Aberdeen and again it was the same player [Murphy] involved. It's just minimal contact.

"Unfortunately that's the way the game is going. I really think the game is taking a turn for the worse if we're going to stand giving penalties away for the slightest of contact in the box.

"We had a penalty awarded to us against Motherwell that was soft. But I'd rather we didn't get that kind of penalty because it's a very hard time now to be a defender as you just can't touch anyone.

"I'd be embarrassed if I was some of these players watching these incidents back. I'd really be cringing."

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