Every word from Simon Jordan’s shocking talkSPORT tirade amid the Celtic VAR storm.

Former Crystal Palace F.C. owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan delivered a remarkable on-air rant following the huge controversy surrounding Celtic’s dramatic late penalty against Motherwell F.C. at Fir Park.

Jordan branded the decision to award Celtic a stoppage-time spot-kick as “scandalously bad” and insisted the only way to completely remove doubts surrounding the title race would be for Celtic to convincingly defeat Heart of Midlothian F.C. in the decisive showdown at Parkhead.

The pundit even suggested that only a heavy victory over Derek McInnes’ side would prevent the controversy from dominating discussions surrounding the championship battle.

“It’s a scandalously bad decision,” Jordan said during his explosive assessment of the incident.

“It’s a scandalously bad decision, and the only rectification of the decision is that I hope Celtic are able to beat Hearts at the weekend 5-0.”

Jordan argued that such a result would at least prove the controversial decision ultimately did not alter the destination of the title.

“Because that would then prove the point that ultimately it wouldn’t have made that much difference, because they would have had to score that amount of goals,” he continued.

“That’s the only way this becomes some sort of validation, that Hearts turn up on the weekend and get pumped 5-0, which they won’t, at Celtic, and all the arguments dissipate.”

Dramatic Fir Park Incident Sparks Fury

The controversy erupted during Celtic’s dramatic clash with Motherwell when referee John Beaton awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time after a VAR intervention.

The incident centred around a challenge involving Sam Nicholson, with Beaton eventually pointing to the spot for an alleged handball following advice from VAR official Andrew Dallas.

Kelechi Iheanacho converted the resulting penalty in the 99th minute to hand Celtic a dramatic victory.

The goal completely transformed the title race picture, leaving Celtic needing only a win against Hearts instead of relying on a major goal swing during the final fixtures.

However, the decision triggered widespread outrage across Scottish football, with many pundits, managers and supporters insisting the incident should never have resulted in a penalty.

Jordan became one of the loudest critics of the ruling during his appearance on talkSPORT.

Jordan Rejects Martin O’Neill’s Defence

Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill had defended the penalty decision afterward, describing it as “clear cut.”

Jordan, however, strongly disagreed and insisted O’Neill would have reacted very differently had the decision gone against one of his own teams.

“If Martin O’Neill had had a penalty given against him like that, he would have gone Garrity,” Jordan said.

“He would have gone berserk because that was an appalling decision.”

Jordan argued that virtually nobody involved in football could genuinely justify the decision outside of the officials who awarded it.

“I don’t think anybody at any point can find any validation for that decision besides the guy who ultimately gave it, which is the referee and the VAR asking him to intervene,” he added.

The talkSPORT pundit also claimed the reaction across football had been broadly united against the call, despite existing rivalries and anti-Celtic sentiment among some commentators.

“You listen to the pundits, and I know some of them are seeded in a dislike for Celtic, whether it’s Kris Boyd or whoever else,” Jordan explained.

“But across the board, whoever was on that panel for different reasons.”

Jordan Praises Hearts And Derek McInnes

Despite criticising the penalty decision, Jordan also made it clear he hoped Hearts would still go on to secure the league title.

The broadcaster praised manager Derek McInnes for the job he has done this season and said a Hearts title triumph would be a refreshing outcome for Scottish football.

“I know that Derek McInnes has gone hard and he may regret those words because it will be built up as a narrative leading up to the game about it’s disgusting,” Jordan said.

“But you know what? I think he’s been a fabulous manager all season. I think Hearts deserve to win the league and I really hope that they go and win it at Celtic Park.”

Jordan argued that the fascination surrounding the Premiership title race this season stemmed from the possibility of somebody other than Celtic or Rangers F.C. winning the championship.

“Because the story is not Rangers and Celtic for the good reasons,” he continued.

“It’s the demise of Rangers and Celtic and the uptick of another club.”

He suggested that the emergence of Hearts as genuine title challengers had captured wider interest beyond Scotland.

“That’s why everyone in England and everywhere else is talking about it,” Jordan added.

“It’s brought fascination to this league.”

Jordan contrasted that excitement with what he described as the predictability that has often surrounded Scottish football.

“Whereas before, it was just predictability, with the arrogance of the Old Firm teams who can’t even get themselves together to get fans inside the stadium,” he said.

“It’s an absolute delight to everyone who supports football to see someone else come out of the ether to do something different, to break up the monopoly.”

Jordan Understands McInnes Strategy

Jordan also suggested McInnes may have intentionally used strong language about the VAR decision in order to increase scrutiny on officials ahead of the title decider against Celtic.

“It’s not a penalty, but he has to do his job now,” Jordan said.

“What he’ll cleverly do is he’ll create a spirit of us against them, put the referees on notice that ultimately there’s a real feeling that there’s a bias and the situation has been engineered in a certain way.”

According to Jordan, such comments could actually help Hearts psychologically heading into the final match.

“So that sort of language may not be as ill advised as it first sounds,” he explained.

“Because it will create this temperature of everybody doubling down, watching and making sure nothing happens on the weekend that gives anybody cause to be outraged.”

Jordan did, however, point out that Hearts had also missed opportunities earlier in the campaign.

“Hearts missed their opportunity against Motherwell,” he said.

“They could have beaten Motherwell themselves but they drew. He’s got to do his job now.”

Strong Criticism Of Refereeing Standards

The talkSPORT pundit reserved particularly fierce criticism for referee John Beaton and the wider refereeing culture within football.

Jordan insisted the controversial decision was so poor that Beaton should not officiate another major fixture in the immediate future.

“Just concentrate on this one decision,” Jordan said.

“This one decision was scandalously bad. It was scandalously bad and that referee shouldn’t be anywhere near referring that game or any game in the immediate future because of that decision.”

“It’s that bad.”

Jordan also criticised what he sees as widespread hypocrisy among football figures when discussing officiating decisions.

According to him, managers, players and pundits only complain about poor decisions when they go against them, while remaining silent when similar mistakes benefit their own side.

“It needs responsible people,” he explained.

“If they want this refereeing fraternity to up their game, we’ve got to cut the disingenuous crap out.”

Jordan again referenced Martin O’Neill, insisting honesty from influential figures would be necessary if officiating standards are ever to improve.

“Martin O’Neill should be saying honestly that he doesn’t think that’s a penalty,” Jordan said.

“If he never says that then he will never get it changed.”

The broadcaster argued that football’s culture of selective outrage prevents meaningful improvement in refereeing standards.

“When it comes your way and the bad decisions aren’t called out, you cannot cry and squeal like stuck pigs,” he continued.

“You’ve got to be honest about things; otherwise, you’re never going to make these situations change because you only do it when it affects you and not when it doesn’t.”

Jordan acknowledged that such behaviour may simply reflect human nature but insisted it creates ongoing inconsistency.

“I know that might be a human trait, but you are the ones that are constantly complaining about inconsistency, and the inconsistency starts with you,” he said.

“When it suits you, you say nothing about it. When it doesn’t suit you, you scream like stuck pigs.”

He concluded his extraordinary rant by accusing large sections of football of double standards and hypocrisy.

“So you’ve got to have the mentality of saying we as a unit, we as football managers and participants are not accepting these poor decisions because even when it goes our way, we’ve got the candour, the honesty and the integrity to call it for what it is,” Jordan stated.

“No. You’re hypocrites, the lot of you.”