Peter Lawwell in brutal Rangers barb as Celtic chairman makes John Greig penalty quip

Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell delivered a brutal jibe at Rangers over their penalty record, quipping: ‘John Greig handled the ball that last time they conceded’.

The Parkhead supremo came out with the one-liner during the Scottish Premiership champions stormy AGM with his Hoops successor as chief executive Michael Nicholson also chipping in with a swipe aimed at their rivals’ apparent favourable decisions from officials.

Rangers haven’t conceded a spot kick in the league for 67 games and Lawwell aimed a barb in the Ibrox club’s direction when asked about the standard of refereeing in Scotland. He said: “You can probably recollect the last time a penalty was given against Rangers was when John Greig handled the ball. Any issue we see in any game, we will take it up.”

Rangers legend Greig, now 81-years-old, retired from playing in 1978 and Lawwell’s comment was met with laughter but that was nothing compared to Nicholson who got the biggest cheer of the afternoon for coming away with a sarcastic one-liner. He was asked “what should happen if a referee and VAR misses a key decision?” to which the chief executive replied “penalty Rangers”.