With controversy surrounding the piss poor performances of Scottish referees of late, everyone got round the table in Perth yesterday to sort it all out.
John Beaton wasn’t there, he later said that while on the road to the meeting, he saw the sign for Perth but decided to take no action. (Thanks to Fred Colon on twitter ).
Actually, he was..here he is arriving..
All the managers of all the clubs were there, with the exception of Steve Clarke and Martin Canning. They were having their hair done, or their nails, or anything else rather than sit in a room with people who they may feel have been less than fair to their clubs on the park over the last few months.
The headlines will tell us that VAR, the system to help referees avoid piss poor performances is on the way.
If you look at what was actually said however, it becomes clear that it isn’t.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell chaired the metting and he said after wards;
“It was good to get the managers, officials and the association together in the same room.
“There is a real appetite to fully investigate VAR, the managers see the benefits of it
“This is something that between ourselves and the SPFL we will investigate it further.
“I think Scottish football can afford it and ultimately it will come down to a club decision.
“The SPFL have an amount of money and most of that is distributed to the clubs so if there is an element which has to be taken to cover the cost of VAR then that’s a decision that will be made.
“The managers were very positive about it tonight.
“John Fleming and I have already had a conference call with IFAB, who essentially own VAR and implement it on behalf of FIFA.
“We will now have to produce a fully costed model because there are different ways to implement it.
“We want to get that as soon as we can, IFAB have said to speak to similar sized nations and hear about their experience of it.
“It’s something we want to get on the table as quickly as we can.
“It’s a long-term project, it’s not a quick fix and needs to be fully understood by everyone involved.
“You need to see what you can use it for and what you can’t, so there is a training element to it which takes around 12 months.
“It’s not a quick fix but it would definitely be worth it in the long run.
“There were also discussions on full-time referees and the decision making processes, but VAR was the main thing.”
“Fully investigate”…”Not a quick fix “…
The key point he made was that it would take twelve months to train someone to use it. Presumably that includes his referees learning the laws of the game as well, something which they have stubbornly resisted up to this point.
Effectively they are going to ring someone and ask how much it is . Then they’ll say they are shopping around, weighing up the pros and cons, before finally announcing that its too much hassle, doesn’t provide value for money and it would be unfair to place financial demands on the clubs or the SFA at this difficult time.
Neil Lennon spoke on behalf of the managers who were present..
“It was very productive.
“The most unanimous decision amongst the referees and managers was on VAR.
“The referees felt it would be a great help for them and the managers as well want it introduced in some sort of form.
“But it takes a while. John Fleming was telling us that it takes almost a year for the referees to be trained up on it so it could take a bit of time.
“But it was very very productive. The atmosphere was very respectful with a lot of debate and humour.
“There were no voices raised and everyone came out feeling better about things.
“Everyone got a chance to speak and Clare Whyte the compliance officer was there too and she was very impressive.
“John Fleming and Ian Maxwell were there too and it was a very worthwhile exercise.
“I think in terms of relationships with managers and referees, Kevin, Andrew and John got their message across and we got our message across.
“There has to be a level of respect for the match officials from all of us.
“It was agreed we as managers should take more responsibility for that aspect, which is quite right.”
Its the first time he’s spoken about referees and not received a ban.
I don’t think I’d be too far from the truth if I thought that Lennon really wanted to say..
“Well, there’s a Thursday afternoon I’ll never get back..”
The referees will be on their best behaviour for a few weeks now, until they spot a chance to put Celtic out of the Cup or have a real influence towards April on the outcome not so much of the title, but of the earning of a place that guarantees European football next season.
Of course, if there is even the remotest possibility that one particular club can win the league, we will be introduced to all manners of differing interpretations of the laws of the game.
Again.
Its all about taking the heat off Beaton, who has been exposed for what he is. I’d be surprised and disappointed if Brendan Rodgers hadn’t called him out at the meeting, which may explain all the feelgood chatter afterwards, and I’ll be surprised and disappointed if he gets another Celtic game this season, as it would just re open a debate that the SFa are clearly trying to shut down with their vague VAR promises.
The only person to point out the obvious on the whole mess is Davie Hay, former Celtic player and manager…
I don’t care whether referees are fulltime or whether they are part-time. It would just be nice to have good referees.
On social media just now there’s a bit of a fad where one places a picture of oneslef now next to a picture taken ten years ago, to illustrate change.
Its been adapted by Willie67, on twitter.. and it sums the whole referee crisis up perfectly..
Ten years ago…
And now…
VAR isn’t going to solve anything, even if it does get the go ahead, as it will be operated and controlled by the SFA.
They, and their referees are the problem, and as they are not going to sack the cheats and bring in honest and fair replacements who are allowed to explain their decisions, then nothing will be any different ten years from now.
And anyone who doubts that might want to look at this email, which was apparently doing the rounds at the Lanarkshire Referees Association at the time when Paul Larkins expose “Anyone but Celtic ” was about to hit the stands…
Some have suggested the “Brian ” in the email is Brian McGinlay, a referee from years ago who was not noted for fairness or transparency. But he did make the headlines once for another reason…
The question of where football will be has been discussed on a forum for fans of Scotlands newest club, and they’ve shown yet again that irony can be pretty ironic sometimes..
Celtic in denial ?
We’re about halfway through the transfer window, and its probably fair to say that around half of the business is done. Anything else in the pipeline will be delayed until the merry go round starts towards the end of the opening.
The players who have a few options, which could include Celtic, will be considering them, and some clubs will not release some players until they have replacements sorted out.
So, take a deep breath and relax. We can always have a moan later if it doesn’t all work out.
The manager confirmed what we all pretty much know anyway.. with boyata and Benkovic now staying until the summer, he’s not all that bothered about bringing in a central defender.. reading between the lines, it appears he’s missed out one the ones he wanted and has decided to make do and mend..
“I think that will be very difficult to do that this month,”
“To be brutally honest, if we were to bring in someone of the quality we require they would want to play. There are positions we’ll look at but that is one where a couple of our key players will move on and will need to be replaced.
“Obviously, we have young Kris Ajer and Jozo Simunovic already here. It’s an area of the team we will find it tough to strengthen in January but it’s a must to do that in the summer.
“It’s a possibility that we will spend more in the next couple of weeks. We’ve brought in a couple of loans and a young boy with potential. I’m not sure – it’s down to availability and also to what’s affordable from the club’s perspective.
“But I think we’ll look to add to our squad. There are also a few lads we’ll be sending out on loan but there are still key areas we’ve been looking to strengthen over a period of time.
“We hope to do some more business if we can but there’s nothing to add to the speculation. Ya Ya Toure? Well, his brother’s here but he’s not one we’re looking at.
“Scott McTominay is a talented young player but there’s nothing to add to that and the same goes for James McCarthy. Agents will strategically throw out a name to stick in the papers but then I’ll get a call from them asking me if I’m interested in the player because they read that I was; you know the game.”
He was speaking at the press conference ahead of tomorrows Scottish cup tie with Airdrie, which incidentally was discussed by the SFA after all the managers had left the room yesterday after their back scratching and knob fiddling get together in Perth.
You’ll be pleased to know that they decided that this game was too soon and therefore too risky to try to influence, although don’t be surprised if Airdrie get a man sent off and Celtic get a penalty fairly early on.
Rodgers gave a quick run down on who’s available for the game..
“Both Timothy and Oliver will be in the squad,”
They’ve only been here a couple of weeks and they’re on first name terms already..
“Oliver has been training and playing away because there is no winter break down south and Timothy has also looked good. [Vakoun Issouf] Bayo isn’t in the country yet. He is still sorting out all of the paperwork and, hopefully, will be with us by the weekend.”
He’s still signing autographs.
The support at his former club love him, and he’s spent a couple of days saying cheerio.
The last player to command such repsect from the club he left to join Celtic was Paul Lambert, when Dortmund fans showed their appreciation with a good luck banner, and the player responded with this..
Rodgers then moved on to players who won’t be available, and ramped up the fear over Keiran Tierneys health..
“He’s not fit,”
“He’s still with the medical team and hopefully over the next few weeks we will see where we are at. There’s no timescale, no. Will he need an op? I’ve not been advised of that yet by the medics. We will wait and see but the pain is less than it was.
“The Valencia game is too far ahead to say. We’ll just have to see over the next few weeks.”
If it is Osteitus Pubis, as has been suggested, it may not be too late to treat with rest if there is definite need for surgery.
Here’s hoping that surgery will not be required.
For now, we’ll just have to wait until Kris Boyd tells us whats happening..
Scott Allan has gone to Hibernian, from Celtic, in case you’d forgotten he was still here. Well, he’s signed a pre contract, but may yet go on loan there for the rest of this season. He might as well.
The football actually returns tonight, Cowdenbeath host “rangers “, and its on the telly.
Will the Gers fans sing their new song ? Read this to the tune of Nena’s eighties synthpop classic “99 Red Balloons ”
In the meantime though, they’ll have to make do with the eleven on the pitch..
It’s Friday again, already, and that means we can tell you who has earned the title of Etims
Knob of the Week
Again, its been a busy week for those within our society who make us shake our heads in disappointment , and no one should be shaking their heads in disappointment more than the people of Aberdeen South who elected Ross Thomson to be their MP..he’s that bad the SNP want him to be reselcted to contest the next election..
TORY party members are being urged by SNP activists not to ditch their contro- versial MP. A senior insider in Aberdeen said last night he was not surprised local Conservatives were looking to replace Ross Thomson with another candidate to fight the next General Election
“It makes sense from their point of view, but from our point of view we want him to stay,” a leading SNP figure in the city told The National.
“He’s one of our best assets for the next Westminster election. We want to take Aberdeen South back and it would be a shame if the Tories got rid of him before we do.We urge the Tories to keep Ross Thomson.”
His partner in crime, Douglas Ross is a Scottish referee as well as a Conservative MP , and if those two, and their eleven Westminster colleagues had voted in the interests of the people of the country they represent, and not according to a London directive at the No confidence vote on Wednesday, we’d be looking at a general election just now and the end of the cruel and hapless May regime.
But no, the fear of losing their own jobs was deemed more important than thousands of others losing theirs.
There are thirteen of them, but Thomson wins the award because, well, he looks and acts more like a knob than the others.
Well done to him, this weeks Etims
Knob of the Week
Caption competition…yesterday we studied this..
Controversial…
Caption: Some of Rangers ‘players’ of the year, 2000 – 2012
Today…
Oh, and those of you considering making ill informed and distasteful comments about Phil the Greek, the husband of her majesty, need to consider this..he’s 97, and doing fine for a man of such advanced years.
He’s clearly still capable of being in charge of a vehicle , as thats the first car accident he’s been involved in since the one in Paris, 1997.
