It's a New Year, but same old Cheating

[Joe O'Rourke]

I don’t think any Celtic supporter was expecting a straight forward football match on Monday afternoon. I certainly believed that with the match officials appointed, it was an absolute certainty that there would be contentious decisions, and we would be on the wrong end of those decisions, I doubt any Bookie in the country would have given you odds on anything different happening.

I’ve said right from the introduction of VAR that it could only succeed with honest people operating the system, I think inside the refereeing fraternity in Scotland there is a distinct lack of honesty. Once the officials were announced you knew we were up against it, John Beaton needs no introduction to the Celtic Support, the same can be said of Willie Collum, I know the reason behind Beaton’s decision making, but Collum is a strange one, I suppose the easy explanation is career advancement, if you don’t toe the party line, you don’t get the big games, and thus the big money.

Of course these pair of “CHEATS” have bosses, step forward Ian Maxwell and Crawford Allan, can you remember them standing beside you on the Jungle at the old Celtic Park, No? well, I’m exactly the same, I’m pretty sure they would be flying their scarf at a different ground, one in Govan. The very fact that they appointed Beaton as match official says it all, it’s like saying, we’re in charge, and there is nothing you can do about it, I’m pretty certain Michael Nicholson will have been on the phone this morning telling them something different.

The two major talking points were the penalty awarded against us, and the one denied to us. I thought at first Starfelt had mistimed his tackle, but on seeing a replay, I think Sakala kicks Starfelt, so no penalty. The Goldson handball looked a stonewall penalty, but not given. You have to ask, why didn’t Collum tell Beaton to go to the monitor on both occasions? Just exactly what are the rules? We have been asking for many years, for match officials to come out and explain contentious decisions, why do they stubbornly refuse? The essence of any Refereeing Department should be Transparency, Honesty, and Accountability, we have none of those in Scotland.

I’ve been of the opinion since they reduced our allocation that we should have said that’s not acceptable, I get there are some supporters who think different, let me tell you this, it’s not a nice experience, it’s bearable if you win, but the whole experience in general is definitely poisonous, and maybe more importantly, it’s extremely dangerous. Yesterday we had another example, it’s not just our supporters who are in danger, there were objects thrown at Greg Taylor (latest legend. Shut your hole fat boy) and our Physio. Police Scotland don’t want to know, I’ve been stood there when a female Celtic supporter asked a female cop what she was going to do about it, the answer was, a blunt “Nothing”

But the other side to that argument is, the Manager thinks the small band in the corner is worthwhile having, and Big Ange has a decent record there since he arrived at Celtic Park, so it has to be considered when looking at the situation. I’ve said before, and I’m saying it again, the decision needs to be taken out of the clubs hands, the SPL needs to make a proper and clear rule, not an ambiguous one, they need to come up with a number, just like UEFA, somewhere around 5% of the stadium capacity.

Finally, although not the result we wanted, we can live with a nine point lead, we now have two home games next in the League. The Manager and CEO are also working hard to strengthen the playing squad, all you can ask for in a transfer window is, that you come out of it stronger then when you entered it, I’m certain that will be the case.
Glasgow’s Green & White. We never Stop !!!