Over the weekend, people asked me if I was going to add anything to my Honest Mistakes count, which I’m going to keep over the course of the season. I had initially decided there wasn’t an incident worthy of mention … but I wasn’t in full possession of the facts.
Just to get this out of the way, I’m not going to add to it today, but I’m tempted.
This weekend has made me re-think the scoring options.
During the Celtic game, I listened to the commentators as they laid out the ground rules on players celebrating after scoring goals. According to the studio hacks – who spent much of their time discussing whether or not Leigh Griffiths should have been red-carded for his touchline embrace of goal-scorer James Forrest, they mentioned the notorious “Police Scotland mandate” which says that players shouldn’t leave the pitch and celebrate with the fans after goals.
This has always been a monumentally stupid rule, or so I thought, but what I learned at the weekend is that it’s not actually a rule at all. It’s one of those vague “left up to the refs discretion” things. That, of course, won’t do in Scotland … which is where this “Police Scotland mandate” surfaced, and if that’s the case what are the refs meant to do?
So goes the argument anyway.
But the argument is bollocks.
Because the police can’t force referees to do things. Whatever next? Stop Celtic players from putting the ball in the net next month on account of a possible riot should Sevco fans be driven to the edge of madness? You see how ridiculous the idea is? The police can’t reinterpret football rules; they sure as Hell can’t force refs to implement new ones.
“It’s a health and safety thing,” someone said.
Again, bollocks.
If it is true then it only affects games played in front of large crowds, otherwise where would that leave the argument for booking a player who jumps into an empty stand at Arbroath and hugs his wee mum who’s watching him play?
Yet there are big crowds at games all across Scotland. There is ample evidence to suggest that this rule doesn’t equally apply to them all, and the rule itself is so vague that it can leave a lot of things up in the air and a lot of questions unanswered.
On Saturday James Forrest was booked celebrating his goal against St Johnstone. He did not leave the field, far less jump in with the fans. Leigh Griffiths actually did both. Forrest crossed the white lines and stood on the edge of the grass, that was all. Yet the ref booked him for that, under the so-called “Police Scotland mandate.”
When I was asked on Saturday and Sunday whether I wanted to add anything to the Honest Mistakes count I was reminded of the number of yellow cards Celtic got in the game; there were four of them, for Bitton, Dembele, Griffiths and of course Forrest.
I didn’t think that particularly high then or now, but something made me ponder it a little more.
Kenny Miller scored a last minute winner for Sevco at Ibrox on the same day, in a scrappy, ugly, 2-1 win. Not only did he do exactly what Forrest did – ran to the edge of the pitch, right up to the advertising board in fact, and celebrate in front of his fans – but most of the Sevco team was there right beside him. Maybe it’s just me who thinks there’s a better case to be made for the “health and safety” booking from the “Police Scotland mandate” than there was at Perth … but not only was Miller not booked but none of his team were either.
And here’s where we move into the realm of funky statistics.
There were twenty two fouls in total at the St Johnstone – Celtic match, split 12-10 to the home team. They had three players booked and we had four. Overall, I have no issue with that, or at least I didn’t have until I got the same stats from Ibrox.
There were seventeen fouls in that game, ten for the home side and seven for the away team. Not a dirty game, by any manner of means, but neither was the one at Perth. You know how many bookings there were in the game at Ibrox? None.
This might seem innocuous; in fact, I think it probably is.
The Honest Mistakes count isn’t going to be overly concerned with the number of yellow cards the teams get, but maybe it should be.
Because maybe that factors in.
For sure, the Police Scotland mandate didn’t apply at Ibrox on Saturday and that’s not the first time it’s been the case.
There was a spell a few years ago when certain players at Ibrox were considered immune to red cards.
I’d be willing to bet we see a bit of that this term too. In fact, some might be immune to booking entirely. The Police Scotland mandate, like much else, doesn’t seem to be valid when they play. How much of the actual rule book will be rendered similarly invalid as we go on?
In Brendan We Trust.
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