Blame Celtic Mentality Getting Refs Nowhere
So here we are bhoys and the special girl who read this, (Hi Mum) Its Friday yet again and everyone and their granny knows what the big talking point is in not just Scotland at the moment, but in the whole of Britain. So the refs all went bowling and scored a collective strike which leaves the Scottish game in a right wee mess! (Notice the Scottish media haven’t used the phrase ‘into disripute’ or well, only when describing Neil Lennon they wheel that one out)
So who’s to blame? Well if you’ve been living in Scotland over the past week then you’ll know all the major radio stations and newspapers as well as news programmes have placed the blame squarely on Celtic. George Peat said the time for ‘hinting and inuendo’ was over, then he wouldn’t explain who he was talking about, he only left ‘hints’. Everyone knows Celtic are NOT to blame on this one. Every one of the 12 managers in the SPL have history of giving the referee’s a torrent of abuse after a bad decision against their team, Peter Houston even had a go at the referee after he let his team away with a penalty…who was that ref again?
16 Years ago, when I would’ve been 1, even I knew Michael Kelly wasn’t the most popular man at Celtic Park, but anyone who has grudges against him should put them to one side for 10 minutes and go watch him tear Kenny Clark apart on Newsnight Scotland on Tuesday night. The BBC didn’t see that coming. They gave Kelly a platform to defend Celtic and they didn’t expect that, they were ‘done a belter’. Speaking of Kenny Clark, I read him in Tuesday’s Sun and he was adamant that no referee from a foreign country will referee a game this weekend because ‘they want to show solidarity with the refs here and wont cross the picket line’…then he goes onto explain the time he was drafted to the middle east to referee a game when no referee out there wanted to ref the game due to the hostility they would face if they gave a penalty either way…contradiction anyone?
Then the BBC again, last night’s sportsound, I haven’t heard it myself but it has been well spoke about that they were doing all they could,even throwing the kitchen sink at an Israeli referee NOT to officiate this weekend in the SPL, why would this be? In my opinion, The BBC are well aware that if the games go ahead on Saturday and Sunday, then Celtic will have won. We have always been hit with the ‘stop criticising the refs, without them there is no game’ line. Well if that particular line is well and truly sent packing this weekend, what is stopping us criticising them further? The BBC know Celtic are onto a winner and its hurting them, like its hurting every non Celtic fan in Scotland and the world over.
The Aces Are Certainly In Celtic’s Hand
The referees, to me, sound very much like an ex-girlfriend. An ex that you found out cheated on you so you dumped her, her first reaction is to blame you and convince everyone in your social circle that it was your fault she played away from home. Well it doesn’t wash in that social circle and it certainly doesn’t wash in the Celtic V Referees circle. They have been made out to look like spoilt brats, the whole world is laughing at the Scottish Refs, I think the scottish term ‘get up and get on wae it ya big jessie!’ is appropriate in this case.
And why haven’t the SFA done anything about this in regards to the referees? They should be sacking ALL grade 1 officials and fast tracking grade 2 and 3 refs into the big leagues, surely they can’t be any worse than what we’ve got at the moment? The referees are paid good money to cheat Celtic, so why should Celtic, as well as everyone else for that matter, allow them back into the Scottish game after they’ve thrown the toys out the pram? All I’ve read and heard over the past few days is ‘the SFA have to stand up to Celtic’ so that makes me wonder; Why haven’t the SFA stood up to the referees and sack them? Because if Celtic decided not to fulfil and SPL fixture, or they withdrew from the Scottish Cup, we would most definitely be hit with a huge fine as well as probably a points deduction in the league for, you guessed it, ‘bringing the game into disripute’ . So why are the refs getting sympathy when they should be getting the sack? Over the past week they’ve caused more damage to the Scottish game than any manager, player, director, or set of supporters ever have, they’ve even done more damage than a January snow storm!
So with all that said, lets look forward to the visit of Inverness on Saturday, and lets all cheer the referee onto the pitch, greet him with chants such of ‘whos the god in the black?’ ‘best ref in Scotland’ ‘you’re just a tim with a whistle’ or all of the above. On the footballing side, Inverness’ very impressive away record is coming to an end on Saturday, Celtic will put their recent bad results behind them and record a 2-0 victory, with goals from Gary Hooper and Majstorovic, well he’s due one isn’t he!
Thats me for another week people, enjoy your football over the weekend and don’t let those poor refs guilt trip you into feeling sorry for them.
Brucehillbhoy
P.S, Isn’t it interesting that most SPL managers have all gave their opinions on the referee strike, most of them stating they are against it. Who hasn’t stated he is for/against it? That wouldn’t be the Celtic manager would it?