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Andy Walker’s Commentary Has Become Surreal. He Ought To Be An Embarrassment To Sky.

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Today Sevco was given a quite ludicrous penalty kick against Hamilton; all the efforts of Walter Smith (ex Ibrox manager) Neil McCann (ex Ibrox player) and Andy Walker to justify it are only so much warbling. Smith and McCann I well understand; neither of those two is capable of offering an unbiased view on an incident like that. I never expected one.

Their efforts to justify it are ridiculous, of course, but you expect nothing less from two hard-core Sevconites.

Both are capable of rational analysis though; they were unequivocal on the issue of the Sevco goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box. Both said he should have been red-carded. That decision was open and shut.

I never expected Andy Walker to offer a rational opinion on the penalty, although he’s supposed to be impartial and unbiased. It was the kind of decision I would have expected him to side with them over. No commentator in this country is so ready to embrace and accept everything that goes in favour of Scotland’s establishment club.

His own reaction, his first reaction, before he even saw a replay, was not only was it a penalty but a red card.

Seriously? A red card, for that?

For a guy going down like a dying swan?

I didn’t think it was a penalty; I thought it was a dive.

I thought the referee should have booked Toral for a piece of sheer theatrics, and I’ve watched it a couple of times.

Walker’s was a typical knee-jerk reaction; when it down, give it to Sevco. Or against Celtic.

Those who marvel at the tendency amongst ex-Celtic players to give us no benefit of the doubt and to be wholly sycophantic towards the Ibrox side should stop wondering. It’s not important. Whether it’s an attempt not to seem biased (it does, just not the way they think) or, as some have alleged, because of the editorial bias of their employers doesn’t matter to me and it never has; on days like this it’s an embarrassment to those employers and an insult to the viewers.

Sky Sports Scotland does seem to have an issue with editorial bias; I’ve said it for a while. Their coverage is way too focussed on positive spin at Ibrox whilst the try to pick holes in every little controversial moment that arises at Celtic. Again, I don’t particularly care why this is so, but it makes a good argument for why so many people are opting to buy streaming boxes instead of giving their money to the people who put Walker on the air.

He got one thing right over the day; Joe Garner’s shocking assault on a Hamilton player was a red card any day, every day, and John Beaton’s decision not to show him one was outrageous. More on Beaton later; his refereeing performance was worthy of closer scrutiny, as one of the worst I’ve seen this season, and that’s saying something.

But Walker … dear oh dear.

How that man keeps his job I do not know.

Sky ought to be embarrassed by him. That they’re not is pretty telling, I think.

I can only assume he’s doing something the brass upstairs approves of.

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