Aside from Chris Sutton, furiously berating Bobby Madden yesterday, few in the media care that he was absolutely appalling and disgracefully one-sided. Nobody cares because this time there were no major moments which changed the game, no “big decision” that he got wrong and because we weren’t the team who won the match.
The media will give Madden a free ride, although our hacks know full well that he isn’t fit to be refereeing top football matches. Likewise, the SFA will stand by their man, and in the absence of a formal complaint from Celtic why shouldn’t they?
Yesterday, at full time, Ange went out of his way not to stir the pot.
We all love the guy and how he always tries to give officials the benefit of the doubt, but you wonder what it will take until he snaps, because he has to know what he watched yesterday.
It’s to his credit that he tries to rise above it, but it’s clear that he’s yet to fully grasp what it is that we’re up against here. These people can cost him his job over time; he needs to recognise that he’s not operating in a benign environment here.
Does he think the media are the only people he can’t trust?
In the aftermath yesterday, when you’d think Madden would want to keep his head down, he went on social media instead, posting a picture of himself smiling as he came out of the tunnel and wishing people a Happy Easter.
Sutton was so furious he retweeted it. Celtic fans, are of course, outraged. It’s obvious trolling … but let’s face it, it’s not the worst thing that we’ve seen from officials in the country. In fact, it’s pretty far from it.
There are officials who train in their Ibrox club gear. We know this for a fact as former officials have talked about. There is no secret about which way some of them lean. We have Andrew Dallas as a Grade One Official, continuing the family name and all that goes with it … think that deep down he’s a friend to this club? Christ sakes, we have John Beaton celebrating in an Ibrox fan bar hours after he’d played a major role in assuring a victory for them.
How many former refs are on the lodge speaking circuit?
How many have openly boasted about their allegiances?
It doesn’t all go unremarked upon – how else would we know this stuff if it wasn’t in the press and widely disseminated? But it goes unchanged. It isn’t confronted.
Refs exist in their own wee private member’s club and nobody holds them to account.
Nobody appears terribly interested in doing so either, or it would be done.
In any industry there would be at least one reform document sitting in a drawer somewhere, some critical thinking piece on how to modernise refereeing. It must exist, because somebody must have taken a stab at this over at Hampden, at some point.
So why hasn’t it been enacted?
There isn’t a single person in the Scottish football power structure, or in the mainstream media, who doesn’t think there are serious problems with our officials. Even those who don’t believe that they are biased know full well that what we’re watching is either refs trying to influence games or it’s the worst kind of incompetence … even if you only believe in the latter scenario, why would you continue to watch it without demanding change?
Our own club has adopted a policy of … we don’t know what.
Officially, at least, they are content with wee chats behind the scenes.
What good will that do? What enhancements will it bring?
VAR would not have forced Madden to change how he officiated yesterday; are we really content to pay for technology that will not get to the heart of the matter?
It doesn’t matter if you think that he was pro-Ibrox yesterday or just had an absolute shocker.
He knew that there was disbelief in many quarters about his performance. He knew that he had infuriated our entire support.
So whether you think he was thumbing his nose at criticism or engaging in open contempt for us, Bobby Madden was laughing at us yesterday on Instagram.
That’s the truth of it. He brazenly mocked us.
Because he can. Because they all can.
Because we’ve talked a good game in public but done nothing.
Because although everyone knows that our officials are sub-par if they aren’t nakedly biased nobody seems to want to confront that far less do something about it.
Maybe because my expectations are so low for refs – especially in a derby game – I thought Madden was ‘ok’, with notable inconsistencies in his decision making.
But we just didn’t turn up.
As others have probably mentioned, I was amazed at how fresh sevco were.
I was thinking – they will tire and start to cramp up in the second half.
Then: they will definitely tire in extra time…
On the face of it, our players are not fit enough, which is concerning.
James
After yesterday and all that has been said about
how poor we were (rightly so) we now have Madden
trolling the Celtic fans….just shows what type of man if that is the right word he is….
Hope our club sees this the way our fans do
HH
We’re all blue in the face talking about this on Forums and Blogs.
NOTHING will change until CELTIC officially challenge this incompetence, inconsistency and bias; highlighting it to a National audience.
Pick our time to do this i.e. when the Leagues won at the end of the season.
We cannot possibly put up with another Season of unacceptably bad and inconsistent Refereeing from individuals of ‘ questionable’ allegiance.
Make it a big issue. Go National with it.
Brother Bobby and others are laughing at us and our apparent impotence.
scotland co-hosted the Euros two years ago. Not one scottish referee was selected by uefa. The sfa couldn’t care less. HH
Madden and the other officials fell well,,well short of basic duties during the game,, holding back from issuing 2nd yellows to sevco players, personally I think poss 2 players should have walked,, if and a big if had we being on the opposite end of them dissions there would be getting analised for weeks in the press,, fck the throw in that wasn’t had legs for weeks,,reminds me of Ronnie’s 1st season,,
You say no big moments but they would have been big if Madden had made the right decision to double book the same players for kicking out at and tripping our players from behind, clear bookings not given, not to mention an offside goal. They were big moments and we shouldn’t pretend they weren’t. They could easily been two players down, players who went on to influence the game and the effect on us, injuries and kicked out.
All down to Madden and his decision making that doesn’t follow the rules and results in a defeat.
Credit to Ange for not stirring the pot? What kind of pacifist nonsense is that. I don’t agree with your assessment on this part James or your agreement with inaction. So only the board should complain or seek change and everyone else shut up with credit.
We should all be outraged and loudly highlighting this bias and its impact as a club, manager, players and fanbase or else its diluted. We should speak with a united voice or we’re open to comments such as, ‘well your manger doesn’t think so’. This approach and love in with Ange is clouding judgements. He should have spoken out, after all these decisions contributed to the loss the match, injured our players that have 5 leagues games left to play and continues to show that cheats do win
Nobody has mentioned the penalty claim in extra time, James Forrest cross was hand balled by Barisic in the box, his left foot was planted on the line and his arm was inside the box, I have clear photos of this, nothing mentioned, VAR would have called a penalty, the winner was offside against Bassey although tight for the Linesman, but VAR would have pulled it up, no excuses for our performance, but these little things win or lose you games
James you need to let it go now. Your obsession with officials after we have a poor result is tiresome. You berate that crowd across the city when they bang on about us getting all the decisions yet here you are acting like one of them. We were mince yesterday. End of. Get over it and look forward to the title
Usual story. Rangers – arms all over the place and barging through our players, nothing given. Celtic player so much as touches them, the whistle blows.
Bassey literally had his arms full around Rogic’s waist several times when he received the ball and Madden did nothing.
Until referee allegiances are declared as in other countries, they will always have their twelfth man,
They played 120mins of football midweek of which 2/3 of it was against 10 and eventually 9 men obviously they would be fresher than made out by everyone. Referee performance big one was the continuous rugby style grips on rogic from bassey predominately with little action. All this from a man who gave a penalty to that mob at Dundee from a mysterious foul on Morelos nowhere near the extent of which rogic had to content with. His tactics were very similar to pittodrie.
Huns are weirdos full stop they actually feel is fine to express their bile and we shoild ok with it! This cones from our older generations keeping the ” head down” Probably rightly in thise days as we are mostly good people of values the poisin are scum and revel in that but that in turn normalised thst scum! Same when they March through the streets of brigadoon oh we going hate you all week ny father told me leading up to that disgusting sight the the poisin didnt speak to ” kafflics” for weeks! Pathetic! But all normal for these cretins! But they then expect you to be fine with them! Not a chance on my watch I have sleats called then out ,utter poison as I said a million times I rather never play any club from thst hell hole of hate sadly too many in our fan base have a lazyfair attitude to their perma rage and posion! They get no respect and give none treet them according and Celtic our club should done this decades ago!
Always called them out I meant