If Celtic’s Cup Final Ref Is “The Best In The Country” No Wonder Standards Are Dire.

To be called “the best” at something in a pretty abysmal field is not really a mighty compliment, is it? To be called “the best” referee in Scotland is a lot like those sports journalism awards they hand out in this country.

You might as well give hoboes an award for who lives in the best cardboard box underneath a railway overpass.

When I heard, earlier, that Nick Walsh has been described as the best referee in the country my mind didn’t automatically flow to when he’s had good games or performed admirably.

It right away went to “Really? Then we’re in desperate trouble here.”

Not only is it not, in itself, a great compliment but it’s a sign of how poor we’ve let the standards become and how little anyone cares about improving them.

I’m not even going to go into his record against us, which everyone is familiar with. I’m appalled that this guy can be called the best official in Scotland and nobody in the media considers what that means. It means if we haven’t yet hit rock bottom then we’re not a kick in the backside off it.

As to the decision to allow Mr Conflicted to sit in the VAR box, that’s an insult to all of us and Celtic should have made sure that this geezer was never allowed to officiate at any of our matches again, in any capacity, after he was caught jollying it up with his fellow Ibrox fans. We’re asking for trouble every time that joker is allowed to do it.

The assertion that these are our brightest and best is a damning charge against the SFA run refereeing system and the best thing that the game can do in this country is take it out of the hands of these people once and for all.

A national refereeing service, split off from the governing body, trained to a high standard, accountable and paid the going rate … it would assure the best people from other parts of the UK applied and came here to work.

Then we wouldn’t have any of this nonsense.

That we are stuck with these raging mediocrities is a really sad indictment on the state of our game, and this season has proved it like no other.