Yesterday, Brendan Rodgers did his usual pre-match interview, except that this time it wasn’t a typical one. It wasn’t typical because the moment is not typical. We’re getting to the end of a crazy campaign, one that hasn’t always been enjoyable, one that has, at times, been painful to sit through. For all that, we’re still in with a shout and that’s what we have to keep thinking about.
From the moment he returned to this club, Rodgers has been under siege. It is only lately that he has, quite literally, came out swinging and I expect him to be doing that all the way to the end now, however this season pans out. He knows he has to.
Sitting in front of the hacks yesterday, for the first time since he heard he was being disciplined for his comments at the end of the game last week, Rodgers could have been forgiven for imposing an iron clad rule on the assembled sportswriters, to only ask about the coming game. But of course, he couldn’t do that as they would only have stomped their feet.
So of course, he was questioned about everything else. The questions on the actual match we’re to embark on were few and far between. Was he sorry for what he said the other day? That was one of the questions, and he said he was not. They tried to get him to open up on the Abada situation, in a classic piece of fishing for a story. He gave them nothing.
It was an interview characterised by Rodgers in reactive mode. The hacks had him on the ropes, but not in any way that was going to deliver a knockout. Like a good tactical fighter, he kept his guard up and didn’t take any really serious blow. But he didn’t get to talk much about football, and he didn’t really get a chance to do any counter punching of his own.
Except … yeah, he kind of did, but it was a sneaky one, one that they didn’t see coming and if some of them are a little too stunned to get the message let me relay it to them now; his mentioning, and praising, Willie Collum as an example of good refereeing was not an accident. It was not a freakish shot that somehow hit the mark. It was timed, and aimed.
Mentioning Collum did three things; it was a dig at Ibrox and Hampden. It was a reminder to the media that they did and said nothing to stand up for that guy and it was a clear message to the disciplinary committee that the club intends to bring Collum up in the manager’s defence. It was, in short, a masterful intervention and I liked it a lot.
First, the dig at Hampden and Ibrox is obvious. In naming Collum as one of the refs he respects he’s reminding Hampden that he doesn’t usually criticise refs and telling Ibrox that we have no problem with the guy they’ve tried to have banned from their games. And if you detect in that Rodgers also obliquely suggesting that Collum should be getting more “big games” then you’ve read the signal five-by-five because Rodgers is basically doing just that and asking “when he’s getting given another league game involving their club?”
That alone would be, as they say, worth the admission money.
That he said it in front of the press is him telling them that the drum-banging and the invoking of “conspiracy theories” is a bit rich coming from the people who overwhelming took Ibrox’s side after the Alastair Johnston incident and poured scorn on Collum and it’s a reminder, too, that they allowed some of the ex-Ibrox pros to openly smear him as a cheat. They would have gone right along with that too had the Ibrox club not crassly, and stupidly, put its demand that he get no more of their games in the public domain via their fan media outlets, elevating it to a dangerous level which neither Celtic nor Rodgers has done in this case.
The hypocrisy of the hacks is deplorable at times, it really is.
Finally, there’s simply no missing that Rodgers is very plainly drawing attention to Collum because our club intends to use that man’s name as one of the central planks of our case. Rodgers knows that in raising this he’s giving the SFA a chance give Collum a game involving the Ibrox club before the hearing, although it’s so blatant that they’ve benched him that anything they do now is going to be too little and far too late.
Do you want to know how bad it is, and how blatant? An SPFL season has 38 games. Willie Collum has not officiated in a league game involving the Ibrox club since the last game of last year. Ten league matches have been played since then, more than a quarter of the season and not only has he not been on the pitch, but he’s not been in the VAR room either.
John Beaton, in the same spell, has refereed them twice and so too have Dickinson and Muir. McLean, Robertson, McDermid and Walsh have all refereed them once. Andrew Dallas has been on VAR three times, Robertson in addition to refereeing a game has been on VAR twice, Greg Aitken has been on VAR twice and Steven McLean and McDermid, in addition to refereeing a game apiece have also been on VAR once, and there have of course been assorted others over the course of those ten games as assistants and seconding the VAR guys.
Willie Collum has not been anywhere near any of those matches in an official capacity, which when you consider that he’s one of the top refs in the country is both troubling and astonishing.
More than one quarter of all the SPFL games that will take part over the course of a season have come and gone since the game in which he made that decision against the Ibrox club and he hasn’t been involved at all. Ten matches in a row.
And Celtic will, without a doubt, make good use of data like that, and that was the message that Brendan Rodgers was very definitely sending the SFA yesterday when he sat in front of the media and praised the excellent refereeing skills of one Willie Collum.
We should know, of course, because if you think Collum is simply being sidelined because people at the SFA no longer think he’s up to the job, guess what? He’s referred one and been on VAR for one involving Celtic over the same period of time.
I’ll tell you this; there’s no way we’re going to go ten league games without seeing John Beaton. That’s just not going to happen. Nevertheless, Rodgers has made his play and I think it was a good one.
Let’s see how the SFA responds to it.
Giving Willie Collum a role in a game involving the Ibrox club before our hearing is a near certainty now … and that’s how you’ll know that his sidelining has been very deliberate and sent a clear message to the rest.
Our own message is equally clear.
Whatever the SFA does now, we’ve got our guns loaded. It only remains to be seen how far we’re willing to go if we don’t get the verdict we want.
You Upset Celtic and John Beaton gets rewarded with the 1st Scottish Cup tie Live on BBC at lunchtime today.
You Upset Sevco and you don’t get anywhere near their next 10 league games and counting.
It’s a disgrace how Crawford Allen and the SFA have treated Willie Collum.
Willie has only been referee in 2 Premiership matches in the last 8 scheduled since December 30th.
Collum was appointed 5 Premiership games in the 8 Premiership matches prior to the December Glasgow Derby.
Collum’s punishment continued last weekend when he was appointed the Airdrie V Queens Park Championship match.
Scottish Football’s most experienced referee and this is how he’s treated.
John Beaton has been appointed only 2 Championship matches in the last 17 months.
Sevco have now dictated which referees are allowed to referee certain games in 3 of the last 6 seasons.
Willie Collum in 2018/18 season,was not allowed to referee a Sevco league match for 6 months,until the last league match of the season.
Kevin Clancy in 2021/22 season,was not allowed to referee a Sevco league match for 4 months,until the last league match of the season.
Willie Collum Again in 2023/24 season,has not been allowed to referee a Sevco league match for their last 10 league games and counting.
Only In Scotland.
Both Clancy & Collum are Catholic, why is that not being discussed?
The only 2 refs in Scotland that Sevco have asked not to ref their games and both Catholic?
Coincidence?
What’s more disgusting is the SPL buy into this as well, bigotry is right at the heart of the game here not just at Sevco.
Any other professional journalists in any other country would have already asked that question.
This is what I’ve been saying.
BR ether goes to this kangaroo court with the full backing and might of our club, or he sticks two fingers up at them and walks.
How proud would we all feel, if we had a club with a BACKBONE HH
Those kind of stats are EXACTLY the type of message we need to get across, James. Get that on a banner and present it in Section 111. Oh and to make sure our atrocious mainstream media report on it, call Beaton a cunt or something.
There is absolutely no point (in my view) in screaming whitabootery or conspiracy as that just gets batted away as media outliers (blogs like this) being run by tinfoil hat wearing nutjobs. We need a proper argument backed up with logic and stats. Condense that message into banner size form. And if the GB want to use expletives to get the message across (i.e. make it all about them as usual) then they have my blessing for once.
Bravo James. Proper investigative journalism that resonates. Over to out bannermen to pick up the baton.
I have said this before, but here it is again. Take them to court. Get the lawyers on to them.
The unfairness in Scottish football is disgusting. Newco should never have been allowed back into the system after they died. Other clubs were beginning to strengthen and started winning cups. Eventually these clubs would have become stronger and would be challenging for the league and winning it. Instead we have allowed the cancer that is the SFA and NEWCO to destroy the game. Scottish football is so corrupt.
Re-iterating your point(s), well done to our manager for using a great tactical approach off the park.
Collum has been under attack from the reincarnated, bigoted hordes for several years now. When Gerrard was boss, they submitted a complaint about Collum.
Their most recent, post derby defeat moans about him were even worse and blatantly victimised him to all and sundry amongst their cheerleaders. Big Clement Freud’s words amidst his after match meltdown, sealed Collum’s fate and highlighted his alienation from all that is connected to, and covets Ibrokes. They clearly got their way and have subsequently succeeded in preventing him, officiating any of their matches since. Whilst the cheat ( Beaton) received full backing and a quarter final, the silence towards Collum was deafening.
Collum has never been a particularly good referee, but I don’t think for one minute he is bigoted, tainted, or favours our club one iota! Incompetent…yes, biased…no!
Beaton on the other hand…enough has been said about that charlatan !
Rodgers’ words, do suggest that they’ll be ready for those at the Shifty Fraudulent Association when the time duly arrives. Whether our club gives him the full support, and are armed with a full wrecking ball, is a matter of opinion. Presently, the vast majority of us would tend to believe that won’t be the case.
Again, time will tell!!!
Someone else replied in an earlier blog that beaton replaced Someone else who was pencilled in as VAR assistant for the hearts game after sevco lost the day before .
Is this true, if so that’s blatant pre meditated cheating.
The SFA released a report recently which stated (i think) 13 wrong VAR decisions in the last 12-15 months. One of those was the non-penalty in the Glasgow derby with Collum on VAR. Be interesting to see who were officiating on the other 12 and see what “punishment” they have suffered.
When the facts and figures are laid out as done by Leon it is difficult to reach any conclusion other than a biased and corrupt organisation.
Collum was the Ref for The Tribute Act, aka Sevco, aka TRIFC. Versus Ayr in the Cup game, was he not
Yeah a cup game, where they were playing a lower league team. Not much chance of his “influencing” the result.
They’re pretty clear they don’t want him in the SPFL tho.
I thought that they might chuck Collum into the Sevco match away to Dundee next week…
But that will be seen as pandering to us so it’s probably a no –
But it’ll make them squirm a wee bitty – not that they’d care a jot about that to be honest !
Big Wolf
James, I would agree Willie Collum will be appointed in some role in a Sevco league match before the Brendan Rodger’s hearing. But, I’m just as certain that a referee will produce a straight red card in a Premiership match for a ‘high boot’ before the hearing also. This will be done to negate any argument we raise regarding the Yang red card, while no yellow card or even a foul was given against Goldson and Bair for the same offence in recent matches.
Sevco have deployed this tactic successfully with Willie Collum in the past. When Gerrard complained and demanded that Collum never referee a Sevco match again, he was not deployed in a Sevco match for almost 8 months.
So, the subliminal message for Referees is, if you give debatable decisions against Sevco, you will be refereeing at Gayfield, Cliftonhill or Est End Park for a long period.
That’s why we had Alan Muir adding on half and hour of injury time across the last two Sevco matches he handled. The SFA are complicit.
Pull out of using VAR, and don’t help the officials.
Stop paying for something that rarely works for us and only used as a tool to cheat us with.
Fukc the SFA bastas, and the dead hun hordes…..
give them eff all.