GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 05: A general view of Celtic fans during a UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Celtic and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park, on November 05, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
And so the Ibrox outcry gets its result.
We have Willie Collum, the head of referees, giving a statement in which he describes the penalty kick decision at Hampden as unacceptable. While he’s at it, he’s chucked a couple of his officials under the bus. Oh, he’s tried to make out that disciplinary action has been taken before, but the only person really taken to task that we know of was him the last time the Ibrox club complained.
So, all those who stamped their feet got a little bit of what they wanted. Not all of what they wanted—they were never going to get all of what they wanted. And I can say that with complete confidence, although none of them ever said what it was they wanted. But I’m telling you: Celtic fans will remember this.
Decisions that are wrong get made in this game every other week. Not one of them has resulted in the kind of ridiculous outcry we’ve seen here. Not one of them has seen not only the head of referees but the heads of both the SPFL and the SFA forced to make statements on it, and although I think they’ve been as casually dismissive of all the drum banging as they usually are, it’s telling that two executives have felt as if they need to come out and make statements at all.
That footage has been studied more than the Zapruder film. And it has generated just as many conspiracy theories. We spoke earlier about Tom English; he’s not the only person I’ve taken aim at today, as you’ll later on see.
But I repeat; we’re not going to forget this, and the rest of Scottish football shouldn’t forget this. If it’s this easy to get all the top officials in our game with some responsibility for refereeing and officiating to comment, condemn their own staff, and promise to fix things that have gone wrong, then every club should do it. And Celtic especially should remember this. The fans certainly will.
The hypocrisy of the media here has been off the charts.
They never get quite so motivated as they do on behalf of Ibrox. I think some of the content in the press has been pathetic. With the officials now reprimanded, with the head of referees contrite, and the head of the SFA itself having spoken publicly and condemned his own staff, I sincerely hope this matter is closed.
The Ibrox club has publicly thanked the SFA for its transparency, so they’ve got the answers they wanted and at the end of the day, they’ve stamped their feet just enough to tell their fans they tried to do something.
Their fans have seen through that, of course, and all it’s done is show how weak the Ibrox club is. It cannot simply get everything it wants by making demands. And it certainly can’t get everything its fans want just by making demands.
The Ibrox club has said that this is bad for the credibility of the Scottish game. But I think it’s their reaction, the media’s reaction, and the hysterical way they’ve gone about it that is detrimental to the credibility of the Scottish game.
You’d think this was the only mistake made this season. It isn’t. You’d think it was the only mistake made in a high-profile fixture in this competition. But I direct everyone’s attention to the final last year and a penalty kick that Aberdeen should have got, which most people acknowledge they should have got.
It came to nothing and didn’t generate nearly as much heat.
The case is closed. The governing bodies have said a mistake was made, they’ve apologised, and it’s time everybody on the other side of this shut up and got on with it. And I’m not simply stating my own view here. I’m telling them what they told us the last time we had a complaint about a decision.
Here’s the difference: very few people took our side on that.
Very few people cared. Brendan Rodgers was on record as having told the media that he thought John Beaton was incompetent.
And John Beaton is certainly incompetent.
John Beaton is at the heart of this story too, don’t forget. But people would rather ignore that to focus on the VAR officials. Nobody wants to talk about how Beaton shouldn’t have got the final in the first place.
This has been a tiresome week having to cover this story. And it’s not over yet, because I’ve got one more day of having to cover it, as I must write about one specific individual reaction from a clown, but a dangerous clown, who in the last 24 hours would have embarrassed himself if he was capable of being embarrassed.
A whole lot of people in Scottish football should be embarrassed today by the way they’ve conducted themselves in the last five days. And although I’ve enjoyed almost
every bit of their pain and suffering—because that’s what’s at the root of this: pain and suffering—it has been no less atrocious to witness.
For us, having taken some pleasure in it, it’s still been an awful spectacle. Because they never made this noise on behalf of our club or any other. And I’ll tell you again what I said at the top of the piece: we won’t forget this.
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“The Ibrox club has said that this is bad for the credibility of the Scottish game. But I think it’s their reaction, the media’s reaction, and the hysterical way they’ve gone about it that is detrimental to the credibility of the Scottish game.”
100% spot on my friend and all the ex-hun punters bringing Celtic into this are jumping on the bandwagon and making themselves look like bigger fools than they are.
Celtic won a football match, Celtic overtook the ibrox club’s (rangers 1 and 2) cumulative trophy haul, albeit I think this is the next likely debate this season, they will find something to sell to the rest of the Klan and Klub digging out other obscure trophies. Damned Certainty. Celtic have not got themselves involved in this, whistle blown, game over, there’s yir tea.!
Collum has always been spineless. We need a head who is outwith Scotland and experienced to deal with fan pressure. Clearer rules and guidelines.
Drop VAR, employee full time officials for the top League, preferably experienced officials from other countries. Bin all the amateurs we have trying to run Scottish football with their biases.
All the shield rattling has a more nefarious angle with the New Year game coming up, hostile Ibrox crowd baying for blood, it will not be a pleasant experience for this country. I hope the SFA and UK media are all over it for what it may be, racist, hate filled environment. Good thing is no Celtic fans.
Rangers win, Centre of Glasgow is trashed, they lose they will be kicking 40 shades of green out of each other.
at the upcoming ibrox game the sfa and the gutless media will do what they always do SFA all the while praising the wonderful atmosphere ?. talking about the credibility of the sfa when are aberdeen going to get paid and why is taking so long ?.
As I said yesterday, Gollum threw his team under the bus.
What action has been taken? Has Beaton and co been demoted. Obviously not.
Have they demanded that Beaton does not ref their games again. Obviously not.
I still think as it’s the season of goodwill to all men, we should question their second goal and the possible two red cards.
For me this demonstrates the incompetence of the officials and sets the record straight that other incidents happened during this game and we can demonstrate our power as well.
119…..let’s make Rangers* greet again. 🙂
This is the worst and longest backlash I’ve seen over a decision/mistake in 60 years of watching football. It wouldn’t even rank in the top 1000 worst decisions I’ve seen, most of which were in favour of rangers or sevco.
To hear their fans, manager and board ranting and raving is one thing, but the media outpourings are astonishing. There are the usual culprits but others who were supposedly neutral have been creeping out of the woodwork, trying to use their reputation for measured views to get their messages across as factual and unbiased, and failing miserably in that respect.
The one that’s really took me by surprise is Gordon Duncan on SSB, who always mentions that he’s a Motherwell fan whilst dealing with difficult questions. He just about got away with that approach up until this week, as he did seem quite even handed.
This week though has blown his camouflage apart. He’s constantly interrupting the punters and blatantly shutting down Celtic fans who call in with an opposing view. He’s allowed sevco fans calling for replays and even null and void decisions a platform to discussion with the panel, but has completely dismissed Celtic fans without addressing or discussing their points, changing the subject and cutting off their calls without as much as a goodbye!
One such Celtic fan suggested that perhaps the introduction of VAR has worked against rangers as they can no longer routinely get decisions in their favour such as a full season without a penalty given against them. The point wasn’t addressed and the caller was cut off – astonishingly blatant behaviour by Duncan.
The best way to resolve this now is for Celtic to absolutely annihilate them at ibrox!
I agree re Gordon Duncan DannyGal in that he’s quite a good host and is pretty well researched and knowledgeable as well…
But by fuck he really went with the Penalty, Penalty, Penalty mantra so he did…
Could be his own opinion or it could be that he has a rabid Sevco programme director / producer in his ear –
Talking about Clyde Superscoreboard – Finally a rational and measured Sevco fan comes on tonight saying he’s fed up with his fellow fans keeping this going and it’s time to move on…
Well done to William from Airdrie of all places – A huge rarity – A sensible Sevco fan !!!
Agreed Clach! My wife also liked Gordon Duncan’s hosting of the show up until this week. She reckons his podcasts etc. with Willie Collum have got him thinking he’s the top media expert on VAR and refereeing in general, hence the constant “factual not subjective” assurances.