The SFA insults Celtic when it puts Douglas Ross on the line.

Let’s talk about that odious wee rat Douglas Ross, who was the linesman at the weekend’s Celtic vs Hibs game. Let’s be honest here. He was dreadful. He was the wrong man in the wrong position, in the wrong game, at the wrong time.

What outrageous thing did he do? He flagged Celtic’s first goal offside, a decision VAR had to overturn because, in reality, the goal was onside. That is bad enough on its own. But it was one of his many sins. He had a dreadful game.

Look, all the officials were terrible, but he deserves special singling out because he’s always had a bad relationship with our fans, and they’ve always detested him. I am sure the feeling is mutual. Which is part of the problem.

Douglas Ross’s, of course, is the former leader of the Scottish Tory party. That on its own wins you a corner in the deepest dungeons of a Tartan Hell. A man who stood not just against Scotland’s independence and carried the unionist banner for years, but in the guise of a political party which has long repelled a majority of Scots. Even if he were not such a cretinous presence on the line, that would make Ross one of the most disliked people among a large number of Celtic fans.

So, the big question is obvious. What is a guy like that doing running the line in a game this big? We’re always told these guys can separate the personal from the professional, but let’s not pretend that we’re idiots here. Even if you accept the most basic rules of human nature that’s a very big thing to ask us to accept.

I’ll be blunt, because that what other way is there to be? His decision for Celtic’s first goal was abysmal. He’s looking right down the line. He has a near perfect view of the ball and the cross. It was not just a marginal call you shrug off with a sigh and say, “these things happen.”

No. This was one of those decisions that makes you question what exactly you are watching, and who exactly is being trusted with it.

Celtic’s first goal should have been pure, unfiltered joy. Instead, it was dragged through the mud by a raised flag. Offside, we were told. Offside, with that air of authority officials carry, as if the flag settles everything.

Thankfully, even when he was a senior politician he never did carry much of that. He was as bad at that as he is at running the line.

VAR stepped in, peeled back the illusion and showed what most of us already suspected. The goal was onside. Perfectly, clearly, undeniably onside, in spite of the number of Ibrox fans moaning about the size of Alastair Johnston’s foot.

Without VAR, that goal is chalked off. Without VAR, Celtic are denied what was rightfully theirs. If not for VAR, Douglas Ross changes the shape of the game and maybe the title race with it. I’m not letting VAR of the hook; the officials on VAR made at least two decisions which were absolutely shocking. But Ross … wow.

This was a huge match in a close title race. Celtic went to Easter Road knowing that anything less than a win would have changed the whole mood of the run-in.

Margins matter which means that every flag matters. Every whistle matters. Each and every moment of doubt matters. So, when an official gets a call like that wrong in a game like that, it is not just frustrating. It is outrageous.

And yes, I know what people will say. Officials make mistakes. Fine. They are human. Nobody expects perfection. But context matters. Perception matters. Trust matters.

Douglas Ross is not just another assistant referee in the eyes of many Celtic supporters. He is the former leader of a detested political organisation, one that has never been shy about playing the Orange card; the standard bearers of unionism and we know which particular Glasgow club has that closest to its heart.

He is a man whose public career stands in direct opposition to the views and instincts of a huge part of the Celtic support and the Celtic support has never been shy about letting him know it. In a perfect world a man could shrug that off. We do not live in a perfect world and there is no point pretending that we do. Football does not exist in a vacuum. Neither do the people officiating it.

So when I see him standing there, flag in hand, in a massive Celtic game, I can’t help but feel something does not sit right. Call it instinct. I don’t need my Ginger Witch sense prickling to see something badly askew about his presence there.

And then comes a decision like that. A wrong call and a big one at that. A call overturned only because technology intervened. This is not abstract. This is tangible. Points, momentum and titles hang on moments like these.

Celtic are chasing history. Celtic are chasing another title, our fifth in a row. In games like this, there is no room for officials who look out of their depth and he always does. He always has. Even if there were not doubts about his neutrality, he is hopeless and there are numerous past incidents to look back on to verify it.

I keep coming back to that question. Why? Why put someone with that profile, that history and that baggage into a fixture of this magnitude? Even if you strip away every political angle, you are still left with the issue of credibility. Of basic competence. And he has none of the first and only a sliver of the second.

Almost as bad was watching John Beaton give a command performance of ineptitude or worse at Tynecastle last night; what are the odds that these two show up together in a big game for us before this season ends?

It makes my skin crawl to think about it.

Celtic fans do not forget easily. We remember moments, decisions and patterns. Rightly or wrongly, Douglas Ross has become a figure who embodies that frustration. Not because of one flag. Because of the accumulation of doubt that surrounds him whenever he appears in our games.

Maybe he thinks he is just doing his job. Maybe, in his own mind, there is no bias, no edge, no story. But football is not just about intent. We don’t decide things based on rational thought but on emotion; every student of basic psychology knows this. We aren’t the only ones with long memories; Ross was the subject of a rather aggressive Green Brigade banner back in February 2023 which left no doubt as to what our fans think of him. If you’re telling me that’s not something that makes a lasting impression on a man you don’t know what you are talking about.

So here I stand, trusting that instinct again. That quiet, stubborn voice that tells me to pay attention to these moments, to question them and to refuse to brush them aside as “just one of those things.”

Maybe it is time to start asking harder questions about who is appointed to these games. Not out of paranoia. Not out of blind anger. But out of a demand for fairness, transparency and the integrity of the sport we love.

Because I’ll always trust that feeling. That spark. That instinct.

This Ginger Witch has not been doing this long, but how long do you have to do this without recognising something fishy when the smell of it is wafting under your nose?

It does not take special powers either. A blind person could see this a mile away.

Choose The CelticBlog as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.