Alex, with all due respect to you, ‘not perfect’ is nonsense.
He was a disaster, the team looked lost and he spent £40m making that squad ‘terrible’. He caused huge issues in the dressing room, he threw the team under the bus instantly and the tactics’ consisted of the team facing almost regularly 30 shots on goal a game. Russell has a unique claim on being the worst manager Rangers have ever had. Danny Rohl instantly made those players and that team better and got them into a title race. Martin couldn’t even get them organised.
So let’s be truthful. No axe to grind with Russell, I actually wish him all the best, but the dangers surrounding his style and management is very really and dismissing Rangers as ‘not perfect’ is disingenuous nonsense
We as Scottish football fans, depending on our team, can argue all we want. Our opinions are fixed and won’t change. I don’t give a toss about Celtic fans opinion or expect them to care about mine.
The SFA’s problem is the rest of the world, with no stake in it, saw it too.
This season has just been one big galactic sized officiating failure. It could not have been a bigger public embarrassment if they tried. It has decimated credibility and confidence of "the product".
In any other company or industry, failure on this scale and profile would mean definite sackings and wholesale review.
Collum cannot survive this.
In turn the bombproof Maxwell and Mulraney appointed and backed him throughout
External review (not Scottish) is needed to not just raise standards, but actually bring Scottish officiating in line with every other developed league in Europe.
A red card not given to a Celtic player later confirmed to be the wrong decision by the KMI Panel.
A penalty not given to Hearts later to be confirmed as the wrong decision by the KMI Panel.
A penalty given to Celtic later confirmed as the wrong decision by the KMI Panel.
Any one of these decisions being gave correctly and Hearts are champions for the first time in 40 years.
But a couple of apologies and everybody has to pretend it’s ok??
Country’s a laughing stock.
The mask is slipping. The celtic PR machine can't control the narrative outside of Scotland. This is why Sutton, O'Neil and the like turn into full blown lunatics when speaking with media not in Scotland - they actually get challenged on their nonsense.
Sutton is unhinged.
Is there any reason why the commentators are allowed to hear the VAR conversations live whilst those watching on TV can’t?
It would surely make sense to have the feed available to all? Is there a rule against it?
Referees, like anyone, should not have to suffer threats or intimidation.
But this hasn't just happened in a scottish oasis of calm and tranquility where refs have been supported and lauded.
There has been a form of aggressive lobbying from the top of one football club ever since the Dougie McDonald incident, this set a tone and agenda that their fanbase carried relentlessly without counter or repercussion.
The referee strike and why it happened has been erased from history. That should have been a watershed moment - it wasn't
They continued as they started to see results from the pressure, and successive CEOs / chairman / managers of Celtic maintained the tone and pressure - explicit and implicit. And now here we are.
Rangers have occasionally spoke up when they feel the need, but nothing as concerted and pernicious as Celtic's 15yr campaign.
This statement tells a story much higher than Beaton got threats because of Wednesday night, but most don't want to tell it.
Those who questioned the integrity of Sam Nicholson owe the boy an apology.
The @MotherwellFC player swore on his kids life that the ball didn’t strike his hand.
This new video clip is the clearest evidence of that.
I’m looking at you @shebahn@chris_sutton73
Ally McCoist on @talksport 👏👏
“The whole country is taking notice, it’s an appalling decision”
“Must get rid of VAR, it’s making us look like clowns”
Spoke to one of our ex players literally 5 mins ago & just said to me “The integrity of the game has to come into question”
Given the current huge interest in Scottish football, maybe this would be a good time for Willie Collum to do an interview other than his YouTube show? Doesn’t need to be with a Scottish outlet, there seems plenty of neutral media outlets outwith here discussing it.
My take: the ball hitting a hand is not always a handball offence. You have to either
1.) deliberately touch the ball with your hand, or
2.) ball hits your hand/arm when it's made your body unnaturally bigger.
This isn't deliberate, and if the ball hits his hand - which is on his forehead in the middle of a normal footballing challenge - he hasn't made his body unnaturally bigger. Because the ball would have hit his head anyway, so his hand on his head does not make his body unnaturally bigger.
Furthermore, VAR can only recommend an on-field review for a clear and obvious error. There is only one camera angle available, which does not show that the referee has missed a clear and obvious error. We can't see clearly where the ball hits.
This is categorically not what VAR was brought in for, and it all needs ripped up in the summer. This is a really poor look for Scottish football, as you can see from the international condemnation online since the game.
You really have to feel for Hearts. Unless you're a Celtic fan of course, that must have been class. But if you're not a Celtic fan. Deary me. Could be a generation defining decision, never mind season defining!