dennyc

Brilliant. Sums the whole farce up. And highlights the misleading information being pushed out of HQ. Maxwell also stated that no way was VAR being withdrawn. Out of curiosity, is that his call or is it up to the teams in the top division? If they united (this is Scotland so unlikely) could we do a Sweden? Was reading yesterday that after discussing VAR with numerous Clubs, Rangers approached Maxwell with funding and improvement suggestions. Dismissed out of hand. Appears we have a Dictator running his own little empire.

Hibs maybe but doubt Celtic would sell to Hearts. And he enjoys his football too much to fit into the Robinson non football approach. Aberdeen fans are in for a treat.

irrespective of who we eventually turn to, what all this research shows is that there are plenty of decent, progressive options out there. No need to turn to the usual, washed out, living in the past ( resist it Grizzlyg) favourites the Scottish media come up with. Hopefully something announced soon.

Hopefully still available as a catch up. English did not hold back. Not just about the Nicholson decision. Refreshing although it will make no difference to Collum etc. Dallas was the one who got the real going over. English will be on the naughty step alongside Stewart.

Tom English on Sportsound let rip yesterday. Pointed out how frantic and desperate to have his way Dallas sounded. Essentially bullied the decision through despite the doubts expressed by his assistant and even Beaton. Worth a listen. Dallas made the decision no matter what Collum says about all 3 officials being in sync. Even the presenter on the VAR Review questioned Collum's take on decisions. Not just our game. Normally Gordon Duncan just rolls over. Never challenges the nonsense that Collum spouts.. Cue no more VAR review programmes as Collum being called to account.

I fear Connor Barron will be who Clarke goes for. Based on nothing but who he plays for. Hopefully I'm wrong because Lennon Miller should be first in line. No faith that Clarke will do the right thing.

I got the impression that Welsh enjoyed playing for Askou. Although he was clearly fully committed to Motherwell I'm not so sure he would want to return now that Askou is away. Would not surprise me if Welsh ended up in Toulouse

Having watched the var replay, Beaton clearly still doubted whether it was a hand ball. So not clear and obvious to him by any means. Again Collum making it up to fit the outcome. He contradicts himself time after time. Another joke was Collum standing by the decision to allow the Newell goal. That is as clear and obvious error as you will see. Even Newell was laughing at it standing. Oh, and apparently leaving the ground to launch a two footed tackle which catches the shin is only a yellow card. Must bear that in mind for next season. But really, did we expect anything else.

There are 2 aspects to the discussion. I highlighted examples that support your view that our Officials are useless and above sanction. I don't believe they are corrupt. There are stills of the Ibrox penalty claim that suggest minimal contact at best. Whether they were available at the time is debatable. For what it's worth, viewing 'live' I thought it was a penalty and on balance still do. For me, it was not as bad a decision as the penalty donated to Celtic. Not as clear cut. The other issue is who is currently the dominant power in the running of Scottish football? Celtic beyond doubt for which I also highlighted examples. Rangers have been in that position in the past. But not currently. MJC is spot on. To lump them together at this time only helps deflect attention from Celtic. Both would like to rule the roost but Celtic are winning that race for now.

Agree with much of that. But I would suggest that, funny as it was at the time, Rangers demise years ago effectively handed the opportunity for complete control to Celtic. And they grabbed it with both hands (assisted to a degree by Aberdeen's greed). To the extent that they are currently much the dominate power. At times in the past it has been Rangers in that power situation and your Traynor comment is so relevant. The Media will always cow to the OF. But at the present time Celtic are well and truly in control of how Scottish Football is governed. Otherwise why have they escaped punishment on so many occasions? Why is a blind eye being turned to three pitch invasions in a row, or at best excuses being made on their behalf? Why is the damage their fans cause to away Grounds ignored? They are not so lightly treated when it is UEFA calling the shots. Speaks volumes. Although even there Lawwell managed to get a UEFA Board position which I think he still holds having been proposed by the SFA. Despite him having stood down from the Celtic Board. Normally that UEFA position would have ended at the same time as he gave up his position at Celtic. You might be correct. Rangers could well have benefited from the sort of decision Celtic got had they been playing us in that League situation. But they weren't so that comparison is purely hypothetical. Admittedly Rangers probably got away with our penalty shout at Ibrox, but that was less clear cut than the Nicholson shambles. As for Officials and VAR generally. All teams suffer from their incompetence. As opposed to corruption. The Newell hand ball goal could have cost Celtic the Title. Rangers lost silverware last season because of an acknowledged refereeing/VAR error. Livi were more or less relegated right at the start of the season because of some horrendous decisions. Gave them a mountain to climb.. As a fact, fans of every team could point to incorrect decisions that cost their Clubs dearly.

What I find surprising is that Beaton is getting all or at least most of the flak. Not excusing Beaton but Andrew Dallas is the one that created the whole injustice. Even though the supposed error was not Clear and Obvious. More like Fabricated. Beaton could have stuck by his original decision of course but he was put in such a position that I don't think any referee would have overridden Dallas. Add Beaton's previous history with Celtic and the outcome was assured. Dallas must have known that. If I was Beaton...and thank God I'm not.......I would be raging at Dallas for putting me in such a situation. For his part (and more so because of the part Dallas played) Collum will refuse to acknowledge any error. Fortunately for us, other than a point lost, the penalty did not change our situation. Draw or lose we still had to win at Easter Road. Hearts were the team most hard done to, especially as they had a much more valid penalty claim denied a few days earlier. Despite all that crap about errors balancing themselves out over a season, those two decisions decided the outcome of the League. Our Officials and our Association should be ashamed not only about the way things played out at Fir Park but their rewriting of history regards the disgraceful ending at Celtic Park a few days later. Given the recent actions of many Celtic fans at Ibrox, Fir Park and Celtic Park I wonder what sanctions will be handed out? Not holding my breath though as I suspect all the ever increasing noise coming from the SFA about pitch invasions not being unlawful in Scotland is a prelude to taking no action whatsoever. If anything, Rangers and Motherwell will be warned about not taking ample precautions, we will be fined for the pyros, and the Celtic Park invasion will be viewed simply as understandable exuberance with Hearts fined for leaving early and not completing Media duties. As MJC says, that is the extent to which Celtic control things in Scotland. Media included.

Bobby Hogg (a winger)played a few games for us in 1967 before moving to Stenny then Australia, where he ended up being capped a good few times. Before us he played one game for Hibs The 1967 Testimonial against Rangers featured most of their Cup Winners Cup final side beaten by Bayern Munich. Roger Hynd (my PE teacher) being one of them. Wellnet gives Hogg summary. My first game was in 1966 but other than the name I cannot recall seeing Hogg play.

Hogg who then moved to Stenhousemuir and Australia? But if correct I'll leave it to you to suffer the SK lectures. Better not heckle him though.

This is what the SPFL and SFA want. The exact opposite is what is required. Fans, Clubs and Politicians refusing to ignore what everybody in the Country witnesses is exactly the ultimatum the Authorities need. VAR and Referee incompetence is one aspect, but the ongoing vile behaviour of those Celtic fans cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet and lumped in with minor infractions of other Clubs' fans. Sure we will likely be held to Account for the pyro stuff. Fair enough. ...... but that is nothing compared to the Celtic fans behaviour at Celtic Park, Ibrox and Fir Park. Possibly elsewhere as well but Clubs and Media are too intimidated to speak out. Well said Hearts and McInnes for addressing the garbage that O'Neill is spouting. The narrative coming out of Celtic Park is disgusting although it does fit well with their 'Victims' approach. It's time other Clubs spoke up rather than keeping quiet in case Celtic refuse to stump up for the damage caused by their moronic fans. Motherwell included. As a minimum, the SFA should be making them play in front of some empty Stands at Celtic Park and also limiting their numbers at away grounds, with compensation being paid to those Clubs that suffer reduced away fan ticket sales. In exactly the same way we had to recompense Dundee last season. What's good for the goose etc etc etc. Strange how when UEFA threatened such action, the Green Brigade were immediately banned from European games. As soon as Celtic were pumped out the ban was lifted although in fairness Celtic did introduce another ban when Board Members and their families were threatened. That is until they needed them back to give them an edge in the biggest League Title challenge they have faced in years. Rant over. For now.

The SPFL growing a pair of balls and taking action re pitch invasions and assaults on players? Probably not. Lumping all four together will minimise the more serious incidents and enable the Authorities to class them all as celebratory rather than violent and intimidatory. "We had a look but nothing to see here." I expect Hamilton and Stenny to be fined and Celtic to be commended for the enthusiasm and good nature of their fans. I suspect the incidents attracting the interest of our politicians has spurred our masters to 'appear' to be taking matters seriously.