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I am finding this one a little difficult to stomach I have to admit. Yes, Slattery made a fool of himself and yes it took a little bit of a shine off of what was otherwise the perfect performance. This kind of behaviour needs stamped out of football and in a world where all things are equal the punishment probably fits the crime but all things are not equal and the organisation doing the finger wagging in Slattery''s direction oversee a tiny shitty world where they are more than happy to turn a blind eye to some of the bigger vagueries of Scottish Football. We have not heard a single word of condemnation from the SFA on the scenes at Ibrox a few weeks ago. The bigotry, the sectarian singing that could be heard both on radio and TV. The pitch invasions, the aggression, the on field violence. No word, no punishment, no finger wagging. This is an organisation that oversees one of the most toxic environments in World football and is happy to continue doing so because of the money it generates. Hatred sells! It sticks in my throat when that same organisation decides to randomly take the moral high ground on one single isolated incident when similar incidents are happening every single weekend in every single game in the country. The decision making is haphazard, incoherent and hugely subjective. Ultimately we have to suck it up because Slattery was in the wrong and brought this trouble upon himself and the club but I hate being lectured to, (with the verbose language they hide behind), by an organisation that has very little interest in actually creating the level playing field that would actually make the game in Scotland one we could all buy into.

Taking all the emotion and subjectivity out of the situation, simulation is a yellow card offence not a two game ban. ( or 4 suspended). The penalty should be based on that single action alone and not any other circumstances that come after. Slattery's action is the same regardless of what comes next. Doing 35 in a 30 is three points on a drivers licence and does not become 9 points just because the Police are pissed off that nobody put some spool in the speed camera or because they don't like the look of your re-spray. The suspension is about more than Slattery's actions (which were pish) and this clause the SFA have pulled out is to allow them to make whatever whimsical point they want to make at this moment in time. It will not be a clause that is used even handedly moving forward.

Yes, its a catch all. "A recognised football body, club, official, Team Official, other member of Team Staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall, at all times, act in the best interests of Association Football." Now if the SFA is going to continue applying that in games we can expect a deluge of such cases. Many every weekend in fact. How about investigating all such cases since the turn of the year or even since the start of the season? Cheating by shirt pulling Cheating by stealing yards at throw ins and free kicks Harassing a referee Cheating by simulation Managers openly wanting their players to dive to win penalties. Cheating by committing off the ball fouls A referee treating players with disrespect The list is endless. How often do you hear pundits in the media saying "he had to take one for the team"? A phrase I detest. You're right Bobby. Mr Slattery will have to be cleaner than clean in future.

Deliberately feigning injury to get a player sent off should be a red card offence. Referees might be incompetent and VAR might be a shambles but I doubt they are actively cheating like Slattery was. Trying to twist the incident so that the SFA is at fault is ridiculous. Our player cheated, got caught and is now being rightly punished. Let it be a lesson to others, Motherwell players or otherwise that that kind of blatant cheating is totally unacceptable. And BTW the sort of pathetic paranoia that 'it wouldn't happen to this team or that team ' is exactly the same justification the Old Firm use all the time. Take some ownership.

So when do we see the OF punishment for the scenes at cup game?

I didnt mean defending his actions. Maybe I should have said "raising concerns regarding the level of punishment and its implications for the wider game......"

Not that I know of. The worst case of that I can recall was Craig Gordon at Fir Park a few years ago when he collapsed several times feigning serious injury to waste time. I lost all respect for him that day and have had no time for him ever since.

Algarve? Is that a new pub in Hamilton? 😉

Great defending by Brodie Spencer to prevent a certain Italian goal.

this, but we should play with a goalie too

The only sensible thing about this is the two games suspended. Have that in the back of a player's mind and they'll think twice about cheating.

I honestly don't recall the assistant getting involved in the incident during the game, but if he told the ref it was a red card, that's just another official whose competence has to be questioned, along with the VAR team. Slattery was an idiot, and he's now been punished, but we all know there will be as much consistency applied to the issue of simulation as there is to every other issue in Scottish football.

The referee made the decision after advice from his assistant. Therefore they were both conned...by Slattery.... into issuing a red card. VAR did not intervene. Wrongly, so I agree questions need to be asked on that score. Had Slattery been found out there and then a yellow would have been sufficient given the St Mirren player would not have been sent off. But because of the actual outcome on the night a red card for Slattery is correct and in line with previous examples......pre VAR mostly I think. Trial by Sportscene springs to mind. At the end of the day, no matter who we like to point fingers at, Slattery cheated. As for the time taken to issue his ban, MFC were told within days that Slattery had been cited and if found at fault would be punished. It's not true to say that only some four weeks later the Authorities decided to act. It should have been resolved much quicker though.

No surprise. Slattery cheated and conned the referee into sending an opponent off. And if roles had been reversed we would having been screaming for justice. There are precedents of players being banned retrospectively for conning referees into issuing red cards or awarding penalties. One I can recall was at Tynecastle and another at Ross County. Of course that was before the introduction of VAR. As far as Slattery is concerned, the frustration is that if VAR had done its job he would have been booked there and then and nobody would have complained. As others have said though, let's see consistency going forward. Sadly we all know that the teams involved will be a deciding factor.

Also, great how they can make this decision but have said and done nothing about the rioting and nonsense by the Old Firm eejits after their game at Ibrox recently.

If the ref had decided on the day that it was simulation - just like diving in the box - the result would have been a yellow. The 4-match suspension is punishment for making the ref and VAR officials look a bunch of twats, not for the offence itself.