VAR - Victims Are Raging

LET'S GET straight to the meat of the controversy – three things:

1. Where did the additional nine minutes come from?

2. Maybe I've been watching Rugby for too long, but, in that game, when the TMO – their version of VAR – gets involved, they are looking for “clear and obvious evidence” that the referee has missed something. I do not think, in real time, John Beaton missing the hand-ball was clear and obvious.

3. In addition, there is evidence of the collision between the Motherwell defender and the Celtic attacker contributing to the hand-ball. Again, mitigation for the defender.

I would add – that penalty would NEVER have been given at the other end – we all know, the Old Firm get the benefit from these sorts of calls and always have.

This blog has been advocating for years, that a major change be made to the Laws of the Game. Instead of ruling that a game last 90 minutes, with the timing of those minutes left to the Referee, who has other issues to deal with, it is, in my view, long past time for IFAB – The International Football Associations Board – the game's principal law-making body, to make a major change.

• I would suggest:

• They rule that each match lasts 60 minutes “ball in play time”. i.e. when the ball is in play, the clock is running, when it is out of play, or the game is stopped for any reason, the clock stops.

• To ensure the game flows, when the ball does go out of play – or the referee halts the game to award a free kick, the side re-starting play has ten seconds to do so, or they lose possession.

• For free-kicks or corner kicks, they have 30 seconds to take it, ditto to re-start play following a goal – unless VAR is involved.

• Injured players who require the attention of a physio or doctor must leave the field for 30 seconds.

• Look at introducing something like rugby's HIA (Head Injury Assessment) rules, with temporary substitutions while the assessment is carried out.

• Another Rugby initiative I would introduce would be that play continues until there is a natural break at the end of each half.

• There should be a dedicated time-keeper in each game, with an assistant timing the dead ball breaks to ensure no time-wasting.

• Something needs to be done regarding the shirt-pulling and Cumberland and Westmoreland wrestling which now goes on at every corner – all suggestions as to how we remove this blight on the game are welcome.

I am not, by the way, suggesting John Beaton and Andrew Dallas are corrupt, but, since there is a wide-spread belief that both favour Rangers, the fact they have been involved in a number of controversies this season which have favoured Celtic, it might well be – they are over-compensating and favouring that club in an effort to avoid these suggestions of bias against Celtic.

Or – it could be FIFA got it right – our officials are shite and that's why none are going to this summer's World Cup. And, by the way: all you Rangers supporters moaning about pro-Celtic bias, I've, over the years seen just as many examples of honest refereeing mistakes/bare-faced corruption favouring your team – we all remember the top Scottish official who, on retiring, spoke of his pride that Rangers had never lost a game in which he was the referee.

Any way, it will all be sorted-out on Saturday. I have a feeling I could do well on the day, I've got the 23^rd minute in the pub sweep for the Celtic v Hearts game – the sweep is based around when Hearts cop their first red card on the day.

There is also a subsidiary sweep as to how many minuts of time added-on are allowed, should it be all-square at 90 minutes.

I also fancy a wee punt on Craig Gordon saving Celtic's 97^th minute penalty, but the Hoops scoring on the re-take to win the league.

It is a pity John Banks and Freddie Williams are both deid, these giants of Scottish bookmaking would surely have come up with some stonking one-of bets around Saturday's Celtic Park showdown.

ALL IS far from well across the city, after a fourth straight defeat for Rangers. I am not surprised, it has been obvious all season, this is the worst Rangers squad in the post-Souness years, indeed, I reckon this is the poorest Ibrox squad I can remember, and I can go back to the last years of Mr Struth as manager.

Much discussion in midweek over the dropping of James Tavernier for the game against Hibernian on Wednesday night. This was going to be the Club Captain's final home game, except, he was quite rightly dropped after his poor display in the Old Firm game at the weekend.

He could still, and probably would have, been granted a cameo off the bench – as happened I recall, when, after missing most of the season with injury, John Greig was sent on for a short cameo in a treble-clinching game, some 50 years or so ago.

But, Tavernier decided to spit the dummy and not play – further proof of my belief, he never was Rangers Class.

The calls for Danny Rohl to be sacked are growing, in spite of the great work he has done in salvaging the club from where it was when he took over. Of course, sacking a manager is always the cheaper option – what Rangrers actually need isn't a new Manager/Head Coach as much as a totally revamped squad, but, that's the more-expensive option.

ELSEWHERE Auchinleck Talbot have one hand on the West of Scotland League title – amazingly, this is one prize that has never landed at Beechwood Park.

With 29 of their 30 league fixtures played, Talbot have a three-point advantage over Cumnock at the top of the table. They also have a 20 goals cushion overf their great rivals.

Saturday's final league fixtures see Cumnock entertaining second-bottom Rutherglen Glencairn, while Talbot travel to face third-bottom Shotts Bon Accord. Now, Shotts have a bit of history as a bogey team to the 'Bot, but, I honestly cannot see them winning on Saturday, and Cumnock scoring enough goals to overtake that 20-goal Talbot cushion.

Should Talbot win their league, it will have involved a remarkable run-in. They have played five league games in the past nine days, winning four and drawing the other – away to Cumnock.

OK, playing a lot of games during May has been in the Talbot DNA since the days of Willie Knox and nobody has as much experience in guiding a club through a fixture backlog than Tucker Sloan, but, what the 'Bot has done this month is remarkable, even by their standards, given the pressure they were under.

 

The Bears Are Revolting

OLD FIRM FANS – the stupidest, most-entitled bunch of glory-hunting chancers ever. Still, those of us who follow the 40 other Senior Diddy Teams in Scotland, this morning we are having a good laugh as the blue cheek of Scottish Fitba's erse vent their spleen at another blank season.

To make their failure worse, Monday night's crucial defeat was master-minded by one of their own - if you believe in the old maxim: “once a Ranger – always a Ranger”, while Hearts' winning goal was scored by a player many of the Rangers' fans are convinced should have been signed lang syne.

Reading the social media posts was great fun for the rest of us; wailing, gnashing of teeth, spittle-flaked invective, glorious stuff for everyone else to read. Many of the Disgusted of Larkhall division were calling for the head of Manager Danny Rohl – 'twas ever thus when Rangers fail.

Guys, guys, I doubt if Bill Struth, Scot Symon, Jock Wallace, Willie Waddell, Graeme Souness or Walter Smith could have modelled a winning team from the squad Rohl has to work with. Mind you, I don't think any of those afore-mentioned managerial legends would have allowed most, or indeed any of the squad Rohl put out on Monday night in the door.

The fact is, hardly any – many veteran Rangers fans of my acquaintance would say None – of the present squad is Rangers' Class.

What is Rangers' Class? Basically, it meant – if you were a regular in the Rangers' first team, then you were in the conversation for a place in the Scotland team. My knowledge of Rangers line-ups goes back to the dying days of the Struth Years, and in the pre-Souness era, I can think only of the injury-hit George Niven and “Cutty” Young, or the under-appreciated Bobby Russell as uncapped Rangers Regulars.

Then, along came Souness and suddenly, Scottish talent became under-appreciated down Edmiston Drive way. Operating in different times, Jock Stein used to say, if given a choice between signing a promising Protestant Scottish player, or a promising Roman Catholic one, he would sign the Protestant – since Rangers wouldn't sign the Catholic and Celtic would get him any way.

Under Souness, it was almost as if he would sign a non-Scottish player first, because he didn't rate the available Scottish talent. “Don't sign any Scots – they aren't good enough” has become almost the Rangers' default position ever since.

Sadly, this position has now also become common-place elsewhere in our so-called top division. When Hibernian faced Celtic in the first of the week-end's two biggest games, at the kick-off there were only four Scots among the 22 players on the park: Jack Iredale and Nicky Cadden for Hibs and Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor for Celtic.

At Tynecastle on Monday night, Connor Barron and Liam Kelly, both unused substitutes, were the only Scots in Rangers' 20-man match-day squad, while Hearts to their credit had five Scots in their starting XI – Craig Halkett, Stuart Findlay, Stephen Halkett, Marc Leonard and Lawrence Shankland, brought on a further two in Jamie McCart and Blair Spittal, while leaving Alan Forrest and Ryan Fulton on the bench.

Time perhaps to repeat my call for balls to drop along the sixth-floor corridor inside Hampden, for the clubs to promote native Scottish talent and for the SPFL to bring-in the eight diddies rule – so every team can have only three non-Scots on the park in domestic games. Of course, this will never happen, but, it will not stop me advocating this as a good way of improving Scottish football.

However, the main thrust of this post is the pickle Rangers have got themselves into. I don't think those Rangers fans calling for Rohl's head are capable of rational thought, but, here goes. I honestly believe, given the quality of player he had foisted upon him when he took the Ibrox job, he has worked wonders.

When he arrived, Rangers were looking at not making the top six in the division. He took them to the top of the table, before reality hit and they dropped to their current third – with that terrible squad, that's good management.

The reality is, I don't think the new owners of the club have the financial wherewithall it will take to get them back on top as quickly as they, or their impatient fan base will demand. If I was in their as heid bummer, I'd be looking to off-load nearly every current player, but, what would it cost to replace these failures with half-decent Rangers Class playeres?

The foundations for the present problems within the club were laid back when the club was liquidated. The new owners then, starting off in the fourth tier, had two choices:

1. Hang onto the good young Scots they had on the staff, plus one or two battle-hardened Scottish players, build-up through the divisions, allowing the kids to gain experience and learn what was required of Rangers players. Then, by the time they got back to the top flight, they would have a core squad of Real Rangers Men, who knew what playing for that club entailed.

2. Do things the recent Rangers way, buying-in non-Scots on big contracts; badge-kissers who were mainly looking at the club as a stepping stone to somewhere better, or, an easy pay day in a poor league.

They chose Option Two and the club has been paying for this ever since.

Rangers (and Celtic) teams, more than any other Scottish/British sides, need one or two FOTPs (Fans On The Park) – players who, if they weren't on the field playing, would be in the stands cheering-on the side. Celtic currently have several such players: Tierney, McGregor, Forrest, Ralston, Rangers don't have (other perhaps than John Souttar) a FOTP who is guaranteed a start.

Nobody sums-up the current Rangers problem more clearly than Club Captain James Tavernier. He is not and never has been Rangers Class. He is a very lucky boy to have played as many games as he has and the fact he is already in the club's Hall of Fame demonstrates how low the bar is for admission.

He was released before he could be offered a professional contract at Leeds United. He managed only 10 games for Newcastle United. He had loan spells at seven different clubs, none of which made that loan deal permanent. He has never, in over ten years with Rangers, come remoteely close to a move back to England. He's at best a journeyman – albeit one with a reasonable record at converting penalties and free-kicks – but, you need more than that to forge a career in England, hence his lengthy sojourn up here.

I am not saying he's the worst Captain the club has had. Bobby Shearer, for instance, was never Scotland-class, but, he was Rangers through and through and his heart and refusal to countenance defeat covered some of his failings and made him a club legend.

Nobody ever said of ”Captain Cutlass” - as was said of Tavernier after that defeat at Tynecastle: “He has a heart the size of a pea”. Tavernier will not be getting a new contract when his current one expires at the end of the season, is anyone surprised?

Souttar could well grow into a Rangers Captain. Perhaps someone else on the staff has the right stuff for the job. But, unless the club gets a new Captain, and at least a couple of other FOTPs for next season, I fear the failure will spread through another campaign.

These are black days for Rangers Men.

 

We Have Lost a Great Human Being

WE ARE TRIBAL in Scotland, and nowhere do the tribes despise each other with the ferocity you encounter in my own part of God's Country – Ayrshire. Robert Burns is one of the very few Ayrshiremen who is as loved in Kilmarnock as in his native Ayr. At the weekend we lost another whose passing was mourned at both Somerset Park and Rugby Park, with the death, aged 70, of Jim Fleeting.

Jim Fleeting

Fleets was a distinguished captain of a good Ayr United team, before going on to – in tandem with elder brother Bobby – going up the road to revitalise a Kilmarnock team which had slumped into the third tier in Scottish football.

But, his biggest role in Scottish Football was still to come, when he joined the Scottish Football Association as Director of Football Development, then Director of Coaching, in which role he, amongst other duties, oversaw the coaching courses at Largs. He spent over 20 years at Hampden.

He earned his spurs in the Juniors with Kilbirnie Ladeside, before signing for Norwich City. He had a spell in the USA with Tampa Bay Rowdies, before returning to Scotland and Ayr United, then Morton, Clyde and Partick Thistle.

Management beckoned, with Stirling Albion, before he and Bobby, who had built up a successful development business won a bitter take-over battle to take control at Kilmarnock in 1989.

Bobby was the public face of the deal, generating interest, while Jim led the playing staff, with Jim McSherry and Frank Coulston. They got Killie out of the doldrums, while attracting some big names, most-notably Tommy Burns to the club. Burns would succeed Fleets as Manager and get Killie back to the top flight in Scotland, but, it was Fleeting who laid the foundations for the resurgence at Rugby Park.

Swearing is the Lingua Franca of Football. The first words foreign imports to Scottish Football learn begin with the letters B, C and F, particularly F; Jim Fleeting didn't swear – he was a complete gentleman.

As a football writer covering Kilmarnock at the time, he was a joy to deal with, always open. approachable and helpful. Mind you, he did give me and a handful of the regulars in the Rugby Park press box the most-embarrassing few minutes of our career one night.

Killie surprisingly lost a home Scottish Cup replay to Queen of the South and Fleets was raging. At the end of the game, we went downstairs, to be directed not into the usual press room, but the home dressing room. There we were a dozen or so journalists, lined-up across the room form the downcast Kilmarnock team, with Fleets standing in the middle of the room.

He made it clear, he was not going to try to excuse or mitigate the defeat, he then invited us to ask his team – who were half-undressed and clearly as embarrassed as us – to explain what had happened. Jim Fleeting cared, he really cared.

Jim Fleeting was, in truth, no more than a journeyman player; a no frills central defender. He was a better Manager than player and a better Administrator and Leader than Manager. But, his lasting gift to Scottish Football was, he was the father of Julie Fleeting, behind only Rose Reilly in the partheon of great Scottish women footballers. However, it is to his immense credit that he will be known as Jim Fleeting, Football Man, rather than as Jim Fleeting – Julie's dad.

It was a pleasure knowing him – he will be sorely missed. My sincere condolences to his family at this sad time, whose grief will hopefully be lessened by the genuine outpouring of affection for Jim from across the Scottish Football landscape. He was one of the Best Guys.

EVERYBODY WITH even a passing interest in Scottish Fitba knows, referee John Beaton is a Rangers supporter. However, I fear, in recent weeks, perhaps in a misguided attempt to demonstrate he does not take his Rangers bias onto the field, he has been involved in one or two incidents where Celtic have benefitted from his mistakes.

This is nothing new in refereeing circles. Over the years I have seen umpteen examples of match officials, perhaps covering a game involving a club they once player for, or allegedly support, falling over themselves to show: I am not biased and making mistakes.

Few, however, have been as blatant as that penalty Beaton awarded Celtic against Motherwell on Saturday. It was never a penalty, both players were pushing, shoving and pulling the other's jersey. My take, watching on TV, was that the Celtic player started the shoving; then, to red card the Motherwell player, that was ridiculous.

Time I think for Mr Beaton to hang-up his whistle and for the SFA to have an in-depth look at how they work VAR.

Technology is only as good as the human element working it and, with VAR, it is quite clear, Scottish referees are not up to the job of working something that complicated.

 

Whitaboot Embarrasment And Disgrace

OLD DAN ARCHER said it first and best, back 50 years ago, when he described Rangers Football Club as: “A permanent embarrasment and occasional disgrace.” Nothing has happened in the intervening half century to disprove Dan's verdict.

Sunday certainly demonstrated, the Rangers' fans are still capable, at the drop of a hat, of breaching the bounds of acceptable conduct; but, and in saying this I run the risk of accusations of “Whitabootery” - what about the other lot?

That Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final was rank rotten, the fitba was terrible, the atmosphere was toxic and, long before the end, I had realised, Rangers weren't going to win it. Long years at the coal face of fitba reporting has taught me, when you create and squander the amount of chances Rangers did in that game, you very seldom win the game.

By midway through the second half, the only question was, exactly how were Rangers going to blow this one. In the end, it was by being abysmal from the penalty spot; once Jamers Tavernier blasted that first penalty into the upper tier of the Copeland Road Stand, the writing was on the wall for Rangers.

And Celtic, they were, for the 90 minutes of normal time plus the 30 minutes of Extra Time, a poor second to Rangers. I have been saying for months/years, the majority of the current Rangers squad never were, are not and never will be Rangers Class. Without their injured Club Captain, the 2025-26 Celtic squad contains too-many players who are obviously not Celtic Class.

I look at the chances Rangers scorned; I reckon the present-day, roly-poly, overweight Ally McCoist or even the 89-year-old Ralph Brand would surely have finished off at least one of the chances passed-up on Sunday.

However, this piece is not about the honking game we had to endure, it is about the post-game events. Of course, the media-savvier Celtic support and their legion of media apologists have moved quickly to blame the home fans for what took place after the last penalty went in.

This is just the latest example of what we call The Mandy Rice Davies Defence. For those too-young to remember The Profumo Affair of the early 1960s and in particular, the trial of Stephen Ward, saw the then 18-year-old Mandy in the witness box. It was put to her that Viscount Astor had denied sleeping with her; to which Mandy famously replied: “Well, he would, wouldn't he”.

Fast forward over 60 years and in denying any wrong-doing on Sunday, surely The Celtic Family were taking their cue from the noble Lord.

Aportioning blame for Sunday's post-match unpleasantness would, in my view, be a pointless exercise, on the ancient basis of: Twa cheeks o' the same erse”, but, it cannot be denied – the Celtic fans were the first onto the park.

If The Scottish Football Association had any balls, they would hit both teams and hit them hard, but the answer to that suggestion is to invoke a peculiarly Scottish response – Aye Right! The teams will get a slap on the wrist and their toxic followers will simply regroup and await their chance to cause more bother.

How about really hurting them this time? I will digress a wee bit here, and reference Ice Hockey. In that game, when a minor punch-up breaks out, which frequently happens, the referees usually send the miscreants to the sin bin for two minutes. However, they can, if they like, send the instigator of the punch-up for an additional two minutes.

So, why not ban both sides from next season's Scottish Cup, while, since the Celtic fans started the bother on Saturday, chuck their club out of this season's competition as well. I know it's a long shot, but, it might work.

Both clubs have, over the years suffered in Europe from UEFA fining them for fan misbehaviour. In Europe, the clubs are held responsible for unseemly conduct by their followers – the SFA ridiculously fails to do this for misbehaviour in the domestic game.

I am not saying the improvement in conduct would be immediate, but, if the governing body was to crack down on fans' bad behaviour and sanction the teams, well, in time things would hopefully, if not surely, improve.

Until then, I suppose we will simply have to tolerate, as we have for over a century, terrible behaviour from these two sets of so-called supporters.

It's Time Fitba Entered the 21st Century

THIS IS A BEE which I have had in my bunnet for some time now – but isn't it about time IFAB – The International Football Associations Board – FIFA's ultimate body as regards the Laws of the Game – earned its keep and made those Laws suitable for the game in the 21^st century.

If we take 1863, when the Football Association was formed, as Year Zero for The Beautiful Game, then we've been playing the game for 163 years. In that time, it has changed to such a degree, those Victorian age pioneers who started things off, transported via time travel to watch a top league or international game today would be dumb-struck by what they saw.

The basic concept, they could still understand – the idea of the game being to propel the ball, mainly by foot, downfield to score goals by placing that ball into the appropriate goal. But, I dare say they would struggle to cope with the players' kit, the ball, some of the tactics, certainly the attitude of the players: while I fear the concept of VAR would be beyond them.

Over these 163 years there have been countless instances of what we might call “Shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic” but, no genine case of the game's rulers making a determined effort to introduce Association Football 2:0. I believe that time is now.

Perhaps the biggest talking point in Scottish Fitba at the moment is what some people are calling: “Celtic Time” - the way the defending Champions keep scoring winning or equalising goals in time added-on. Indeed there is even a social media meme which shows the Fourth Official holding up the board indicating how much time added-on will be played, that board reads: “Till Celtic score”.

This is nothing new in the game, it used to be, in England, time added-on was known as: “Fergie Time” due to the number of times Alex Ferguson's Manchester United would pull matches out of the fire after the clock ticked past 90 minutes.

Ninety minutes (to halves of 45 minutes each) has been the official time which a football match lasts, since Victorian days. Perhaps, more than 150 years into the evolution of the game, it is time for change.

The English Premier League takes careful note of statistics. The average top-tier English game, from kick-off to final whistle, lasts on average, 109 minutes; yet, the ball is in play for only 55 minutes. Effectively, for nearly half the time the game lasts, nothing significant is happening.

When you consider how much match tickets, programmes, food and drink in the ground costs, this is barely value for money.

Why not do what is the norm in North American sport and switch to Ball In Play Time? In sports such as American Football or Ice Hockey each game lasts 60 minutes, but, that represents 60 minutes of actual play; when the ball (or puck) goes out of play, or is “dead” or when play is being re-started after a goal, the clock stops and doesn't restart until the referee blows.

Football could also take a hint from other games, wherein when play stops, it has to resume within a certain time. In Rugby Union, for instance, the ball has to be put into a scrum or line out within 30 seconds of the game stopping, while place kickers taking a penalty goal or conversion also have to do so within a set time.

I would reckon, going to ball in play time would necessitate the use of specialist time keepers, perhaps even with a secondary time keeper to adjudicate in the time it might take to restart play. Football at the top level could easily afford this. The introduction of official time keepers would free-up referees from time-keeping to concentrate on actual play.

Why not also taking another cue from Rugby Union. There, when the 80 minutes match time expires, the game does not automatically end until the ball goes dead – introducing this would go some way towards ending the controversies over time added-on.

 

The Diddy Teams Can Entertain Too

SATURDAY was a good day for the (paper) roses, as Neil McCann and Billy Dodds got their first win as the Kilmarnock management team. This was a huge boost to all us worried Rugby Parkers, who had began to fear the tide would never turn. Now – hopefully – it's onwards and upwards in a spring surge.

I watched Hearts demolish Dundee United on TV on Saturday night. I have to say, they played some impressive fitba and thoroughly deserved their win. I couldn't help wondering what Jim McLean might have made of United's display – which was nothing short of disgraceful.

Their first red card was maybe unfortunate, but the second boy deserved to go for sheer stupidity. Clearly a “Dundee Kiss” has nothing like the velocity and sheer anger of the “Glasgow” version; however, he had to go for sheer stupidity. Mind you, had I been the referee, I would have been thinking of a yellow card for the Hearts' player – for “over-acting”.

Good to see age has not mellowed Dave Bowman, who was also red-carded. I have interviewed Dave, and you couldn't meet a nicer fellow, however, when the whistle blows, he still shows how he was deeply immersed in the Jim McLean culture.

FOLLOWING NEARLY a decade on the Paisley Daily Express Sports Desk, during which Love Street became almost a second home to me, I still, a quarter of a century on, have a soft spot for the Buddies.

Watching Saints squander chance after chance at home to Hearts on Tuesday night, I kept waiting for the ten-man visitors to break out and snatch a 1-0 win – that's a movie I have seen too often in the past. Never mind the Superstars – Gerry Baker, Gunni Torfason, Frank McAvennie, Frank McDougall or Frank McAvennie; with merely competent chance-takers such as Basher Lavety or Mark Yardley up front. In fact, I'd have backed the likes of Chris Iwelumo (pictured below) or even Junior Mendes to have had the Buddies home and hosed by half time.

However, in the end, Stephen Robertson got the win he desperately needed, even if, in the process, he added oxygen to the Championship hopes of the Bigot Brothers and made life a bit more difficult for my own redemption hopes for Kilmarnock.

ONE ASPECT of Tuesday night's game, which did concern me, was this: St Mirren only had two Scotsmen in their starting line-up, Hearts had four. This means, 72% - nearly three-quarters of the starters in a top-flight Scottish League game were non-Scots.

To my mind, a domestic league which allows this and a national governing body which allows that league to so ignore local talent is guilty of total dereliction of duty. These figures are a disgrace.

In my last wee piece above, I mentioned my near decade covering St Mirren, in that time, for all but a couple of seasons, the Buddies were in the old First Division, now The Championship; yet they still produced the following players for various Scottish age group teams (and apologies if I miss anyone out, I'm working from memory here):

Alan Combe, Derek Scrimgeour, Martin Baker, Chris Kerr, Sergei Baltacha, David McNamee, Burton O'Brien, Jamie Fullarton, Brian Hetherston, Hugh Murray, Steven McGarry, Chris Iwelumo, Ricky Gillies, and David Milne. They still had Basher at that time, plus Norrie McWhirter, perhaps the unluckiest player in Scottish football history in that injuries kept under-mining his undoubted class and talent.

The St Mirren team I covered had a central core of Paisley boys, this had always been the club's way. Today, a genuine Buddie in the squad is a rarity and for all their status as a top division club, I wonder if the home fans are truly happy with this situation.

I'm not having a go at Saints here, they are just one of too-many Scottish clubs who have decided to almost ignore native talent in a vain bid to close the gap on the Big Two. I think this buying in non-Scottish talent is the wrong tactics; what the other clubs should be doing is levelling-up the playing field by insisting on a CBA – a Collective Bargaining Agreement – by the rest getting together to stand up to the Big Two and by insisting on the implementation of Chick Young's Eight Diddies Rule – to pro-actively encourage native talent; then maybe we would be getting somewhere.

 

Scottish Fitba Is Corrupt To The Core

CELTIC GIVE UP A LEAD then have a player red-carded, dropping behind Rangers in the title race and failing to cut into Hearts' lead at the top of the SPL table – cue outrage, a media storm and yet another example of that old chestnut: “Celtic: Never defeated – always cheated”.

The Cellik Man in the next bed to me in the hospital ward had a relapse watching the game, before unleashing a tirade of abuse at VAR Official John Beaton. In this instance, with justification – Auston Trusty was never the last man, it was never a red card. You could chalk it up as yet another in the lengthy litany of “honest mistakes” made by Scottish officials. However, John Beaton has what in legal terms is known as “previous” when it comes to decisions which have cost Celtic.

The High Heid Yins of the game have made a total bollocks of VAR. Rugby Union hasn't got it right, but, their use of Television Match Officials – not least the protacol whereby the exchange between the team on the park and the man in the TV truck is broadcast live to the crowd in big games means, everyone knows the thinking and the process – there are no secrets.

Mind you, even if Football went down the Rugby Union route for clarity, where the Bigot Brothers are concerned, there would still be controversy and claims of nefarious practices.

Scottish Fitba – the basket case that keeps on giving. That said, on Sunday, following events at Tynecastle and Ibrox via the BBC Shortbread website, with Rangers toiling to break down a stubborn Dee defence, I was wondering when the home team would get their penalty.

This duly arrived late in the second half, James Tavernier slotting home his 100^th League goal, before a further two strikes enabled the blue half of Glasgow to overhaul the green half into second place in the table.

THE CURRENT manification of: “I may have mentioned the War, but, I think I got away with it” is probably the Scottish mainstream media's attitude to the suggestion – apparently being driven by Falkirk - that we revert to a 16-club top league.

As I see it, going back to a 16-club top flight, while it has its merits, would be nothing other than shuffling the deck-chairs on the Titanic. I am a fan of the moves which have seen a Scottish Football Pyramid formed, but for all its merits, I feel we should go down the North American road of having one Major and a few Minor Leagues.

We all know, the biggest problem in Scottish Football is – we have two teams who are individually, far less together, bigger than the other 40 “Senior” clubs combined – as long as they have a determination to act together, given the rules governing the game here, they will influence matters unduly. The sooner they can be hived off into an NFL-style European League, or integrated into the English Premiership, the better.

Without the Bigot Brothers, there would be some half a dozen clubs each season fancing their chances of winning the league – and, IF the revamped Scottish League was properly set-up and managed, with a CBA – that's a Combined Business Agreement, an essential part of how the NFL is managed, was in place, so much the better.

Even with the Bigot Brothers involved, a revamp might work, but I would suggest we would need to have certain changes in-place: stadium infrastructure, pitch protection, stadium capacity and seating. If 16 clubs could meet the agreed criteria, great, but we ought perhaps to be looking at a maximum of 20 clubs to begin with.

Ideally, we could go further down the North American organisation road, by having two conferences: for me the DALGLISH and LAW Conferences have a nice ring.

And finally – any changes to the roganisation of the Scottish Leagues MUST include introduction of Charles Young Esq's suggestion: “The Eight Diddies Rule” whereby, each team must have eight Scotland-Qualified players on the field at all times. We have to pro-actively advance the cause of home-grown players.

FINALLY – I am indifferent to Celtic FC, I don't care who beats them domestically. I am pissed off by their victim attitude and their “Never defeated – always cheated” whining.

That said, the decision not to rescind Auston Trusty's red card is nothing short of disgraceful and demonstrates that the High Heid Yins of our game couldnae run a menauge.