Sir Stevie Has Spoken

WELL – WE KEN NOO; Stevie Clarke has revealed his 26-man squad to cross the Atlantic this year in search of World Cup glory. No left field bolters, Clarke has always been a manager who goes with the tried and trusted, the only question now is – which player will be very-unlucky and pick-up a daft injury which costs him his place – it always happens.

The squad is:

IT SAYS MUCH about the desk jockeys running the Sports Desks of Scotland's failing mainstream media, that that eternal punch bag – the SFA – is copping some flak following the carnage in the East End of Glasgow. Fair enough, functioning brain cells are in short supply along Hampden's sixth floor Corridor of Power – and in a few newspaper offices I could name, however, sorting out Saturday's mess isn't an SFA problem.

The game was under the control of the Scottish Professional Football League, so, it's their job to smooth over the hurt feelings and deliver any sanctions which might follow. In particular, it falls to the SPFL's Board of Directors: Group Chief Executive Neil Doncaster, Chairman Murdoch MacLennan, Independent Non-Executive Director Karyn McCluskey, Malcolm McPherson (Hibernian), Phyllis Carroll (Kilmarnock), Patrick Stewart (Rangers) – representing the Premiership clubs; Willie Houston (Ayr United), David Cook (Dunfermline Athletic), representing the Championship clubs and Andrew Allan (Alloa Athletic) and Alternate Director Iain Dougan (Stranraer), representing the League One and Two clubs.

These ten officials will need to puruse Match Referee Don Robertson's official match report, the report of the SPFL Delegate at the game, the report from the Match Commander from Police Scotland, plus any comments submitted by the two club's involved – then, they decide what action, if any, will be taken.

Go into any pub or club in Scotland, go anywhere where Scttish football fans are congegrated, then ask the question: “What do you think will happen in the wake of Saturday's carnage?” - the chances are the answer you will get will vary between: “nothing”, via “a slap on the wrist for Celtic” to somewhere between “Swept under the carpet” and “two coats of whitewash”.

The dogs in the street know, while on the face of things, the SPFL is run for the benefit of all 42 member clubs, the reality is, two clubs are more-important than the other 40, and these two must never be embarrassed by the rest, since they do such a sterling job on their own.

The Celtic Family - will insist their club should not suffer any injury from the over-exuberant passion of a tiny minority of their following.

Ra Peepul – who follow Rangers – will be convinced, since Scottish Football is run for the convenience of Celtic FC, no action will be taken against that club.

The rest of us, including the bitterly-disappointed Hearts fans, are just wondering exactly how the High Heid Yins of the League will cover-up this latest example of bad behaviour from one half of the Old Firm and announce what will be too-little censure, while keeping a straight face.

My forecast? Well, the wheels of justice grind slowly, evidence has to be gathered and pored over, questions need to be asked, television footage reviewed. This will take some time, I would reckon, 24 June might be a good date on which to announce the SPFL's enquiry findings – then the whitewash will get lost in the furore over the Scotland v Brazil World Cup game.

WHILE, AT THE top level, we are still functioning somewhere around 1689 – 1690, elsewhere, Scottish Fitba is slowly moving into the 21^st century.

The SPFL Premiership is Level One in our game, The Championship is Level Two, League One is Level Three, League Two is Level Four, while the Highland and Lowland Leagues are Level Five.

When hostilities resume in late summer, the Lowland League will be split into East and West divisions, with some of the great names in Junior Football, having upgraded their facilities to meet SFA requirements, joining the new set-up.

The Lowland League (West) cast list for the new season is:

Albion Rovers

Auchinleck Talbot

Beith

Caledonian Braves

Celtic B ("guest side")

Clydebank

Cumbernauld Colts

Cumnock

Dalbeattie Star

Gretna 2008

Johnstone Burgh

Kilwinning Rangers

Largs Thistle

Newton Stewart

Pollok

Renfrew

Troon

The line-up in the Lowland League (East) for the new season is:

Berwick Rangers

Bo'ness United

Bonnyrigg Rose

Brechin City

Broxburn Athletic

Civil Service Strollers

Cowdenbeath

Dunipace

East Stirlingshire

Gala Fairydean Rovers

Hill of Beath Hawthorn

Linlithgow Rose

Lochee United

Musselburgh Athletic

Tranent

University of Stirling

This change offers an opportunity for giants of the former Junior game, such as Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock and Pollok to perhaps advance into the Senior ranks. But, what about those clubs who haven't made the cut?

The likes of Glenafton Athletic, Irvine Meadow, Kilbirnie Ladeside and Arthurlie have lost lucrative local derbies, those neighbouring clubs, against whom they were competing to attract talent now have an advantage, they will be playing at a higher level.

And what of the fans, I was discussing the new set-up with some fellow coffin dodgers last week and one or two were complaining about the way admission costs had risen as the clubs have had to upgrade facilities in order to advance through the ranks. Some were also complaining of the additional costs of travel to away games. But, I suppose this the cost of progress.

 

Pitch Invasions - Disorder - Dummy Spittng. Must Be Scottish Fitba

WHERE DO I begin in reviewing Saturday's disgusting scenes at Celtic Park. I'll begin with a What If?

• What if, back in May, 1967, UEFA had decided that pitch invasion at the National Stadium in Lisbon had been grounds for taking the European Cup off Celtic and handing it instead to Inter Milan – might that have prevented the grandsons of those fans in Lisbon from their unacceptable behaviour on Saturday?

We will never know, but, in commenting on Saturday's carnage, we have to accept, the Celtic support has what is known in legal circles as: previous – a lengthy charge sheet of unacceptable behaviour.

Before the Celtic apologists pile in with: What about the other lot? This is not another chapter in the second oldest game in Scottish Football – Old Firm Whataboutery – on this occasion, it is the Celtic Family which is in the dock.

In writing this blog post I dug up a copy of The Scottish Professional Football League Rule Book, all 300 pages of it. Saturday's game was under the jurisdiction of the SPFL, so, it's their rules which apply around the scenes at the end of the game.

The first rule to come into play is Rule G68 – this calls for:

• The Match Referee submitting, within 24 hours of the game ending, his official written match report.

What Don Robertson writes in that dictates what happens next.

The events at the end of the game – the pitch invasion and the carnage which followed are covered by Rules H28, H29 and H30 – Unacceptable Conduct.

Any neutral watching those scenes on television might reasonably conclude, after reading the relevant rules, that Celtic are guilty of a breach of Rules 36 and 37.

Consequently, they are in breach of Rule 38.

It would then fall to the SFPL to implement Rule H42 – which calls for consideration of a Police Report, the Match Official's Report and comments from Hearts.

It would then fall to the SPFL Board to decide on any action. They could adjudicate themselves, or they could form a Commission to look into the affair. They could perhaps decide:

• to anul the result (Rule J16.4)

• Deduct points (Rule J16.6)

• Anul the match (Rule J16.7)

• Withdraw the title from Celtic (Rule J.16.13)

All these possibilities – except, this is Celtic we are talking about, there are only two conclusions we can come to:

1. Is there enough whitewash in Scotland to cover everything up?

2. How big will the heap be after they've swept it all under the carpet?

Let's not kid ourselves, the Celtic Support has a long history of misbehaviour – which they added to yesterday, look at the social media clips of their behaviour post-game on Saturday, as they “celebrated” in their time-honoured style in the Trongate in Glasgow: throwing missiles at the Police and fighting among themselves.

The craven club board will shrug and say: “nothing to do with us”, before happily accepting their season ticket money and selling them their club merchandise – and Scotland and Scottish Football's image around the world suffers.

And yes I know, if it was the other lot, there would be little or no difference in the behaviour.

A line has to be drawn, but, under the current regime at Hampden and across at Holyrood, it aint gonna happen. We simply don't have the leadership with the balls to do something about this disgrace.

The league title was affirmation of the managerial genius of Martin O'Neill, to take that piss-poor (by Celtic standards) squad to a possible League and Cup Double is an amazing feat. But, O'Neill will never admit, they rode their luck along the way, in particular benefitting from a few Honest Mistakes from officials on VAR duty.

It is hard not to conclude, this was yet another Tainted Title.

O'Neill is unlikely to be in-charge next season, but, whoever succeeds him, they will need some serious rebuilding if the club is to defend their crown, far less make an impression in Europe.

FINALLY – since we are apparently not allowed to mention one cheek of Scottish Fitba's bigotry and bad behaviour alliance without a nod to the other – here's my take on this week's other stairheid rammy:

IN THE Partheon of Great Rangers Captains James Tavernier gets nowhere near the top shelf. No way does his escutcheon compare to that of the likes of George Young, John Greig, Jock Shaw, Davie Meiklejohn, Richard Gough, Sandy Jardine or Eric Caldow.

I rate Tavernier as a 21^st century Bobby Shearer – a player of limited ability, in many ways lucky to have enjoyed such a stellar Rangers career. Shearer, however, for all his limitations was A Real Rangers Man – he was a Fan on the Park, if he had not been wearing the strip, he would have been on the terraces cheering-on the club. That can not be said of Tavernier.

With reference to Tavernier not getting the send-off he felt he deserved, I think of Young, for my money the club's Greatest Captain. Young's final Rangers appearance, the end of a 16-year club career, came in front of 35,000 fans in a Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup semi-final, a 2-0 win over Clyde, at Ibrox, on 4 May, 1957. Young is not even mentioned in The Glasgow Herald's match report on the game.

Young's last-ever match was in a 2-1 Scotland win over Switzerland in a World Cup Qualifier in Basle, later that month. He was then rested from the national team which played World Champions West Germany, in Stuttgart, but was looking forward to bowing out following Scotland's World Cup Qualifier against Spain, in Madrid's Bernabeau.

The SFA Selectors, however, had other ideas; they didn't recall him for this game, a decision which caused a minor stooshie at the time but was quickly forgotten. I reckon the fuss over Tavernier being left out against Hibs on Wednesday will no last half as long as did the furore over Young's omission from the team in Madrid.

Jardine was quietly allowed to depart to play out his career at Hearts, Caldow ended his Rangrers career in the Reserves, before being quietly freed. Shaw was allowed, without fanfare, to retire and join the club's backroom staff. No big send off for these legends.

Compared to the Rangers Captains I listed in the opening paragraph, Tavernier has to be rated as a journeyman of limited ability. Given the state of British Football today, I would say, had he been any good, a mid to lower level English Premiership side, or perhaps one of those yo-yo teams who drift between the bottom half of the Premiership and the top half of their Championship would have taken him back south years ago. The fact nobody bid for him demonstrates what an average talent Tavernier was.

The fact his non selection and his dummy spitting made such headlines, also demonstrates how the Scottish media has dumbed down this century.

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.