Goal Line Technology - There Is No Alternative

THINGS our mithers said, number 1690: "Weel - ye ken noo".

We now know that Scottish football is so skint, we cannot afford goal-line technology; we further know that the short-term answer, to tide us over until the day we can afford glt (don't worry, Wee Eck will divert some of his oil billions come the revolution) will be better training for our officials.

Aye Right, I don't think the steroid has yet been invented which would have allowed Raymond Whyte to be in two places almost simultaneously in the Hearts v Hibs game: he'd have had to have been quicker than Usain Bolt to have adjudicated on offside on the 18-yard line when Leigh Griffiths hit that shot, then got to the corner flag to decide whether or not the ball had crossed the line - and he'd only have got that quick with chemical enhancement.

So, in cases such as last weekend's, we could have the best-trained officials in the world and it wouldn't have helped.

The blazers are telling us it would cost upwards of £100,00 to fit the necessary equipment at each ground, so, it is likely we'll have argument for years to come. What's new in Scottish football? Argument and controversy has kept the game going for over 140 years up here. What alternatives are there?

In the short term, we could look for goal judges, as they have in ice hockey, fingers poised over a button which sets off a red light whenever the puck crosses the line - that system might work in football, the goals are bigger, the ball is bigger than a puck and moves somewhat slower.

Goal line officials are supposed to work in European games, but, as the Celtic v Juventus game at Celtic Park clearly demonstrated, only if we pick officials who are allowed to bring their guide dogs into the country - the additional assistant referees that night were clearly two see-no-evil brass monkeys, rather than trained officials.

IF trained properly and capable of doing their jobs, AARs, as they are called might work, but, not for the first time - I hae ma doots.

DON'T you just love the short-termism and lack of effective thinking in the EPL. Just a few short weeks ago, Football Focus did an in-depth piece on Reading, which praised manager Brian McDermott to the heavens. This week, after losing to Paul Lambert's Aston Villa, he gets the sack, with our old pal Paulo De Canio seemingly set  to make the short commute from Swindon as successor.

I have always liked Paulo, he's an original, but, will he (if he does get the gig) do better than McDermott? Again - I hae ma doots.

FINALLY, well done to our Women's team, who followed-up their 4-4 draw with England by beating Italy in the Cyprus Cup. But, how typically Scottish, to have earlier lost to New Zealand. That said, in any sport, you have to accept that the Kiwi ladies will have had more backing than the Scots from their own association.

I still say it is a bloody disgrace that the Scots women such as Julie Fleeting - surely the finest Scottish striker since Denis Law - or Kim Little, who have qualified through winning 50 caps, are still not officially recognised in the SFA's Hall of Fame.

At least Signorina Reilly is in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, with Julie F a certainty to join her sooner rather than later.

Ach, women canny jine the Messons, so maybe that explains the omissions from the SFA HoF.