WATCHING
the
Edinburgh Derby from Tynecastle on TV last night I could not help
thinking: what might the likes of Willie Bauld or John Robertson have
made of all that possession Hearts enjoyed.
"King" Willie Bauld - would have made a difference to Hearts last night
With
a half-decent natural striker in their team, the Jambos would surely,
notwithstanding Derek McGregor's defensive excellence, have won at a
canter. They played some lovely outfield football, but, when they got
into the “red zone” - cow's rear ends and banjos came to mind.
Sadly,
however, last night's game will more-likely be remembered for all the
wrong reasons, after some members of the crowd became a bit
too-involved. But, hey, that's Scottish football for you. Their
lunatic fringes might be a bit bigger, but, as was shown last night –
every team has its half-wits in its following.
I
don't suppose he will ever grow-up, and saying that should not
mitigate the fact, nobody deserves to be hit in the face with a coin,
but, as regards Neil Lennon – I must agree with Gary Caldwell, he
does bring a lot of his troubles on himself.
I
am assured by other journalists who know him, and who socialised with
Neil in the West End of Glasgow, he is a charming man – away from
football; he is erudite, witty and is not a football obsessive.
We
used to have a successful Junior Football manager down here in
Ayrshire, who won several trophies, including the big one, the
Scottish Junior Cup, with a few good teams. From Monday to Friday,
9-5, he had a very-important job with one of our major banks. If you
wanted to borrow upwards of £1 million, it was to him you made your
case.
But,
on a Saturday, he was a foul-mouthed, snarling, pent-up bundle of
aggression, bawling at his players and the officials from the
technical area. One evening, as we shared a bottle of wine on the
train journey from Glasgow to Ayrshire, I asked him about his split
personality.
“Simple
– I've got two heads. At the moment I am wearing my banker's head.
I will get home tonight, have my tea, take off my banker's head, put
on my football manager's one and go to the training. So long as I
don't get the two heads mixed-up, I will be fine.”
I
think maybe Neil Lennon also has a normal head and a football manager
one.
Neil Lennon, wearing his football head
By
the way Neil, you were risking a booking for simulation, the way you
went down in slow-motion stages. OK, being hit by a coin isn't funny,
but, the delayed reaction, then the ever so slow fall – not fully
convincing.
Same
censure applies to Heart's goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal, who made a bit
of a pig's ear of things after he was punched by a Hibs' fan behind
the goals. Certainly this, like the Lennon one, was something we
don't want to see.
Lennon,
naturally, has been playing the victim card ever since – what's
that about, once a Celt, always a Celt. I am not having his: “I did
nothing wrong, I was only paying them back for the abuse I had to
stand for 90 minutes.”
Neil,
as a manager, your focus should be on what;s happening in front of
you, not behind you. Forget the fans, ignore them, it's safer.
THESE
last
few seasons, I have been mainly covering rugby, and the difference
between how their players interact with referees, and how footballers
do, it's not so much night and day as Mercury v Pluto.
Of
course, if rugby players don't immediately accept the referee's
decision as final – they can be marched backwards ten metres until
the learn to shut-up. Such dissent can and occasionally does, turn a
harmless penalty into a points-scoring opportunity, so rugby players
quickly learn to accept the referee's verdict.
Also,
if you get a yellow card in rugby, you're off the park for ten
minutes; in football, you carry-on regardless. Also, in rugby, there
is the protocol – only the team captain can speak to the referee.
From the referee's perspective, he will, as a matter of course, when
yellow-carding a player and sending him off for ten minutes, or
worse, if he is issuing a red card, the match official will call the
team captain over, with the miscreant, and tell them both why the bad
guy is going off.
If Messrs Owen and Barnes refereed football, players' behaviour would soon improve
You
very-seldom see a rugby referee such as Nigel Owens or Wayne Barnes being surrounded by a mob of angry
players, they know it could prove messy if they did.
A
rugby player, as he prepares to take the field, knows he is going to
hit people, and be hit in return, but he accepts the physical danger.
In theory, a footballer does not face the same risks of injury.
However, he also knows, particularly if he is perhaps a fast, trick
forward, there will be times when he will be hit, and it will hurt.
So, why the “handbags” after a bad tackle?
Watching
that game last night, I could make a case for stiffer penalties for
bad tackles, and for mass hectoring of referees. I have said before,
and will say again doubtless, to get the best experience out of
football, we must eliminate the cynical challenges, the bad tackle
and get the players and coaches to behave better.
How
we do this, I don't completely know, but, more cards might be the
answer. Sure, there would be pandemonium for a time, but, the
sensible players and coaches would soon get the message, while the
numpties would be driven from the game – which would be better for
their going.
But,
for this to happen, the will would need to be there, and, at present,
I do not see this.
IT
SAYS much
about the mountain Women's football still has to climb in Scotland,
that Glasgow City's magnificent achievement in winning their 12th
straight Scottish Women's Premier League title has attracted such
small praise.
Imagine
the media overkill if either one of Bigot Enterprises Scotland's two
men's sides had done this. And, it's not as if City are competing in
a one-team league. Hibs are running them very close, and, I will be
amazed if the great Eddie Wolecki Black perhaps the only man in
Scotland who really understands Scotswomen, does not soon have Celtic
Ladies offering City genuine competition within the city.
Women's
football, that's where the game is at in Scotland just now.
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