The judgment now, it seems, is that the handball was not deliberate, even though everybody could, and can, see that it most definitely was. It was pretty obvious that the SFA would back down after FIFA decided to get involved; I wonder, though, what's going to happen now. Probably nothing, unless Celtic keep pushing the matter. Hopefully they do.
While The Peeppul and their friends in the media lambast Celtic, they're missing the point of the whole thing. A few of The Peeppul are saying that Alan Muir, the official on the goal line, was shouting, "It hit his head! It hit his head!" into his mike. Fair enough; maybe he did. Why, then, after the match was over, did he, along with the rest of them, claim that he'd seen nothing? That's what everybody's pissed off about; the lies.
I had to laugh at that character, Ninjaman, with his 'Let's All Laugh @ Celtic' shite. He goes on about the paranoia of Celtic and then starts whining about how Celtic are running everything...thur aw bad tae Raynjurz...etc. etc. etc. Then comes the real cracker, "When are Celtic fans going to realise that Rangers (sic) have no influence whatsoever in Scottish Football? Rangers (sic) can’t be held accountable for a single thing that happens in Scottish Football outwith what happens at Rangers (sic) because there’s not a single board or committee at the SFA or SPFL with a Rangers (sic) representative." He's obviously forgotten about a certain Mr. Campell Ogilve EBT.
He and the rest of McMurdo's mob then start going on about 'class' and 'dignity' and how 'Raynjurz' would never behave the way Celtic have. Again, a wee bit of economy with the truth there. Remember when the Oldco didn't agree with the transfer embargo when they went into administration? No letters then or even seeking recourse through the CAS; that wasn't good enough for them. It was straight to court, against all the rules of football. And what punishment did they receive for flouting the rules of the SFA, UEFA and FIFA? Not a thing. And, yet, they still claim that everybody was bad to them!
Meanwhile Craig Swan in the Record has been telling FIFA to keep its nose out of SFA business. In the usual agnivore 'Whatabootery' he has a go at FIFA for its corruption while not even acknowledging that there's anything wrong in Scotland. "Goal-line technology has been a big step forward, but we need more," he says. Er...maybe he hasn't noticed, but we don't even have that in Scotland! Instead we have half-a-dozen officials groping about with white sticks and guide dogs. So, really, what's the point in having a go at FIFA for better technology etc. when Scotland's not going to see any of it this side of Doomsday?
Swan is right about one thing, though; football is corrupt from the bottom up. Maybe 'corrupt' is too strong a word but money has become the be-all and end-all. The Champions League, for example, is a misnomer since most of the teams taking part are not, in fact, champions. But the big names bring in bigger audiences and hence bigger advertising contracts. So the big names in Europe seem to be always there, making sure that the richest countries, with the biggest audiences are pulled in year after year. If that means that some dodgy decisions are needed to ensure that the Big Boys progress, then so be it. Technology will just get in the way.
Some, more localised, corruption has nothing whatsoever to do with money. In Franco's Spain, for example, all the stops were pulled out to ensure victory for the Establishment team, Real Madrid, while in the Soviet Union, the Russian national team and Moscow Dynamo were one and the same; the league meant virtually nothing. Goal-line technology would have been very unwelcome in such environments; which makes you wonder why Scotland has refused to introduce it.
Technology is already available to ensure that contentious decisions could be a thing of the past, but nobody will use it. Rugby already uses video replay to check incidents and it hardly takes any time. When it comes to football all we hear is that using video replay will lead to matches being stopped every few minutes. This is utter pish. An official could pick up something almost immediately and let the referee know by using the mike he's already equipped with. The knowledge that such technology is being used would lead to less on-field arguments and referees being influenced by the crowd or by players; everybody would know that proper judgments were being made. Rather than slow the game down, it would actually speed things up.
The SFA doesn't need to wait for permission from FIFA to introduce video technology, so why isn't Craig Swan lambasting our football authorities instead of trying to pass the buck? And why isn't the SFA keen to use already-available, cheap methods to improve our game? The only answer possible is that they don't want to improve it. I wonder why!
Halloween Houston and his angry mob have turned their attention to the new Bisto FC kit, urging The Peeppul not to buy it unless the Real Raynjurz Men can get a better deal from Ashley. According to our esteemed media, Paul Murray and Co. are currently in 'negotiations' with Sports Direct, with the merchandise deal as part of the agenda. It has to be said, though, that they're hardly in a position of strength to be negotiating anything.
The new board has already defaulted on Ashley's loan terms by suspending Llambias and Leach so Mike isn't going to be giving way anytime soon. According to Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, things aren't going too well for the Real Raynjurz Men in these 'negotiations'. The way the situation is, 'negotiating' is probably the wrong word; 'begging' is probably more accurate.
The best the Real Raynjurz Men can hope for is another loan from Ashley, which would lead to even more onerous contracts. Meanwhile Honest Dave is still nowhere to be seen. It'll end in tears.
These Real Raynjurz Men have been asking a helluva lot of The Peeppul. They were told not to buy season tickets, to boycott games and now they've not to buy the new kit over the summer for the weans to wear when they go back to school. And they're not even guaranteed a place in the Premiership yet, which is reason enough to leave off buying a season book until June. If they're stuck in the Championship another year, they might not bother buying one at all. Could things get any worse? Well, Bomber Brown is making noises about Sooperally coming back to Ibrox. I'd imagine that for many of them enough is enough and they might just give up altogether. No season ticket, no replica kit; what's the point?
THE SFA INTRODUCES NEW TECHNOLOGY TO AID REFEREES
"Any cunt waant tae challenge ma decision? Naw?
Ah didnae think so!"
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