Scottish Football Discussion Thread 2010/11

[David]

The semi-final draw is tomorrow as far as I know, where we'll have to go through the "keep the Old Firm apart until the final" routine.

 

Motherwell vs Aberdeen is my guess, and that should ensure another trip to Hampden for the mighty Well

[martyngnr]

The semi-final draw is tomorrow as far as I know, where we'll have to go through the "keep the Old Firm apart until the final" routine.

 

Motherwell vs Aberdeen is my guess, and that should ensure another trip to Hampden for the mighty Well

Not a chance!

 

 

Also........

 

According to the BBC Scotland website the Scottish Football League is to cast tradition aside and use two squares and two round balls for the semi final draw tomorrow, thus replacing a 60 year tradition of two heated and two cold balls.

 

[Daaaaaad!]

Caldwell

...

good

Seems you've made an error of judgement there pal.

[Stylin_and_Profilin]

Our game was weird last night.

 

3-0 and cruising after less than 15 minutes, then after that, the wide play seemed to stop altogether and we just fell to pieces. Ledley's "offside" goal (CONSPIRACY!@~) which would've made it 4-0 would have led to an absolute demolition IMO, but that's not what happened, and Loovens' idiocy once again gives the opposition a glimmer of hope.

 

Aside from Majstorovic (who was a one man defence) and Forster, we were absolutely godawful in the second half and were it not for the two aforementioned players, I reckon we would have buckled and lost the game. Big Dan must want to boot Loovens' balls in, as I think with a decent partner beside him he will turn out to be a great buy for us. Majstorovic is a breath of fresh air from the centre halves we've had in the last couple of years, and I think he is exactly what we've needed - a big baldy bastard who will just sort it the fuck out, no fannying about.

 

I know the grass is always greener, but dare I say I think Caldwell and him would have made a good pairing.

 

Hooiveld hasn't had a sniff since the Utrecht debacle but he must be close to getting back in contention if Loovens keeps up his recent form.

[David]

It's fair to say that Jim McLean isn't a fan of Neil Lennon's latest chat about officials;

 

What has Scottish football been reduced to when supporters issue death threats to a referee and his family because he gave a decision against their team?

 

The reaction to Willie Collum's performance at Celtic Park on Sunday has left me feeling sick to the pit of my stomach.

 

It is vital police action is taken against the perpetrators of this despicable crime.

 

But it's also time for the SFA to clobber clubs and managers who place unfair pressure on officials.

 

The Hampden beaks must act quickly and decisively before football descends into anarchy and referees desert the game in their droves.

 

The morons who telephoned Collum's home and made sinister references about his wife and children have understandably provoked revulsion.

 

There is no room in society, never mind Scottish football, for people like this.

 

However, would we be talking about this situation if Celtic hadn't piled unnecessary pressure on the referee before the match? And then demanded answers from the SFA about his display following their 3-1 defeat? Down south players and managers are banned from speaking about officials prior to a match.

 

It should be the same in Scotland. Action has to be taken to stop this practice and the deterrents have to be severe.

 

If managers want to take a leaf out of Lennon's book in the future they should be banned from the game for a minimum of a month.

 

Not just a touchline ban - they should not be allowed anywhere near the training ground or the stadium.

 

This is a low ebb for our national game which already has enough problems to contend with.

 

It also dismays me how public the Collum saga has become.

 

Writing to the SFA expressing concern - as Celtic have done following their defeat by Rangers - is one thing. But clubs who go out of their way to make it public is quite another.

 

As is their right, Celtic have written to the SFA demanding clarification on a penalty they did not receive at Tannadice and one Rangers were awarded at Parkhead. But why let the whole world know?

 

There are people within the club who feel they don't get a fair crack of the whip when it comes to refereeing decisions.

 

It was the same during my time at Dundee United and I recall Billy McNeill recently claiming Celtic have been hard done by for 50 years.

 

In my opinion it is preposterous to question the integrity of referees.

 

To think they have an agenda against one club is complete and utter nonsense.

 

I've always had and always will have the greatest respect for the honesty of referees. Too often managers and players use the referee as an excuse for results.

 

It is a total cop out. I went through my whole career seldom agreeing with referees yet I still appreciated it was one of the hardest jobs in the world.

 

Celtic might have a point when they claim standards of officiating are deteriorating.

 

But it is the same for every club and it is only down to the scrutiny the guys in the middle and their assistants are placed under.

 

Every single decision now made by a ref is replayed a dozen times on television, making his job almost impossible.

 

It leads to a lack of respect from players and managers. And now we have honest professionals getting death threats.

 

No wonder the SFA are bracing themselves for a whole host of resignations. The position of all SPL referees is becoming untenable.

Source: Daily Record

[bAzTNM#1]

They should ask Jim McLean about that time he lamped that BBC Scotland presenter live on air.

 

ADDED: Found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_kNwsui1JY

 

Skip to 3:15.

[InvertedSmiley]

Ridiculous article. We never read this sort of mock outrage from the tabloids whenever Walter Smith calls for a referee to be "strong" before a game.

 

However, would we be talking about this situation if Celtic hadn't piled unnecessary pressure on the referee before the match?

 

Was it Neil Lennon who wrote the newspaper articles highlighting Willie Collum's daytime job as an RE teacher at a Catholic school? What exactly does that have to do with a game of football, and why are such articles written only in the build-up to this game? The media - newspapers in particular - are just as liable as Neil Lennon or anybody else for "piling pressure" on a referee.

 

It also dismays me how public the Collum saga has become.

 

But hey ho, why not devote another few column inches to it, eh Jim?

 

Writing to the SFA expressing concern - as Celtic have done following their defeat by Rangers - is one thing. But clubs who go out of their way to make it public is quite another.

 

Jim has a point here. What Celtic should really have done is kept quiet about it, so that the SFA could sweep it under the carpet, maybe pass the complaint from one committee to another and on to another before quietly dropping it. Don't these silly Taigs realise that's how it's supposed to work?

 

But it's also time for the SFA to clobber clubs and managers who place unfair pressure on officials.

 

Does Jim mean that clubs should be 'clobbered' in the metaphorical sense, or is he suggesting that clubs be 'clobbered' in the way that one might clobber....oh, I don't know, a BBC reporter?

[Chaka Demus]

Ridiculous article. We never read this sort of mock outrage from the tabloids whenever Walter Smith calls for a referee to be "strong" before a game.

 

However, would we be talking about this situation if Celtic hadn't piled unnecessary pressure on the referee before the match?

 

Was it Neil Lennon who wrote the newspaper articles highlighting Willie Collum's daytime job as an RE teacher at a Catholic school? What exactly does that have to do with a game of football, and why are such articles written only in the build-up to this game? The media - newspapers in particular - are just as liable as Neil Lennon or anybody else for "piling pressure" on a referee.

 

No but it was Neil Lennon who in a press conference questioned why somebody who had never refereed an Old Firm game before was given it and also said that there would be pressure on him to perform.

[Bettencourt]

Ridiculous article. We never read this sort of mock outrage from the tabloids whenever Walter Smith calls for a referee to be "strong" before a game.

 

However, would we be talking about this situation if Celtic hadn't piled unnecessary pressure on the referee before the match?

 

Was it Neil Lennon who wrote the newspaper articles highlighting Willie Collum's daytime job as an RE teacher at a Catholic school? What exactly does that have to do with a game of football, and why are such articles written only in the build-up to this game? The media - newspapers in particular - are just as liable as Neil Lennon or anybody else for "piling pressure" on a referee.

 

No but it was Neil Lennon who in a press conference questioned why somebody who had never refereed an Old Firm game before was given it and also said that there would be pressure on him to perform.

 

So essentially what Lennon wants is Willie Young and Hugh Dallas running up and down the pitch with their zimmer frames for the nexy 10-20 years? Smart thing to say Mr Lennon.

[InvertedSmiley]

Ridiculous article. We never read this sort of mock outrage from the tabloids whenever Walter Smith calls for a referee to be "strong" before a game.

 

However, would we be talking about this situation if Celtic hadn't piled unnecessary pressure on the referee before the match?

 

Was it Neil Lennon who wrote the newspaper articles highlighting Willie Collum's daytime job as an RE teacher at a Catholic school? What exactly does that have to do with a game of football, and why are such articles written only in the build-up to this game? The media - newspapers in particular - are just as liable as Neil Lennon or anybody else for "piling pressure" on a referee.

 

No but it was Neil Lennon who in a press conference questioned why somebody who had never refereed an Old Firm game before was given it and also said that there would be pressure on him to perform.

Case closed against Mr Lennon there. He said there would be pressure on a referee to perform in a Glasgow derby? Such remarks merit the severest of punishments.

 

There's always pressure on a referee in these games, regardless of whether Neil Lennon has the temerity to point it out beforehand. And there was particular pressure heaped on Mr Collum this time around following the blundering events at Tannadice which saw an assistant referee quit after being made the scapegoat for a decision he had no part in making. Ridiculous articles about the referee's religion - which we never see before any kind of game - do nothing to help. The press only added fuel to the fire in this situation.

 

Neil Lennon isn't the first manager to criticise a referee. Just last season we heard Jim Gannon's remarks that refereeing decisions could cost Celtic the title. John Hughes went to town on Willie Collum a couple of seasons ago when he sent off Patrick Cregg in a game against Rangers and allowed the red card to stand, despite rescinding Sasa Papac's sending off from the same game. Walter Smith questioned the leanings of "Mr. Murray" following a Rangers goal being disallowed at, I think, Fir Park. Yet none of these men received the treatment that Neil Lennon has been getting over the last ten days.

[David]

It seems that Kenny Clark agrees that Lennon has to shoulder some of the blame;

 

Kenny Clark last night told Neil Lennon he IS whipping the nutters into a frenzy with his war on whistlers.

 

On Tuesday Record Sport told how the Celtic boss flatly denied his rage against refs led to Willie Collum receiving death threats after his decision to award Rangers a penalty in Sunday's Old Firm showdown.

 

But former top whistler Clark has taken apart Lennon's defence - and blasted Celtic's insistence on demanding explanations over refereeing decisions.

 

Clark said: "There is no question that what the clubs do stoke the fires of the fanatics. And they don't need to be wound up any more. It's a sorry state of affairs when clubs are wanting explanations about individual decisions.

 

"It would be a strange world if a referee was to ask a club why their star striker missed a penalty .

 

"Could he talk us through it? The striker wouldn't be able to explain how he did it.

 

"Referees are never going to get agreement on everything, with both teams happy about every decision after a highlycharged game."

 

Collum is the latest referee to come under fire for his display in Sunday's Old Firm clash which followed the Dougie McDona ld U-turn saga at Tannadice two weeks ago which led to his assistant Steven Craven tendering his resignation.

 

Now Clark fears there could be a mass exodus of officials.

 

He said: "You feel as if the morale is dropping a little and they feel they are in a siege situation.

 

"It's more like Japanese water torture. The longer it goes on the more difficult it becomes for the officials in the front line.

 

"I'd like to think everyone will take a step back and show a bit of restraint in the comments they make about match officials.

 

"I f any young man was contemplat ing t a k ing up refereeing, then I'm sure after this week their family are trying to dissuade them. Retaining referees is also a problem."

 

Clark also pointed the finger at bosses who use the display of of f icials to blur thei r own deficiencies and team failings.

 

He said: "From time to time, there is no doubt in my mind managers throw up criticism of referees as a smokescreen."

[Aidancorrigan]

I guess it was okay for the nutters that turned up out side stokes house... The whole thing getting out a hand people can't get whats real and whats not... ITS A GAME FFS...

 

Right you beat me COD online im coming round yer house to smash ya...

 

If all these losers have got is abusing people after 90 minutes of a game then these are the people who have lost reality... 90 mins in one game and goes on for months...

 

Tell people learn and dont think its life and death then it wont change and the monkeys from both side will keep doing what they do...

[FUM]

Just to add to the whole thing, Stuart Dougal has told Stevie Craven on the radio, "If you're going to go Stevie, go quietly."

 

Craven also is claiming that there was no threats to his family.

[Chaka Demus]

Stoke's house "attacked".

 

Police called as gang of thugs lay siege to home of Celtic star Anthony Stokes

 

Oct 27 2010 By Kevan Christie

A GANG of thugs laid siege to Celtic star Anthony Stokes's home as his parents cowered inside after Sunday's Old Firm clash.

 

The 22-year-old striker was out when the baying gang appeared.

 

But his parents John and Joan were trapped inside as the yobs shouted death threats and sang sectarian songs.

And a wheelie bin was thrown against the living room window of the house in Broxburn, West Lothian.

 

The shocking incident was revealed after yesterday's Record told how match referee Willie Collum received a telephone death threat after the game.

 

Stokes's parents had come over for the game and saw their boy's side lose 3-1 to Rangers at Parkhead.

Police were called after 15 thugs gathered outside his home.

A witness told the Record: "There was a mob of about 15 outside Anthony's house.

"The were singing anti-Catholic songs and saying they were going to 'kill the Fenian b*****d'.

 

"I saw them pick up a wheelie bin and try to launch it through the front window.

"They weren't kids - they were grown men in their late 20s, early 30s, and looked like football hooligans.

"It was shocking and intimidating. The men were very drunk.

 

"It was clear they targeted the property because a Celtic player lives there. This sort of thing gives Broxburn a bad name."

 

Stokes is believed to be renting the

[David]

I'm assuming by the way you've highlighted that part of the article that you think his parents just made it up?