Scottish Football Discussion Thread 2010/11

[unfitfinlay]

As someone else said elsewhere, neither Man Utd nor Liverpool wore them on their shirts last season, so I can't understand why Celtic can't do the same.

 

It would completely nullify all of this carry-on.

 

What if Celtic WANT the Poppies on the shirt though? It's been mentioned by both themselves and Poppy Scotland that they have been very supportive of the Charity. If they feel that it's a worthy cause then they should do it. Backing down out of fear of upsetting a minority of supporters would be a really dangerous road to go down don't you think?

 

Christ, Aberdeen are losing 1-0 at home to Inverness....

Just lost 2-1.

 

Look like Mark McGhee wont be afforded the opportunity to walk out of this particular job.

 

I was honestly expecting him to be sacked Sunday or Monday. I can only imagine that Aberdeen decided that sacking a manager two days before a game would hurt the team's morale even more than they already were. He's got to go now though.

 

Remember when he was tipped as a future Celtic and Scotland Manager?

[martyngnr]

I suppose the game doesn't really matter. It was all about the result (or lack of one).

I have to say that Caley are a fucking horrible, dirty team. With that manager no wonder. For the 2nd game against them in a row one of our forwards (Mackie) leaves on a stretcher. Ryan Jack took too many "stray" elbows to the back and had to go off injured too.

How the referee managed to miss a deliberate handball in the passage of play that led to their penalty is beyond me.

I guess that when your luck is out nothing goes your way.

 

It clearly just wasn't to be for McGhee at Aberdeen.

There was a moment about 10 minutes from the end tonight when he sat down next to Scott Leitch and patted him on the leg almost as if to say "That's it then". Hopefully he does the right thing and instead of clinging on he resigns and leaves with whatever dignity he has left.

[Bettencourt]

He won't be leaving until after the Rangers game, I will guarantee that.

[David]

Hopefully he does the right thing and instead of clinging on he resigns and leaves with whatever dignity he has left.

When he's due

[Bettencourt]

He's nowhere near due

[David]

Referee boss Hugh Dallas today faces a grilling from SFA top brass over allegations that he passed on an offensive email about the Pope.

 

The governing body's head of referee development has been in Europe since last week but he'll be quizzed as soon as he steps into Hampden. SFA chief executive Stewart Regan will demand to know if Dallas did send on the tasteless email that had been circulating around the time the Pope visited Glasgow in September.

 

Regan has been standing shoulder to shoulder with Dallas over the Dougie McDonald row which continues to simmer but now the SFA's new chief has to deal with this fresh controversy.

 

It is also believed Regan and other SFA chiefs were amazed when they learned on Monday that McDonald, who refuses to resign despite admitting he lied to a supervisor and Celtic boss Neil Lennon after a recent SPL match at Tannadice, had been given another top-flight game.

 

McDonald will take charge of Hibs v Motherwell on Saturday, although there could be moves to block this appointment.

 

It is also under stood McDonald was asked by his peers to resign to help the credibility of the country's refs but refuses to budge, believing that since he didn't cheat anyone on the pitch he has no case to answer.

 

The SFA know they cannot allow the McDonald saga to run much longer - they realise having a top-grade referee who can't be given another Celtic match is ludicrous - and now the man who should have been clearing up the mess is himself facing a probe.

 

Lennon, meanwhile, wants an apology from McDonald for lying to him.

 

McDonald rescinded a penalty award in the Hoops' 2-1 win over Dundee United more than three weeks ago after consulting assistant Steven Craven.

 

An investigation by the SFA ended with McDonald being given a warning over his failure to properly explain Craven's role in his report and in discussions with the referee observer.

 

McDonald then admitted misleading Lennon after the game but while the Parkhead club last week called a truce with the SFA after Regan promised procedural reform, Lennon remains dissatisfied.

 

Asked if McDonald should apologise Lennon said: "Yes, just out of professional respect more than anything else. I don't like being lied to.

 

"I don't know what the resolution is yet. I assume there are going to be new measures but once that all comes out, I will comment on it then."

 

Asked if he would be satisfied if McDonald kept his job, the Celtic manager replied: "It's not for me to make that decision."

 

Lennon expressed shock at McDonald's swift return to SPL duty, saying: "I'm surprised at it being so quick, yes."

Should be an interesting end to the week in Scottish football!

[tiger_rick]

What the hell is happening to Celtic and Rangers tonight?

[buba3d]

one team got done by a ref and the other team didn't show up

[David]

I hate to say it, but once again we have a sitaution where Neil Lennon has at least one legitimate, match altering refereeing blunder to question.

 

If I didn't know better, i'd be starting to think the officials in this country have it in for Lennon and his team...

 

Apart from that, we cuffed St Johnstone 4-0 tonight!

[buba3d]

its being said that he charged at the 4th official with a brrage of "spicy" language

 

was a penalty for me

[David]

its being said that he charged at the 4th official with a brrage of "spicy" language

 

was a penalty for me

It was a clear penalty.

 

I noticed the 4th official wasn't shy in firing back, so it's a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other as far as i'm concerned.

[The Cum Doctor]

I didn't really see much of an exchange between Lennon and the ref. All I seen was when Thomson ran over to the fourth official.

[FUM]

Lennon commented on the radio about how the referee and fourth official will have their stories organised by now in regards to sending him to the stand. Wonder if the SFA will punish him for that after being lied to with no apology before.

[Daaaaaad!]

The BBC highlights don't seem to show Lennon being sent to the stands for any particular reason. Whether it affected the game, however, I really doubt. Unless you're talking about the handball, in which case I'd have to pull an Arsene Wenger on it and say I can't see it properly even after viewing two replays - from one angle it seems like a chest, from the other less so. Even then, Celtic were 2-0 down at the time and had been under major pressure.

 

Hard to argue the Ledley challenge didn't deserve a red though - any time you take two feet off the ground and put them in front of you, you're risking it, and it seems pretty clear he missiled in and took out the player before getting near the ball.

[bAzTNM Fan]

Gutted about last night. I hate losing to Hearts any time of the season, but last night made it an even more bitter pill to swallow as I don't think there are many times we will be presented with such a gift in Rangers losing 3-0 at home.

 

We were well beaten but again, contentious refereeing decisions will be the hot topic of the week. Even though he got the ball, I don't have any complaints about Ledley's red card. You can't fly into tackles like that in this day and age with your studs showing. A lot of Celtic fans are calling it another "honest mistake", but my instinct reaction to seeing it for the first time was that he was off.

 

However, if Lennon is subject to any SFA punishment then it is absolute bullshit. They have messed him about all season and treated him with utter contempt and disrespect, so I'm glad he came out with some flippant comments about their behaviour. Granted, he didn't exactly conduct himself in the most mature manner, but it must be getting pretty tiresome to be told to sit down, shut up and get in line like Tony Mowbray was all too happy to do.

 

3 points at the weekend is a must.