Predictably I was then assailed by an army of tribalistic Celtic supporters who were adamant that anyone who thought that there was even an issue here was an idiot. Their doctrine was that everything had ended completely normally - a goal was scored, celebrations followed which would not normally result in added stoppage time, and thus the small amount of remaining time was used up naturally and the referee quite properly blew the final whistle without restarting play. One thing that has become clear from the SFA's release of more information is that those claims are completely untrue. The referee had not deemed time to be up because of the goal celebrations and instead a sort of purgatory period followed while he tried to work out what to do next. He only ended the game prematurely because Hearts were supposedly in agreement that he could do that in order to protect their players' safety.
The SFA are therefore hiding behind the rule that states the referee's decision is final, and also behind the consent given by Hearts. I've no idea whether that defence would stand up in a court of law, but it certainly doesn't pass the fairness test, because Hearts should never have been put in the position of having to choose between their players' safety and getting the chance to see the match through to its proper finish. And does absolutely anything go in terms of when and why a referee can declare a game over? Could he stop a game after 70 minutes and award the win to the side that were ahead at that point, without any comebacks at all? Surely that doesn't stack up.
It might well have been an absurdity to abandon the game and award Hearts a 3-0 win, but I'd have thought the fairest outcome would have been to complete the game somehow after a delay, or to order a replay.
Incidentally, as you'd probably expect of someone with my surname, I wanted Celtic to win, so I have no axe to grind here, other than a desire for sporting fairness.
* * *
Catch up with last Wednesday's critically-acclaimed blogpost: "S*** just got real, lads. The famously always wrong blogger "Stew", who said there was "zero chance, barring nuclear war or an alien invasion" of the Holyrood election producing a pro-indy majority, and who said betting on Angus Robertson to win Edinburgh Central was "free money", has now said there is "NO chance" of victory in a 2029 de facto referendum. Looks like it's ON."
* * *
If you enjoyed Scot Goes Pop's 2026 election coverage so much that you started to feel an inexplicable urge to buy me a hot chocolate or a ham-and-cheese toastie, donations are very welcome. There are three main options:
a) you can donate by card HERE
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Boo! I didn’t read it, I don’t even follow football, but I know for a fact you are wrong! Boo!
ReplyDeleteMargaret Thatcher was the first person to say "pith" on BBC Radio 2.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the Inverness vs Hamilton game had an almost similar circumstance surrounding it. In 90+2 minutes, Hamilton got a penalty. If they scored, Inverness might finish second in the league. If it was saved, they might finish top. The penalty was saved, and fans rushed onto the pitch to celebrate - and also to harass Hamilton players for some reason. There were only seconds left on the clock, but the referee did NOT decide time was up. He waited - FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES - until the fans were off the park, and then he restarted play. About 10-15 seconds after play resumed, he blew the full time whistle.
ReplyDeleteNow, I could have had the opinion that he was daft to wait that long to play just 15 seconds of football, but the ref applied the laws of the game EXACTLY as they were written. So... are we to believe that the SFA are indicating that the referee in the Inverness game got it WRONG? Because that's the only logical conclusion to reach if they are suggesting that the ref in the Celtic game got it RIGHT.
I've never before seen a referee consult with an opposing manager to decide when a game should end.
I've never before seen a referee decide to end a game because fans decided it was over.
In the Inverness game, there was always a chance that in those 15 seconds after the pitch invasion was over, that Hamilton could score, or Inverness could score. It's not up to a referee to judge when to call time on a match based on the likelihood of a team scoring or not - which I think also factored into the referees mind in the Celtic game.
The SFA have twisted themselves in knots. Either the referee followed the rules correctly (in which case, he's operating off of different rules than THE REST OF THE WORLD) or the rules were not followed correctly and the referee made the WRONG decision to end the game, when he should have paused play. But the SFA appear to think the ref was allowed to ignore the rules, but then also say the rules were applied correctly. Madness.
As a Hamilton supporter I agree. The ref should have finished the match properly - we had to put up with it. Just to say about us, this year we've been treated like dirt by the powers that be, we should have been in the playoffs for promotion by points won instead we were in playoff for demotion. Not fair on us not Clyde who had to face a top of the table team instead of a poorly performing one. The whole game is a mess, us playing our home leg at Clyde's old ground and their home game at ours. Madness
DeleteNo cups in Georgie ! GGTTH
ReplyDeleteHearts biggest gripe will undoubtedly be the penalty Celtic were awarded against Motherwell, nine minutes into injury time in that game. I’ve not heard a single person, including Celtic supporters, who thought it was a penalty.
ReplyDeleteThat very poor decision ultimately cost Hearts the league.
Following an investigation into the game itself a panel of referees have now stated that the Celtic penalty was in fact on closer inspection not a penalty
ReplyDeleteThat said, we continually read or hear that it's all the shame of Scottish football when again that is entirely an inaccurate statement
Both Celtic and Rangers football clubs are not and have never been Scottish football clubs
The supporters of Celtic fly the Irish flag and their allegiances are to that country, demonstrated by the enormous amounts of people who arrive from that country on a weekly basis to Glasgow to see their team
As to Rangers, the same thing applies to the amount of Irish people who travel from that country to Glasgow to assert their British not Scottish identity
Both clubs chant their sectarian differences as part of this identity and many will cause as much trouble for the other because of it
The mess and trouble both of these clubs cause is down to one thing only, they have no respect for the land they live in, Scotland, because neither of these clubs feel that they should because they're Irish or they're British so owe no allegiance to Scotland's people our land or our law
We don't even need the revenue they generate because of the overall damage they cause to our infrastructure and our mental health, they do not even pay for themselves and they don't care
These are two sets of out of control wild animals that are allowed to keep biting the rest of us and creating social division because it suits the British to have them here
Would the British tolerate either of them in England?
No they would not, that's why we get them foisted upon us, it keeps their British pot in Scotland boiling for them
If you agree and would like to ban both of these clubs, the answer is we can't, guess why?
Most of the propaganda is coming from the dodgy Tony Bloom who has a 29% stake in hearts, about £10 million, and who is currently under investigation by UEFA for corruption and rigging betting syndicates!!! McInnes stated clearly in the audio released that he wanted his players off the pitch and that the game, as far as he was concerned, was finished therefore if nothing else Hearts forfeited the game as they themselves ended it. The game could have been resumed once the pitch was cleared for the remaining 8-20 seconds left on the clock but McInnes knew that his team could not score two goals in that time therefore he basically forfeited it to enable him to propagandise the result. The media have leapt on this to deflect from Independence parties in Scotland winning the election and Starmers demise. All unionists working together methinks!!!
ReplyDeleteQuite the little brass neck of yours to start with "most of the propaganda", because all of the propaganda here is coming from you. An excruciating read, I'm embarrassed for you that you actually typed that out
DeleteAnd ignore the violence on the streets of Glasgow once more. The majority of football supporters are sick of it. The millionaires rub their hands with glee. Divide and rule
ReplyDelete