The job of referee has a kind of inverse relationship between popularity and career progress. Willie Collum has been at the centre of this season’s three major controversies. He was referee on two occasions when his assistants failed to notice Celtic conceded a goal in crucial league games against Rangers and Hearts (on each occasion the ball crossed the line by inches and remained there for a small fraction of a second).
There is very little a ref can do when his assistant doesn’t flag when the ball crosses the goal line, as we all know, but Collum still suffered reputational damage from some who simply blamed him for being in charge when ‘goals’ against Celtic were not awarded by assistant referees.
It takes a brave decision for a ref to award an injury time penalty for a team losing by a goal in a cup final. As we noted yesterday, Anthony Stokes clearly had his ankle clipped when clean through with Cammy Bell to beat on Sunday while the Kilmarnock defender never came close to the ball. This was a foul any day of the week, but having been in charge when Celtic benefited from assistant referee decisions, Collum booked Stokes instead of awarding a penalty.
This incident was almost identical to Collum’s decision not to award Celtic a penalty in the infamous game away to Hamilton Accies in 2011. With five minutes of the game remaining Niall McGinn was tripped inside the box but Collum booked the player.
The offside rule was subject to a new and unique interpretation that day. Hamilton ‘scored’ from a set piece with a player alone inside the six yard box who jumped over the ball. He was in an offside position by several yards and stood in front of Fraser Forster before allowing the ball to pass under him. Collum also sent off James Forrest for blocking a clearance in an incident which caused a Hamilton player to kick his boot.
All of this followed the infamous incident at Celtic Park when despite looking the other way, Collum awarded Rangers a penalty when Kirk Broadfoot stumbled in the vicinity of Daniel Majstorovic.
Without enjoying the light of robust critical analysis of refereeing decisions that happens in most other countries I’m not sure where we go with any of this. Celtic Quick News called both ‘goal’ incidents against Rangers and Hearts as assistant referee mistakes so it is only appropriate we record Mr Collum’s significant mistakes when refereeing Celtic, while we ponder the formula for career progression among Scotland’s referees.
I know we covered the issue of Duff and Phelps needing to talk-up any possibility of nullifying Ticketus ownership of future season tickets, Craig Whyte’s security over Ibrox of HMRC being prepared to accept a few pennies in the pound (before HMRC issued a rare statement about the important of paying your tax, “football club or not”), so apologies for repeating myself, but….
Duff and Phelps have agreed no deal with HMRC. Ticketus retain ownership of future season tickets and the recent court challenge appears to offer little threat, while Craig Whyte retains his security. In addition, Duff and Phelps have received no offer for Rangers with terms which are within their control.
So, apart from having no offers they can accept, no stadium to sell, no control over future season ticket sales, no agreement with HMRC and having absolutely no idea what they will do when player contracts revert to their full value on 1 June, Duff and Phelps job is pretty easy.
Right now they need to keep all their plates in the air. The very least we should do is cut them some slack as they endeavour to work the angles.
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It can only be a good thing that the English based media, over whom the huns have no influence, are looking at Scottish football.
Scottish football is corrupt and the Scottish media have been complicit in the wrongdoing.
PFayr on 20 March, 2012 at 20:43 said:
I caught the “Scotlands biggest club” bollocks as well, I heard it also on 5Live and TalkShite recently too. I see the obvious hand of media briefing there.
Bet colums took the names of the talkers in the class.
Some highlights from the C4 piece:
• Cosy unquestioning culture in Scottish football – nowhere more so than Rangers.
• PAYE, Income Tax, VAT a lifestyle choice for Rangers.
• The loyal club routinely at odds with HRH re: tax.
• Lots of silverware could leave Ibrox with (football) results and reputations on the line
• Mentioned about ineligible players = 0-3 result
• It is cheating but routine in football (Adam)
• The SFA are not pure in this respect (Adam)
• Had to laugh at the Rangers supporter haddy (McVey?) – apparently the Scottish public are to blame for not warning them about Whyte
• Had to cringe at McLeish – this is a wake up call for Scottish football. Not rangers fault then.
HH
TLK
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on 20 March, 2012 at 20:49
yes , but it would be like giving a coo a gun, WTF would he know what to do with it?
jmccormick on 20 March, 2012 at 20:46 said:
adams wouldnt need to be a witness in court, for what we want to happen he can tell the sfa what they need to know from the comfort of his armchair and he doesnt need to be credible just to give evidence that will stand up.
the sfa will ignore him at their peril
did Adams not make these allegations several years ago before his deterioration in health…
@orourke3: The danger on the horizon. The other 10 clubs trying to re-write the rule book in terms of the voting process, once again we will be victims
@orourke3: If the other 10 manage to change the voting from 11-1 to 9-3 or 8-4 .. then they can vote anything through.
c4 – good to see some uk-wide msm coverage
5live debate – a total hun luv-in
randall – says it could run for years
murray – classic whataboutery, as per usual
eck mcleish – con-man aka politician
“voodoo econimics” alive n well
lets keep up the pressure
According to the letter, the request has been made because “it has come to the attention of the Scottish FA that there could be a number of examples of non-compliance with the obligations of Article 12.3.”
‘A number of examples’ …… are these involving one club? If so, then we know how ‘it has come to the attention of Scottish FA.’
‘A number of examples’ ……. does this mean that there several clubs who have not complied? If so, how has it come to SFA attention?
There has been no investigation.
No one has stepped forward, like Hugh Adam, to admit it.
Who has brought these examples to the attention of SFA?
Perhaps it was Jim Duffy who confessed on Clyde that he had been given a turkey one Christmas by Morton FC.
What I find truly amazing is we have one of the biggest catastrophies to hit Scottish football and no one is responsible.
You would think ebt stood for ” extra ballistic turd ” that had been excreted from the Gallactic sphincter, flew light years through space like some brown smelly comet and crashed into Ibrox.
celtic40me on 20 March, 2012 at 20:52 said:
I really hope so , but previous SFA practises fill me with dread.
Anyway, it was great to Mark Hately looking as gormless as he sounds and “writes”
Re: C4 report.
A useful, if not exactly ground-breaking recap…
Hugh Adam is clearly not well. He was barely coherent. Think SDM will not feel threatened if he is the only director that turns against him.
McLeish is a disgrace.
And for all Regan looked uncomfortable, the Huns have a cheek lambasting the SFA for not sanctioning Whyte pre-takeover. They were all, virtually to a man, happy to hail him as a billionaire. Remember “See our warchest and weep, Timmy”?
What happened to their spirit of Presbyterian self-reliance? Now they want nanny SFA to hold their hands?
Diddums.
jmccormick on 20 March, 2012 at 20:46
The Ogilvie ‘loans’ are, I think, a smoking gun. But as the MSM don’t want to know anything about the whole business it’s going to be the bloggers who save Scottish football from Infamy RFCIA.
Benfica v Porto cracking game 1-1 after 7mins
The Lizard King, 20:50
I thought the very mention of ‘The loyal club’ routinely at odds with HMRC shows a healthy interest of what’s going on here
Auld Neil Lennon heid on 20 March, 2012 at 20:56 said:
Mrs Starry just shouted from the kitchen, “what are you laughing at now?”
A bit of light brown relief in a day full of tangled webs!
SP
The channel 4 piece, as previously posted by a few of you, was nothing that we didn’t already know.
The positives from it were, we all SAW hugh adams tell us that they cheated, albeit he does look unwell and as was said earlier, how credible a witness would he be?
We saw Regan squirm, when questioned. Something tells me that he’s not going to be able to stand the heat.
It’s now out there in the main domain, no longer just confined to our wee country.
CQN, Phil, RTC & AT @ CH4…… Keep up the good work.
1-2 Porto, magic football
We tend to think that the rest of the UK, including Scotland, are as clued up on this as we are. They’re not–and C4 just gave out proven facts which could be broadcast. There will be more to come, because the ol’ Budget is out tomorrow, and any tax-dodgers had better be wary. It’s just the opening shot, in my mind. Too juicy a story to let go, and too much material to ignore, thanks to CQN,RTC, Phil, and the rest.
H
HH
For those not in the know on Glasgow s south side, the C4 Thomson piece opened with a beautiful view of Christ The King RC chapel and house in the foreground …
A beautiful irony as we listened to the piece on corrupt tax dodgers from Govan!!
Made me smile .
When regan asked others to admit their guilt of EBT schemes or whatever? Has puzzled me??
Has he got something on us?
Does anyone know if Rogne was taken off on Sun because he was injured?
SPF
Good Evening,
The piece in the left foot forward magazine is a very very good summation of where we are… at present.
For those of you who were disappointed in the Channel 4 piece let me just point somthing out. There are now 4 separate articles on the Channel 4 web site relating to the Rangers debacle and the financial shenanigans that have taken place over a number of years. The pieces also touch on the anemic attitude of the SFA and that was the real value in tonights broadcast.
If you follow twitter you will know that there have been loads of tweets from Stewart Regan which all say ” all rumour and innuendo” so far so no comment and so on.
However, within the next few weeks, the FTT judgement will come out and it will make for very interesting reading in the detail. At that point, much of what has been alleged will no longer be innuendo and rumour– although be very very certain that the terms of the judgement will lead to many many more questions.
However, in the last 24 hours you have heard former Chief Executive Gordon Smith and now current Chief Executive Stewart Regan both say that the SFA rely on the clubs to self certify and that they, themselves, do nothing whatsoever to check the certificates and whether the club is in the hands of a fit and proper person or persons.. The only reason that Craig Whyte came under scrutiny is because a third party– in fact many third parties– decided to shine a light on him and take a look. Were it not for Mark Daly’s BBC investigation, the SFA would have done nothing whatsoever to check or examine this man’s credentials to play a major part in Scottish Football.
As a consequence of owning Rangers and being a Director, it would eventually have been open to Whyte to place himself on various SFA committees and in positions from which he could have had a major influence on other clubs and Scottish football in general.
However, the key point here is that as a matter of practice, the SFA take the clubs themselves on trust. Surely this extends to financial declarations and contract matters? As I mentioned this morning, there is meant to be financial audits carried out in terms of the rules. The UEFA rules specify that all documentation supplied by the clubs in support of a UEFA licence have to be either submitted or made available for SFA Audit– this includes financials, contracts and so on. The contracts element extends not just to players but to club officials such as the Chief Executive, managers, coaches and various others.
Accordingly, when the FTT reports, if it turns out that there were numerous players, board members and executives, and members of the coaching staff who all had the benefit of the so called side letters– then I have no doubt that Alex Thomson will return to Stewart Regan and ask again whether the SFA simply took the clubs- and specifically Rangers on trust- and whether or not any of the documents referred to in the FTT judgement have ever been presented to the SFA?
We already know that certain Directors were paid through the EBT.
No doubt Stewart Regan will not be able to answer some of these questions given his length of tenure and so the questioner will turn to his predecessor. I will leave it to you to guess the calibre of answer that may be provided by the individual concerned.
The most interesting discussion yet to be had is, however, with David Taylor, who was in office immediately before Gordon Smith. Taylor ran the SFA in the crucial years between 1999 and 2007, and of course he is now the Joint General Secretary of UEFA. Taylor is a qualified lawyer who practised as a solicitor until 1985 and he also holds an MSc in Economics and an MBA.
Taylor, for sure, would know or recognise the import of so called letters of intent and the duties imposed on those who held SFA office in terms of reporting. It could hardly be countenanced that a man with such qualifications could have known about such matters and not questioned and if necessary cleared their legality. It therefore follows that if others were sure that Taylor would want to know more, then they would be loathe to highlight the existence of anything reprehensible.
What Taylor knew will know doubt be of great interest, but of even greater import will be his view on the actual findings of the EBT Tribunal. If that brings matters to light that he feels he should have been aware of then there will be some serious questions to answer. If the Tribunal rules and reveals the type of matter I think it will– I wonder if he will feel let down and deceived by those whom he used to sit beside on SFA committees?
For now, his successors in office have been jolted into action by writing to one and all to ask them yet again to self certify whether they have made unauthorised payments in the past ten years. This is an odd step for a so called appellate body to take amidst an enquiry being conducted by the SPL, especially as the response from Rangers will effectively be provided by the Administrators who presumably will have to go and ask former Directors -( some of whom they appear to be in negotiations with )- as to how to answer?
Remember that the entire Tax Case submissions for Rangers were not made by Lawyers acting for the club, but by a legal team appointed by MIH.
Any investigation, Enquiry or Tribunal often throws up more and more questions that impact ever wider. As we have seen before with Dougie Dougie and other issues, people in positions of responsibility often make statements which later come back to bite them. The evidence given at the FTT will have focused on the issue of tax, the evasion of tax and the payment of tax or lack of it. When that evidence is viewed in the eyes of SFA compliance there will be a whole new set of questions– with very uncomfortable answers I suspect.
Then again– all of those involved, with the notable exception of one still at the SFA, appear to have left the stage—– by hook or by crook, thus leaving others to face the music, take the flak.and maybe even dodge the questions for their own reasons.
Anywhich way you look at this all eyes are focused on Rangers, the SFA and the fiscal propriety of the last twenty years.
You can also expect to be hearing an awful lot more from Mark Daly– and not necessarily on Rangers or the SFA alone– but on matters and persona closely related.
You can run… but you cannot hide.
pauloantony on 20 March, 2012 at 21:05 said:
no, never used them
I see The Singing Detective’s favourite centre half’s team have conceded 5 goals at home to Notts Forrest in the first hour. :-)
paulantony
I am sure Brian Quinn advised the board of the error of thier ways re EBTs…
sure bhoys more in the know will confirm.. think it may have been Juninho.
1-1
candystripes v Belfast huns
….Any word on McCrummoch?
The case against Rangers doesn’t rely on Hugh Adam at all. It’s just good telly to have someone who can tell you about it.
The letter in The Sun was far more damaging to RFC though and the admission by CO that he had and EBT implicates him (the tax-guy on Sky talking about promissory emails was interesting hearsay too).
When the FTT case is over I suspect many people will be free to reveal more of what they know too.
In that respect, although the C4 story tonight was known to us and sort of behind the curve- it’s good that they are interested as they will probably pick up on what comes after FTT and run it as a breaking story.
Celtic40me
knew you would know hte answer to that one… o))
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on 20 March, 2012 at 21:07 said:
thanks, very interesting. i hope mark daly is making full use of your extensive knowledge
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17430072
this cheered me up a wee bit , apologies if it has been covered.
HH
Brogan Rogan etc…
thx
for kev if your lurking
scotland are the huns the huns are scotland
the sfa are the huns the huns are the sfa
R.C.Ogilvie ,stewart regan and neil doncaster will be outed the more they try and cover up this by refusing to uphold the laws of the game.It will just take 1 of them to disclose a little more and that will be the end for all involved IMHO.
My money is on neil doncaster breaking rank and putting it all down to the sfa.
what do you think bhoys ?
jam67
1-1 at the Brandywell(2-2)agg..mon Derry 20 to go
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on 20 March, 2012 at 21:07 said:
Excellent – great read.