We’ll discuss Celtic’s failure to reproduce the kind of performance which humbled Hearts 0-4 at Tynecastle last time we faced them later. For now it’s worth considering what SFA Head of Referee Development, John Fleming, does next.
It’s been a year since he took over the job and whatever his hopes for the calibre of performances when he was appointed, he will surely consider the shambles of referee performances an “affront” (to use one of his words) to standards.
Euan Norris’ performance yesterday was abject. He saw Ian Black go over the ball and plant his studs into the leg of Joe Ledley but awarded only a yellow card. He saw the same player deliberately handle the ball later but awarded only a foul.
The rules on handball could not be clearer. A player must make a deliberate attempt to play the ball with his hand or arm, or to have moved his hand or arm into an unnatural position, before he can be considered to have committed a foul.
This rule is neither new nor unfamiliar. Balls innocuously strike hands and arms in almost every game raising interest only from partisan fans ignorant of the rules. And for the record – if you are slide-tackling, jumping to head or turning your back on a shot, the natural position for your arms are not stationary and by your side. Neither incident late in the game were penalties.
Norris failed on all important calls during the game and is clearly doing the reputation of the SFA, and by implication, Fleming, any good.
No one emerged with any credit after last week’s Charlie Richmond fiasco but Fleming suffered in particular. His briefing to the Daily Record, which simultaneously listed Richmond’s confidential performance statistics, confirmed the impression that Hampden is playing fast and loose with appropriate behaviour.
A wise rector once said, ‘Judge me on my graduates, not my students’. Fleming is working with the population he inherited, but it is his responsibility to improve standards and enhance the reputation of referees. On both counts he is under water.
In a curious twist, Fleming’s predecessor is on stv.tv today comparing Neil Lennon’s reaction to that of Harry Redknapp’s reaction to the referee mistake at one of Chelsea’s five goals yesterday. The Wembley apologised for an “honest mistake”. We’ve yet to hear the same from Norris or Fleming.
Creative writing award of the day goes to STV for this gem:
“Dallas, formerly Scotland’s head of referees before leaving his position following controversy over what was considered an offensive e-mail”.
So it might not have been an offensive email after all. ‘Jokes’ portraying individuals or a group of people as having, or sharing guilt, with one, or a small number of, criminal(s) is fertile ground for prejudice to grow. STV should be clear that it is inappropriate and offensive in the workplace.
We have an outstanding original canvass painting of Neil Lennon available for purchase on eBay to kick start our summer charity fundraising. This year the beneficiaries will be Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Martin Chambers Foundation and The Neuroblastoma Alliance, Aberdour PS PTA, The Haven, Blantyre. The painting, by US based artist, Joseph Gormley, is an outstanding memento of our manager during these times.
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lynott67-I think Norris has refereed his favourites 3 times and given them 5 penalties.We should be asking the SFA and Norris on what grounds,specifically,was a penalty awarded yesterday.IMO he never seen it,Hearts no 17 was directly in his line of a clear view.HH
tomthelennytim
The most unintelligent post I have read on here for some time and that´s quite an accolade btw
Hail Hail
Sorry just on quick but what has Dalls said with regards yesterday’s refereeing performance??
Barcabhoy on 16 April, 2012 at 13:56 said:
Hugh Dallas has just handed Celtic an open goal opportunity……His crass and hypocritical comments will surely be volleyed by the Club.
Here’s my suggestion
“Celtic FC deplore the comments made by Hugh Dallas regarding the semi final against Hearts . Those comments are hypocritical in the extreme, having been made by an individual who brought shame on Scottish Football with his own actions, which resulted in his resignation from his position within the SFA.”
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
2010 Never Again
Doesn’t Dallas hold a position with UEFA?
That being the case would Mr Platini be happy with a UEFA official being openly seen to be meddling in the affairs of a member organisation?
Paul, good article , we only want a fair chance to win, loose or draw. Yesterday we saw a team sit in and hope to get lucky on the break, they were given the platform to win due to poor refereeing.
Black should have been off, if not for his kick at Ledley then for deliberate handball, and as for the penalty if he gave it for Wanyama having the ball flick of the edge of his fingers then that is a disgrace.
Has Norris apologised yet for his error ??
As for our team ,when we play with yesterdays formation with attacking players in midfield and full backs going forward we require a solid centre half pairing with a holding player in front of them. We had neither and Beattie was allowed to win balls and cause problems for the 2nd half. We missed Rogne and Wanyama who both add a physical side which is require to win games in Scotland.
“Norris failed on all important calls during the game….”
Sorry Paul, but in my objective opinion I think you are wrong, and, until a more objective view can be sustained, this website and other similar websites can be viewed as, (what was the word amongst the professional jourmalists last week?), the murky world of internet bla bla…
An opinion…
Black should have been sent off – twice.
Hearts goal was OK. Had Celtic been disallowed a similar goal their would be more than a few “MIB” comments.
Celtic’s goal was offside and should not have stood.
The penalty was correct due to Victor’s handball.
And finally, Neil’s behaviour at the end was poor. Futile.
An objective opinion – see yourself as others see you.
Only now facing reality so not been on before now.
Having been at the game I expected that E Norris would claim he was unsighted for the Webster non-hand ball, so when I got home I reviewed the tape (or whatever it is in that wee box thingy). Having established that he had a full open view I then wondered about the Victor Wanyama hand ball.
Whilst I cannot guarantee this, playing frame by frame I am convinced the E Norris was unsighted for this incident, which is probably why he gave the penalty against someone who was not actually in contact with the ball.
Watch his body language as he goes to take up position. I know I am biased, but it says to me ‘I have done my duty, even though I know……….’
I note Paul’s comment that we seemed to lose heart after the Hearts 1st goal. Unfortunately I think he is right. That for me is unacceptable. 0-1 at 46 minutes I expect every Celtic player to push that extra 5% and go to correct the mistake, not hide.
Why are we not playing well at Hampden? This is an issue to be explored.
HH
hamiltontim on 16 April, 2012 at 14:00 said:
Sorry just on quick but what has Dalls said with regards yesterday’s refereeing performance??
Dallas saying Lenny’s behaviour at the end of the match worse he has seen in 25years and he is a bully yada yada yada.Expect nothing less from this masonic a–ewipe.
ONE NEIL LENNON
HH
After hearing very good things about breaking bad, im using my free month of Netflix to watch the first 3 series. I’ve watched the pilot and it seems ok so far. But I’ve heard posters on here saying it’s better than the sopranos and the wire. It will need to be good. But for free what’s not to like?
Oh and Dallas is a bam.
Awe_Naw – cheers, I do my bit !!
!!Bada Bing!! at 13:58
To be fair, Norris has refereed Rangers 5 times for those 5 penalties, with none against.
Whereas in 7 Celtic games he’s awarded 3 for Celtic and 3 against.
He’s got a long way to go to reach Collum’s standard:
22 Rangers games, 12 penalties for, 1 against.
20 Celtic games, 3 penalties for, 3 against.
mighty tim on 16 April, 2012 at 14:04 said:
Thanks for that.
Dallas was outed as a sectarian bigot his comments should count for little. Where did he say this?
Lets take our medicine .yesterdays match is history gone finished,no matter what we say the result wont change.,this ref thing put it to bed for god sake.we like other important games cant hack it at times,bad management,tactics,players its just not there.We cant blame officials all the time, we our team need to take some blame .and neil lennon has to start acting like he is paid to do as a coach.and his comments in the media regarding this team doing well in the champions league.you are having a laugh ,you are not serious are you. and i thought you were no longer talking to the media.or are you selective in who you speak to in the media.lenny will need to cool his jets or make no mistake about it they the S F A will put him out of the game altogether ,im sure they done it to a rangers player many years ago.
Hamiltontim on STV site. Just him backing another bigot in this great wee cuntry of ours.
HH
tomthelennytim
On being in the wrong place with the wrong message at the wrong time
Aye you sure do :-))))))))))))
Hail Hail
Question for the statto’s out there.
How many times have we lost the first goal and gone on to win this season?
I always think when we lose the first goal we are doomed. Sergio copied the Killie model against us in the LC final and it paid off perfectly for him. Forget the refereeing decisions for a few minutes. We were 1-0 down before they even became a problem. Get the ball in the net and it changes the game. How can we be so Jekyll & Hyde? One game we are skelping teams and the next game we look like 11 strangers on the pitch. It is frustrating to watch this as a supporter. I just didn’t think we were hungry enough yesterday. Twice this season at Hampden we have expected to just turn up and win. That is not good enough for a Celtic side. The referee did get it all wrong near the end but we should have been doing the huddle by then celebrating another final.
LB
timbhoy2 on 16 April, 2012 at 14:09 said:
When I’m looking for advice from a dung beetles a-hole,I’ll give you a shout.
timbhoy2 on 16 April, 2012 at 14:09 said:
Take yer ain medicine ya bam…
Bada Bing@ 13.58
Sorry i didnt realize it was 5 pens in 3. I know that a lot of huns were backing him for a penalty in his fourth game, however he didnt give one.
The painful thing is that penalty would NEVER have been given against any other team in Scotland apart from us, never mind in the 92nd minute of a semi with the teams level.
Dallas , MCurrie, Collum and now Norris, the list is endless, couldnt give it quick enough against us.
Still sickened and feeling cheated…yet again.
Aye ;-)
timbhoy2.
I would be more concerned with my own team if I were you.
What is it with all these Celtic fans that want to publicise how tiny their gonads are and how long it has been since they last got an erection ?
Forget the referees !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You got to be a retarded moron to come up with that one and expect civilised intelligent debate.
nothing without fans -I stand corrected,said the man in the ill-fitting shoes :}HH.Some of these stats are staggering,but not surprising.
The stats for Gollum are certainly impressive, take a bow the new Mike McCurry
listen awe yooouse dinny upset the ranjurs boyz as thit´ll mean ah huv tay get intay afight and yeez ken if ah git a boot in ma micro chookies i´ll spew even mair deranged nonsense thin a day awreday aaw naw but naw ma unintelligent uninformed frightenend opinyoan is mair valeed thin yer opiyion…. aye ah um a bit deranged and slabber a loat but yeiv goat tay forget the mibs or you´ll upset ma masters ken whit a mean likes naw ahm fae glesga und uve been arroon a lot bit didny go tay skill
Hail HAil
The only thing more predictable than the poor refereeing display is the ‘guest’ appearances from the usual suspects on here since yesterday’s defeat.
Sunday’s result that will be long forgotten by Celtic supporters when the draw for the Champions League comes round, and will it find proper perspective among Huns when their own club is liquidated in the coming weeks.
the bit on E -TIMS says it all ,well mostly.
Awe_Naw ; use of the expression “retarded moron” wouldn’t be most peoples’ idea of “civilised debate” – that’s my last on the subject. Jog on.
Awe Naw
Can you not just say you disagree?
I a big boy done it i and ran away i and i so i will go frew ma hole life letting awe ken i is as thick i am asay dead lonli .. dinny ken why mind ..but diinny upset oor masters ok ?
DR have changed the image of Lennon used on their home page to their article ‘Celtic boss Neil Lennon launches Twitter tirade after watching his side crash out of Scottish Cup to Hearts’. They had another image beside the story this morning where Lennon didnt look agressive enough, seemingly. Suffice to say the image used now fixes that.
These so called journalists should be banned from CP until next season and there should be an indefinite ban on advertising this rag around the stadium.
HH
tomthelennytim
peeples or people ?
What if it is highly scientific accurate as in your case ?
Hail Hail
Celtic_first.
No I cant. I thought you might have deduced that by now.
Hail Hail
Timbhoy in spain
My most trusted maître d’ in Barcelona indeed in the wine and food game is eating here http://www.gresca.net/ the noo and giving me very good signals.
Aw Naw
Don’t you tell me to forget the referees you redaction junkie! ;-)
HH
Livibhoy- I can think of 3 games-
Celtic 3 Rennes 1
Motherwell 1 Celtic 2
Hibs 1 Celtic 4
Thinking of sending this to the club..anyone have any ideas to add to it or is it ok as is?
To whom it may concern
It is that time of year again when the season ticket renewals are due. As you will see if you check your records my party has been buying the same four seats since moving back to Celtic Park in 1995/96 season and we have been season ticket holders for over twenty years .Personally I have followed the club at home and abroad for over 36 years and my company has shares in Celtic PLC.
The reason I am writing to you is to express my concern over recent reports in the press regarding the possibility of a New club being admitted to the SPL next season. If this were to happen what would be the point in the years of financial prudence shown by our club, some would say at times to the detriment of the team on the park.
I wish to be made fully aware of the clubs view of the above and the proposed rule changes to the SPL before I consider whether I want to continue supporting the Scottish game by way of renewing my season tickets.
I am hopeful that the club will make the right decision and that from next season we are watching our team play in a competition that isn’t rigged
Yours Sincerely
Joe Fillipis hair cut/.so you wia ant lenny to ban all the media from celtic park ,a sour grapes just because we got beat yesterday ,wake up man smell the coffee ,we are just not good enough ,end of story