I’ve just been schooled by someone with inside knowledge of the refereeing village on Planet Fitba.
He reminded me that there were currently only seven referees in Scotland on the FIFA list.
Actually, he didn’t remind me of that as I had no idea how many there were.
So he was breaking news to me.
However, by dint of his current employment, I’m not surprised that he has this information at his fingertips.
Apparently, FIFA grade referees are the only ones in Fair Caledonia that are allowed out to play with UEFA and international matches.
Moreover, he told me that it was something of “an unwritten rule” that the Glasgow Derby was only ever handled by one of these…ahem… elite officials.
Then he dropped it on me.
He said that the next FIFA grade referee in line to handle the Glasgow Derby was Andrew Dallas!
Oh dear…
Now, he might be mistaken on that, but I doubt it.
He’s a very sound source.
If this is wrong information from him then it is the first in nearly nine years.
Indeed, we’ve been chatting since back in the day when I had an impact on the employment situation of young Andrew’s dad.
A cynic might conclude that Dallas junior has been promoted past the point of his own competence.
Of course, I couldn’t possibly comment.
However, so far he does not seem to have suffered any observable penalties for his unfortunate officiating errors.
Dirtiest players in Scotland…..
Guess who is top of the pile !
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/who-is-the-dirtiest-player-in-the-scottish-premiership-here-s-how-players-rank-in-the-fair-play-table-1-4868638
Phil, I have not comments to date but a refeyoree friend of mine has advised me over the last two/three years the Dallas Jnr. Was being fasttracked despite being incompetent and useless. What you see today is meant to be the polished product! Of what?
Anyone who hasn’t viewed Paul Larkin’s ‘Anyone but Celtic’ piece has to watch it then put it in context with the current refereeing shambles.
Nothing’s changed at all. In fact the number of cameras and angles employed reflect that things are worse.
That’s why we can’t have VAR in Scotland because the same people who have reduced our game to a laughing stock will be sitting in a studio deciding what should go to a VAR decision and they patently can’t be trusted to get anything right.
Wouldn’t you just love to have John Fleming’s job? He’s unsackable despite the mince that has come off his production line.
Fair play to Steve Clarke’s decision not to attend the recent summit.
It’s not the managers jobs to ensure that the refs get it right, it’s the SFA’s.
Given the SFA’s track record we know they can’t be trusted to get anything right and now it looks as if the deal to buy Hampden has hit the buffers.
Come in Mr Maxwell, your time’s up!
Looks like the SFA and SPFL are due to announce some great deal to sell the Scottish premier league run in to the rest of the world.,,
It would seem that they will be marketing it as a fantastic 2/3/4 horse race going right to the final fence…
..hmmn. Sounds to me that they VERY much would not like it if one horse was to stretch out a healthy lead way before the finishing line was in sight! A race for second place has such low appeal after all.
But of course … they know there are ways to ensure that doesn’t happen.
This is a huge week for Gerrard and his followers.
By 7pm on Saturday night the league challenge could be shot to pieces and a Scottish Cup exit will effectively end the Ibrox club’s season, unless fighting for 2/3/4th tickles your fancy.
Given the bias and corruption surrounding the SFA/SPFL the only way to put them, the media and Rangers fans back in their box is to win, win, win despite the input of the men in black which couldn’t have been made clearer at the weekend with 4 pens awarded at Ibrox and Celtic denied 3 at Perth.
8 IAR will kill the Ibrox experiment dead with, as clearly forecast by Mr Bennet, the ‘investment’ drying up and the providers of the soft loans crying in their beer as they kiss their monies goodbye.
The former ref Steve Conroy’s admission of being a Celtic fan has been grabbed by the media as a crutch to support their theory that there is no bias whilst ignoring the fact that the rest of the current and previous fraternity are Rangers fans, with almost all of them members of a secret society, otherwise you won’t get on.
Scotland’s freemasons, the haven for inadequates that can’t cut in on their own.
Wha’s like us?
Steve Conroy called it right when he stated that to become a ref it was an apprenticeship now we know why, aka the apprentice boys.
I believe the 7 names will be; Dallas, Beaton, McLean, Thompson, Madden, Collum, Clancy
The question is which one(s) are NOT masons or Rangers supporters?
Oh dear, that’s a tough question. How many guesses do I get? HH
I’m actually surprised we have as many as SEVEN FIFA referees given the size and population of Scotland. Ach, I suppose the Brotherhood is after all a global network.
Celtic appear to be sitting back and letting the SFA get away with it. Its past the time that Cetic need to stand up for themselves and their fans., before 8 becomes a dream never mind 10.
Ignore. Replied to wrong poster
The only Celtic man I recall EVER taking them on was the Blessed Bunnet. We so badly need someone with the tenacity and sheer BALLS of wee Fergus to meet them head on and refuse to back down.
“Officiating errors”, Phil. As Sean Connery would say, “Shurely you mean honesht mishtakes!!!”
Quite simply.
We are allowing this shit to continue unchecked year after year.
Phil, UEFA and FIFA need to act before it gets any more farcical,
Some-one has to get the ball rolling!
I’m sure that both UEFA and FIFA will be straight on the case when, not only have the FBI cleared them of any bribery shenanigans, but written personally to His Holiness to have Sepp and his band of merry men canonized! 😉
If the bookies took bets on predicting referees … I’d have my money on Dallas getting the ‘derby’ in March.
Pure shame faced subversion hiding in full view of everyone … and getting away with it!
BTW .. wasn’t Captain Squint in court today to front up on his share offer?
Usual ‘radio silence’ on mainstream media fronts of course.
No. He was originally meant to be but I discovered yesterday it had been put back. It’s something to do with the fact that he has now made the share offer. The court appearance will not take place until after the fifteenth of this month because that particular date has some significance in the offer.
Phil; this weekends’ fiasco with refereeing has brought me to the brink of just calling it quits on football. I’ve been watching football since roughly 1970 and I have always been aware of the bias in the refereeing fraternity. In some cases we have witnessed the brazen, funny handshakes before the kickoff and then at other times we have seen the crazy/biased decisions as they have happened. Obviously too many over the years to go into but we all have he mental tally of the various cases of goals chopped off, stonewall penalties not given, red cards for minor incidents etc. etc. (ad-nauseam).
I don’t know if it is the fiasco of the SFA and the events of the liquidation, EBT'[s, the 5-Way Agreement, the NS Commission, the Compliance officer decisions, the media propaganda onslaught and now the latest and most blatant obvious corruption of the refereeing association that has me this way – or all of the above. But I can’t take any more. The game is rigged and there is no longer even an attempt to hide it. It has become about as honest a sporting event as watching the wrestling matches. The worst part for me is the realization that nothing is ever going to change because MY CLUB ARE CONTENT TO SIT AND LET IT CONTINUE! Well if they don’t care it’s rigged and corrupt why should I care and contribute financially to this?
Is there no one in the media or the game (even outwith Scotland) with the balls to take this to UEFA or CAS or make it public and shine a light on this?
Apologies for the rant, but I’ve just had enough of the masonic cheating corruption brigade AND the silence and abetting of it by our club. Hoping for a miracle but not holding ma breath………
They know that the fans need their fix of football whatever the price and compromises made….
….. they know that the season ticket money will roll in come May regardless of their inaction.
Just imagine if all those ticket buyers (like I’ve done and you are close to doing) opted out and ceased to fund their club until something was done.!?!
Unfortunately there are plenty of moaners but few of them with the principles to match…. and even if a proportion did make a stand and failed to renew ….. their seats would simply be taken up by others who bemoan the meek stance of our club on institutional corruption and subversion but will happily allow it to continue for the price of a guaranteed seat and first shout on UEFA tickets.
In the EPL there are 9 clubs that can still operate even if they sold NO tickets for any home games – such is the wealth from tv income and sponsorship.
For those clubs (increasingly foreign owned plutocracies) there can be no genuine fan power.
But this is Scotland. Governed by the SFA (Skint Football Association)..
All the power lies with the fans.
Do they realise it ? Doubtful
Will they ever use it? Never
Peter,you’ve reminded me of a promise I made myself;that being,if there wasn’t a considerable change to the Scottish governing body(sfa) and also to that of the referees,well,I’d be doing likewise.
Tearing a hole in my heart wasn’t easy but I’ve emailed the Club and begged them for someone to step up,be a man(with a pair) like Fergus did and demand change.Face them head on and never back down.
No more CP for me either,CFC🍀 are without doubt thee strongest club by far in Scotland,although I firmly believe Hibs and Aberdeen ,amongst others,would also back CFC🍀 for this positive change that’ll help All Clubs.At present,this status quo only helps its establishment ‘pet club.’
For me they have to wield that power,what’s the new fitba mantra…..
Reinforce from a position of strength.
It’s about time Celtic grew a pair and spoke up,for if We don’t this will happen for another 100 years.
They’ve lost my confidence and to be perfectly honest,they’ve not deserved it for some time now.How long will they sit idly by and let the corrupt establishment dictate terms and watch a refereeing system lord it over them?
Gutless,pointless and cowardly,make a stand ffs.
Sick and scunnert tae feq.
Phil please excuse the disguised expletives,like the Bigyin says,there’s no substitute works like ‘FK OFF!!’
You are very wrong about Hibs and Aberdeen I think…
They are both fully ‘declared’ clubs when it came to res 12..
Both firmly in the ‘move on’ camp.
Phil, do UEFA or FIFA have any criteria for officials to be selected other than being chosen by their national association? Do either of them have the wherewithal, within their own rules, to say ‘thanks, but no thanks’ and reject any official it judges to not be qualified and/or suitable?
Given the pay scale at that level, being denied an opportunity to officiate European matches would be more than a trifling financial loss. Just sayin…
I believe they are chosen by their own national associations. That said, FIFA can opt not to use them as they did in the last World Cup when no Scottish or English referees were invited to attend.
Well it certainly won’t be Willie Collum officiating at the next Celtic v Sevco match , with the SFA rules clearly being rewritten to comply with the GASL’s ‘instruction’ to the SFA that Willie was persona non grata at their games from now until they manage 55 ! ( I’m not sure whether that is 55 titles or penalties in the one game ! )