Before you have a sit-down like the one at Hampden yesterday, it is always advisable to know what a result looks like.
Yesterday evening, a very well-placed source gave me the scéal on it.
The primary objective of those representing the Irishman was for him to be in the away dugout on Sunday, April 7th, at the stadium John Brown played for.
In another part of the Fitba multiverse, yesterday, the SFA chaps handed down an eight-game ban, with two of them suspended.
Based on what I’ve been told, I’m confident that if the forensic details of Celtic’s defence were made public, then it would not look good at all for the world-class administrators and their superstar match officials.
The questions I still have are:
Was proper VAR procedure followed apropos the Yang high boot incident that led to him being sent off?
What was the timeline and sequence of events that brought the VAR official into play?
Did Celtic bring in expert testimony from outside bodies to assess the quality of the officiating at the Tynecastle match?
These are very pertinent questions that the succulent ones in the Stenography Corps will studiously avoid.
When the Fourth Estate signally refuses to fulfil its role, then others must step up.
This excellent ACSOM podcast with Alan Morrison of Celtic By Numbers is definitely worth your time.
He presented an extensive data sample and the professional analysis of an objective expert (the Yorkshire Whistler).
Alan’s findings firmly establish a pattern of assistance favouring one club.
Unlike the anonymous heroes on message boards, Alan and the rest of the ACSOM members are publicly visible and make a positive contribution.
Paul John’s observation about the increasing prominence of the emerging Fifth Estate is hard to argue with.
My guy signed off last night with a reassurance to me that Don Dermot was still engaged and that he would continue to back his guy.
I’m told that Celtic considered yesterday a tactical win, but there’s now a long game that Desmond is driving.
As Alan stated on ACSOM, the SFA has a cultural problem.
That means outside agencies must be involved in bringing in the necessary changes.
The last sentence in that heavily legalled statement from the Parkhead club is the key one.
Indeed, the prevailing culture of doing things at Hampden cannot accommodate anything that resembles “the highest standards in relation to the VAR process.”
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The bottom line is thar our manager was found guilty and punished, despite all of our forsenic details and expensive legal counsel.
Cynically, I’d also posit that 1 game ban also suits the SFA and Rangers, as we know that the latter can’t guarantee Celtic managers safety in the Ibrox stands, so avoids that embarrassment.
Reminds me of the late Paul McBride’s “victory” in getting Neil Lennon’s 2nd 4-match ban to run concurrently rather than consecutively, when for the same offence McCoist got no ban.
Celtic’s “disappointed” statement is also a well-worn acceptance of SFA’s decisions.
Over the years there’s been plenty of rumours of “smoking guns”, “forensic dossiers” etc but they don’t seem to do us much good.
Perhaps I’m being unfair and fobye our Herculean efforts there would have been an 8 game ban.
Not the worst result, not the best (clearly) and perhaps the real winners are those of us who never get our hopes up about the club getting “serious” and are well prepared for damb squibs.