The latest from Tom Irish

[SpidermansGaffer 2,552]

What a fucking arse he is. Make of it what you will...

 

When Police Scotland deems it necessary to give a besieged referee a protective escort in order for him to go to his work then the human reaction is to shake your head and ponder what has become of football in Scotland.
The next instinct is to call for influential people to get together to make sure that John Beaton is the last official in this country to get threatened by an enraged fan, as the referee was on Friday when his personal contact details were leaked online, an act that subsequently led to abusive treatment that was taken sufficiently seriously by police that they stepped in to make sure he got into Somerset Park safely on Saturday to oversee Ayr United's Championship joust with Falkirk.
Few will need reminding of the backdrop here. Beaton, when refereeing the Old Firm game at Ibrox last month, failed to punish Rangers' Alfredo Morelos for three separate incidents involving Scott Brown, Ryan Christie and Anthony Ralston. Outside of the Ibrox bubble, there has been general incredulity at Beaton's lack of action.
■   Referee Beaton given police escort after 'threats'
■   celtic call for Old Firm referee explanation
Among elements of the celtic support, legitimate criticism later turned to rage.
Beaton told the Scottish FA that he saw all three incidents in real time and reckoned none were worthy of sanction. The SFA cannot take retrospective action in these circumstances. If their referee says he saw the flashpoint as it happened then his split-second judgement of it takes on a bizarre infallibility in the eyes of the governing body.
What happened next was Old Firm football in microcosm. celtic folk are fond of poking fun at Rangers' habit of issuing lengthy statements about perceived injustices against their club. In the past few years, the celtic support has knocked a lot of crack out of 'statement o'clock', the general greeting when another missive comes whizzing out of Ibrox and into the public domain.
All of this is to conveniently ignore that their own club is partial to a proclamation or two when they see fit. On Friday, celtic went public with their surprise about the lack of action against Morelos.
As is Glasgow football's wont - among sections in the green and blue corners - Morelos being deemed to have no case to answer was, on the one hand, living proof of referee and SFA incompetence bordering on corruption. On the other hand, it was deemed as justice for the unfairly targeted and highly talented Colombian. 
Some more excitable Rangers people constructed a narrative that Morelos was being highlighted not because he's a player whose discipline has let him down far too often but because others fear him on the pitch and want him out of commission, a view which, according to the conspiracy theory, is being stoked by an inherent racism against him on the part of the media.
Refs can't win even if they do speak out
This was standard Old Firm ugliness and irrationality in the wake of a contentious match. The temperature was already pretty high when celtic issued their statement on Friday. 
"Given that the referee took no action at the time, this tends to suggest that such conduct, which in one instance led to a celtic player, Anthony Ralston, being injured, is acceptable in Scottish football," the club said. "That cannot be right."
The statement went on: "In order to fully understand what is going on, celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in similar circumstances. In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell and the association's head of refereeing."
In a footballing nirvana, referees would come out after games and talk us through their key decisions, what they saw when giving or not giving that red card, when giving or not giving that penalty. They would talk, everybody would listen and then we'd all go away and reflect on what was said.
Supporters would come out with stuff like, "well, I don't agree with Willie Collum's decision to send our guy off while ignoring 18 fouls by their fella, but fair play to him for explaining it". And "all due respect to Andrew Dallas for taking the time to go through why he denied us three stonewall penalties. You can't say fairer than that".
No. If a referee admits an error, he's getting it. If he doesn't admit an error, he's getting it. Calling for Beaton to explain himself is not a serious suggestion, not in Scotland. 
It's never going to happen and everybody knows it. It's a sop to angry fans and sometimes those angry fans career over the boundary of what is acceptable until somebody flies into the realms of what is insane and criminal.
And that's what brought us to Friday evening, when Beaton's safety, and the safety of his family, was jeopardised. The SFA issued a statement on Saturday. Apart from expressing concern and support for Beaton, there was a reminder that stakeholders in the Scottish game will gather at a summit at Hampden to discuss the state of affairs at present between clubs and referees and the governing body's overseeing of the game.
That'll be a long meeting and - like many of the statements we've been seeing - utterly futile. A couple of years back, there was another such summit and an uneasy peace lasted a metaphorical blink of an eye before the usual dysfunctional relationship returned.
No doubt this latest version will pore over the usual chestnuts. Why is a player punished for one offence one week and a different player is not punished for the same offence another week? Why is a manager up on a charge for criticising a referee here but a different manager escapes sanction for the same offence there. When is a kick not a kick, a stamp not a stamp, a grope not a grope? When is a red card not a red card?
It's going to be a talking shop, nothing more. Nothing will change. There will be no lasting improvement in relations and no improvement in refereeing performance. 
Everybody will shake hands at the end after vowing to try harder to understand the other's point of view - and then all hell will break loose again. You'd need to be irredeemably gullible to think otherwise.
Is VAR not the answer?
It would be nice - and again we're probably flirting with gullibility - if each club was to bring something constructive and something achievable to the table, something that might actually help the situation. 
VAR should be at the heart of it. Imperfect, yes. Full-proof, no. But better. A step in the right direction. Are celtic in favour of, and willing to invest in, VAR, the system that would help reduce the number of refereeing blunders that they and others have railed against?
Their manager, Brendan Rodgers, has said that they would like to see its introduction, but the hierarchy has not had much, if anything, to say. celtic's suggestion as laid out in their statement is no solution. Morelos got lucky, most observers would say so, but their contribution to the debate is just more noise. There's too much of that already.
Referees coming out and talking about decisions/errors they have made won't stop them making mistakes. Transparency doesn't do anything to address the core problem. It'll just put them in the stocks - all the easier for everybody to pelt them with rotten fruit. Or worse.
When Rangers' Daniel Candeias was shown a second yellow card in the latter stages of their win against St Mirren in November, there was confusion as to what it was that referee Willie Collum actually saw when dismissing the Portuguese.
Frankly, several months on, the confusion remains despite the SFA attempting to clear it up. Rangers issued a statement when their call for an appeal was turned down.
Like celtic's words from Friday, their statement might have sated their supporters, it might have shown their fans that they're defending the club, but what do these things actually achieve? What do they contribute to the greater good? At the top of the club, Rangers, like celtic, have had nothing to say about VAR.
What outcome are these teams looking for? If the object is to get to a place where referees - all of them, seemingly, receptive to VAR and certainly in need of it - have more support in their efforts to make better decisions that would up the integrity of the competition and lessen the fury of some fans while averting the awful sight of officials being targeted then VAR has to be part of the solution. 
As a piece of constructive thinking, it might be no harm if that could be put in one of these statements sometime. The alternative is more mistakes, more rancour, more bitterness, more mayhem.

 

[Tiger Shaw 30,470]

I got bored halfway through that tbh mate 

[ForeverAndEver 71,498]

His name’s Tom English mate, not sure where you got Irish from 

[Bertent 2,081]

What do you expect from one of their leading apologists. You do have to wonder why hes so passionate in his defence of a club and its cover ups. 

[Lloyd 10,756]

1 minute ago, ForeverAndEver said:

His name’s Tom English mate, not sure where you got Irish from 

I think it was just piss poor patter mate.

[Bakbear 3,586]

TLDR

[2nd Flute 14,036]

9 minutes ago, Tiger Shaw said:

I got bored halfway through that tbh mate 

Me too, cunt will probably look in and laugh, ignore the spastic, chooky arla, as his lot say.

[slimjim1690 4,534]

I actually think it was a decent piece, we all know referees in Scotland leave a lot to be desired, every clubs fans will agree, and VAR while still not perfect would help, a couple of things he did miss out though were 1: how do they pay for it ? , and 2: the only supporters that exceed the normal reactions seem to generate from one club in particular.

[ForeverAndEver 71,498]

13 minutes ago, Siwel said:

I think it was just piss poor patter mate.

I ken

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

20 minutes ago, Tiger Shaw said:

I got bored halfway through that tbh mate 

Snap mate, you know the way it’s going and just go fuck that. 

[BlueAvenger 10,241]

Some may say Tom English is a fuckin clueless auld bigot. I wonder what this "journalist" has to say about the cover up of child abuse and a paedophile ring at his club ?  If his silence is deafening then perhaps there is a cover up of the cover up.....

[Young Bob 1,360]

I guess he failed to mention any of the red cards ra sellick should have got? McGregors hand ball and Browns tackle on Candieas spring to mind. Christie should have saw cards for his diving.

Anyone mention that Dermot Gallaghers view was that Morelos should have received one yellow card for the three incidents highlighted?

English ever commented on the Paedophile ring at the Piggery?

Doesnt suit their agenda.

Dont buy their papers.

 

[Moody Blue 9,356]

That's a long read but little comment made to all the various issues he's stating facts on e.g. their statement on Friday or condemnation of the fact a referee had been threatened; other than suggesting you 'shake your head'.  A big waffly piece of stating what everyone has been debating for the last week with nothing new to offer. 

It's also being suggested that VAR is an option but then implies we or them have had nothing to say (as clubs) on getting VAR, why is that a Rangers or them decision? 

[sassaaaa 11,406]

Prick must love the attention and publicity he gets in here........

[HuistraHairDo 12,490]

Too long didn’t read.

 

im guessing he is pushing the agenda so John Beaton never gets another old firm or if he does get one he’s under just enough pressure that any 50/50 decision goes in the tarriers favour. Plus the fact that they want every ref in Scotland to keep a closer eye on Morelos’ every move and if he farts the wrong way he’s sent off.

[ritchieshearercaldow 22,137]

Can someone clear it up for me because I can’t remember.

Did Ralston have to leave the pitch after his so called injury, does he miss the next game ?

English tries to compare two statements, one regarding a player getting an injury (happens all the time) and one concerning a red card which leads to a suspension.

The journos are everybit joining in the Whataboutery IMO yet condemn the fans for it.

[Blue Nosed Babe 20,678]

Why did he not come out and say it was celtic fans who threatened Beaton....

[chris182 6,297]

1 minute ago, Blue Nosed Babe said:

Why did he not come out and say it was celtic fans who threatened Beaton....

I think you know the answer to that!

[ritchieshearercaldow 22,137]

5 minutes ago, Moody Blue said:

That's a long read but little comment made to all the various issues he's stating facts on e.g. their statement on Friday or condemnation of the fact a referee had been threatened; other than suggesting you 'shake your head'.  A big waffly piece of stating what everyone has been debating for the last week with nothing new to offer. 

It's also being suggested that VAR is an option but then implies we or them have had nothing to say (as clubs) on getting VAR, why is that a Rangers or them decision? 

It confirms the taig way of doing things, much like Torbet their defence is “it didn’t happen”

We’ve had no word from CFC condemning the behaviour of certain of their fans threats against a referee.

They take responsibility for nothing whatever.

[Bears r us 30,798]

30 minutes ago, Tiger Shaw said:

I got bored halfway through that tbh mate 

I got as far as Morelos being the problem.

I am glad it was posted though because it shows to those on RM who can read it what a  he is.  

[chris182 6,297]

The whataboutery is in full flow in that piece.

Just can't bring himself to say anything against his green and grey paymasters

[Lloyd 10,756]

17 minutes ago, sassaaaa said:

Prick must love the attention and publicity he gets in here........

Doubt he reads the forum tbh

[ForeverAndEver 71,498]

13 minutes ago, Blue Nosed Babe said:

Why did he not come out and say it was celtic fans who threatened Beaton....

He didn’t need to

[cstamomusa 3,809]

6 minutes ago, ForeverAndEver said:

He didn’t want need to

Fixed that for you.  

[Leeds_Bear 8,110]

Drivel.