SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Yes,I know that was yesterday. But hey-that’s all in keeping with the whole idea of Groundhog Day anyway,innit? I know I keep harping on about Scotland’s unique interpretation of VAR,but we really do seem to be stuck in a similar doomloop of different day same old shit. Or doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results-Einstein’s definition of insanity. 

I know it’s driving me up the wall,at least. And I’m sure I’m not alone. Last night saw TRIFCo record their FIFTIETH domestic match without conceding a penalty kick. Another of those statistical anomalies,like not conceding one at home since September 2019,or Tavpen on the brink of his own fiftieth,scoring fifty penalties from sixty attempts. Not bad when he only has around 250 league appearances. 

But the most annoying thing about this penality non-concession isn’t that it flies in the face of any known statistical analysis. It is that it transcends the laws of the game,dependent as it is on clear and obvious errors. The very thing that VAR,we were told,is designed to eradicate. The laws of the game are quite clear about handball,and when it constitutes an offence. 

It says nothing about the wearing of a certain jersey entitling a player to turn the game into his own version of netball. Or pat-a-cake. All so reminiscent of when Davie Weir was a protected species allowed to do anything he bloody well pleased once he crossed that white line. 

At least the referees and media had the excuse then of being shit scared of Sir Walter of Cardigan. What’s their excuse now?

MADMITCH raised an interesting theory the other night,post-match. Now,despite allegations in the past about one of our top whistlers having a gambling problem,I mention it without suggesting any credence therein. That bearing in mind that it was late on in the match,and Hearts were already three down,there was no footballing reason whatsoever for not awarding the penalty. Especially not with the VAR back-up available. That leaves a dwindling number of other possibilities for not doing so. One being that the ref simply doesn’t want to be the one to break such a record-breaking sequence. The other being related to gambling. 

Say it ain’t so,Joe.

Our last few games have passed fairly trouble-free re VAR,but the length of time being taken to verify the goals,surely more than is normal elsewhere,suggests that officials are rewinding the reels checking for the most spurious of reasons to disallow. In total,around SIX minutes elapsed between our goals being scored on Wednesday night,and the match being restarted. That hardly encourages our players to score as many goals as possible,especially in such miserable conditions. They’d be out there all bloody night!

Of course,we look at the big problem with VAR being that it affects us the most. Well,certain interpretations do,for sure. But when teams are regularly down to ten men against the huns,it not only affects their chances in that match. It affects their chances in all of the matches he misses through suspension. There is a lot to play for in our Premier Division,regardless of what you might think. Yes,we are only interested in winning it,but but other sides have other things to occupy their minds. For instance,including 

Finishing in the top six. 

Europa League or Conference qualification.

Avoiding automatic relegation from finishing bottom.

Avoiding the relegation play-off spot from finishing second-last. 

Even,at a push,achieving the second Champions League spot. 

Yet rarely is a word said by an opposing player or manager after suffering more injustice,Davidson on Saturday being something of an outlier. The more it continues,the more we know it will continue. And our club is happy,along with the others,to say SFA to the SFA on the subject. 

Anyway,changing the subject to round off the article,I can’t help but mention-last time,honest!-the recent transfer window. EPL clubs managed to spend over £800m in what is traditionally only a topping-up period,one to cover unexpected injuries,etc. Chelsea alone spent nearly half of that,their own total being considerably more than the combined totals of the other top four leagues. European clubs and associations are up in arms about the widening gulf,despite much of the outgoings heading their way. They view it as an increasing trend that is pricing them out of the market entirely.

I can see their point. Let’s face it,in Scotland we know all about England pricing us out of the market while poaching our finest talent. I didn’t hear much support for our plight back then,merely contempt at how far we had fallen in such a short time. The president of La Liga will presumably be heard with more attention than we were offered back then,and while I empathise with the problem,I find it hard to sympathise when we were ignored for so long. 

It does though pose a potential problem for us. We have had to adapt in recent years to living in the shadows of the big-spending behemoths down south. Spread our scouting tentacles into new markets,or to look for undiscovered jewels hiding in plain sight just waiting to be polished. Inside only the last eighteen months alone,we have raided Japan,South Korea,China,Canada and Ireland as well as Argentina,The Netherlands and Russia. Etc. We have delved into reserves at Spurs and Benfica. We even went to the lower leagues in England to sign a player who had only recently spent six months without a club at all! 

But what if the clubs elsewhere decide that they can no longer operate in the markets they once enjoyed-and harvested to great effect? That the giants in the EPL can outbid them at will is obvious-but the gap is such that they can be outbid too by the likes of Wolves and Fulham. Brentford-Brentford,ffs!-had the signing of Mudryk all but finalised in the summer till they unaccountably balked at the €30m demanded. Chelsea had no problem paying well over three times as much a few months later. 

You see where this is going? If European clubs have to look for different buying opportunities,it is bloody nailed-on that they will be mowing our lawn. Where does that leave us? It would be nice,it would be ideal,if the answer was to be found at Lennoxtown,but far too rarely has that been the case. I think the total stands at four since the emergence of James Forrest in 2010. Should we be concerned,as the European clubs have themselves become concerned? Damn right we should. 

So,Groundhog Day? When it came out thirty years ago,it could have applied to us as Celtic fans. Every day was Groundhog Day. Go to a match-more disappointment. Pick up a paper-more anger and  more barely concealed mirth from the journos. Go to work-more ribbing from colleagues. And the same in the pub. And here we are,thirty years later,with our own updated version. Worrying about the bottomless wallets down south and how the knock-on effects will affect us. And referees not giving a tuppenny damn about the rules or their reputations. While the journos lap it up. 

‘‘Twas ever thus…
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Above article by BMCUWP