SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

It is with deep regret that the refereeing arrangements for the League Cup Final have been announced,drawing once again from a limited gene pool of masons and Uncle Toms. Nick Walsh in the middle,with Beaton in the VAR beatcave,feverishly drawing lines with a set of French curves and conveniently losing the feed when K*nt throws a punch at an opponent. 

Honestly,you’d think the referees association would show some imagination about these things-much like the GB banner at the weekend about which they have humourlessly raised an official complaint. 

Good luck with that,no strict liability in the Scottish game-maybe just as well,given the behaviour of their fellow travellers at Ibrox. 

But to Walsh in particular. What happened to the rule that an official in charge of a semi-final could not then be put in charge of the following final? This is still adhered to by the FA down south,and by UEFA and FIFA in all of their flagship events. Indeed,it was the case up here too until yesterday’s announcement. Time was,we could regularly view a refereeing appointment for a semi-final with our usual abhorrence,but take some comfort that at least we wouldn’t have to overcome him in the final as well. 

Not now. 

Of course,that doesn’t strictly apply as Walsh wasn’t in charge for our game,but that of the huns v Aberdeen. At least the latter had the comfort of knowing that even if Walsh was against them in the semi and then against all precedent somehow got awarded the final,he would become their biggest cheerleader. For a day,at least.

The refereeing appointments for games involving either us or the huns have become an increasingly bad joke this season,with some of them in attendance more often than our season ticket holders. CRIAG76 wondered last night if there was a comparison available with other countries the size of Scotland,and how often referees were appointed to officiate at games involving the same team? Sadly,I couldn’t find anything for countries like Finland,Ireland,Slovakia,Denmark or Norway. I did find comparable GDP figures though,which made me weep. We will just have to go with our noses on this one,I’m afraid.

And these appointments certainly don’t pass the sniff test. But then,the referees at our domestic matches very rarely do. We can hardly complain in advance about this one or any other,especially since we don’t seem to bother about it either after the match is over. 

But the fact remains. If these are the best referees on offer in the game in Scotland,then where is the career path for other would-be men in black? There surely must be a scrum of potential rivals for the £850 plus expenses on offer for a few hours of a weekend or midweek. Yet every time we switch on the telly,it is the same old faces,the usual suspects feathering their nests. And this,I might add,is not their main employment,they all have their day jobs as well! 

It’s a wonder they can find the time for their regular ludj meetings.

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Above article by BMCUWP