SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

It’s time for the traditional clash of the cities as the two team from Glasgow face off against the two from Dundee. We return at High Noon on Sunday at Tannadice, a place I’ve usually enjoyed visiting. Not a bad day out,Dundee. But I never thought I’d be looking forward to visiting there in order to get back to some much-needed sanity. 

I can’t really say that Scottish football has finally lost its marbles, but only because I came to that conclusion a long bloody time ago. However, there is certainly a case for saying that it might even have surpassed itself for sheer unabated lunacy over the last five days. The decision by Collum to issue the monthly VAR review on only the nineteenth day is certainly something novel, but the contents were truly astonishing. And in contravention of the facts of the matter, some of which I mentioned in yesterday‘s article and which were of prime importance in the onfield and VAR decisions on the day. 

It’s pointless really to repeat it all here as it was discussed at great length yesterday by your good selves. But Collum (and Maxwell, if as we suspect, it was him pulling the strings and applying the screw) have not only set a precedent here, they have also made a rod for their own backs. Every club will now expect any complaint of their own to be accorded the same red-carpet welcome and the same mental gymnastics required to arrive at a required decision. And the inevitable outcome will, eventually, be to see a game replayed. From the point that the “wrong” decision was made too, not from the start. Unless the plaintiff so requests. In other words, if they’re getting gubbed 4-0, match replay. If it’s 1-1 with two minutes to go, game restarted at 1-1 and a penalty with two minutes to go. 

See how easy it is to make even the most crazy idea crazier still? There is a good reason that one of the most fundamental laws of the game is that the referee’s decision is final. The laws may have been tinkered with over the years since 1863, but they are still recognisable. Anyway, enough. Except to say that I hope Dundee give them a bloody hammering tomorrow, just to see how Clement tries to wriggle his way out of that. 

Dundee United it is, and while I hope to see the return of a 100% fit AJ on Sunday, I also hope it has been made 100% clear to him-and to the rest of the squad-that you don’t miss training since the last game and then tell the manager on the morning of the next game that you are fit to play. That was a bloody ridiculous decision, and if in fact it was made by the manager, then it is even more ridiculous still. 

We have had a fantastic season so far in so many ways. And that includes how we have so far avoided the rash of injuries which have concerned us for a number of years now. It makes no sense to start inviting them now, even less to cause them by our own rash decision-making. Let’s put that down as a hard lesson learned and not to be repeated, thank you very much. 

As ever, I will approach the weekend hoping for an increase in our healthy lead. I will now add to that every week by hoping that Aberdeen win-except when they play us,of course! Hey,it’s Christmas week, and I don’t think that’s asking for too much. Not really. I mean, you should have seen my Christmas wish-list when I was a wean!!!

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Above article by BMCUWP