Celtic V Rangers Official Thread!!!

I'd say Ally McCoist had an influence on that selection

 

Starting

• 1 Artur Boruc ---------------8
• 12 Mark Wilson--------------7
• 6 Dianbobo Balde -----------7
• 44 Stephen McManus-------7
• 3 Lee Naylor ----------------7
• 25 Shunsuke Nakamura ---6
• 16 Thomas Gravesen-------6
• 18 Neil Lennon -------------6
• 46 Aiden McGeady----------6
• 20 Jiri Jarosik --------------5
• 7 Maciej Zurawski ---------5

 

Was that from Sky Sports mate?

 

We know the truth!!!!
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

 

The penalty decision explaied away

From the Ibrox Herald:

Neil Lennon was denied a penalty kick in the Old Firm game because of the diving culture that has left referees paranoid over making awards, believes Donald McVicar, the Scottish Football Association's head of refereeing.
He made the claim last night in defence of Sunday's Old Firm referee, Kenny Clark, who has been criticised for rejecting the Celtic captain's claim in the 1-1 draw at Ibrox.
Lennon was denied a spot-kick a minute after Thomas Gravesen had opened the scoring in the derby draw. He was clearly fouled by Steven Smith, the Rangers defender, and the decision not to point to the spot proved a key moment in the game.
Had Gordon Strachan's side established a 2-0 interval lead, they would surely not have had to settle for the point which maintained their 16-point gap over their rivals.
The manager later bemoaned the fact Celtic have not been awarded a penalty in 19 matches, while Lennon suggested the referee dodged the decision for fear of sparking a riot at Ibrox.
Last night, McVicar told The Herald that the growing culture of 'simulation' prevalent in the game has exacerbated the role of match official and warned that divers tarnishing the integrity of the sport are spoiling it for the rest.
McVicar was reluctant to discuss the specifics of Lennon's claim but it is understood that the SFA are fully supportive of Clark, especially as Lennon admitted "maybe the ball was running away from me a bit" in a post-match interview with Setanta Sports. Whether Lennon had the ball under control or not, though, is irrelevant as far as the laws governing the award of a penalty in the event of a player being fouled are concerned.
Regardless of the apparent legitimacy of the claim, McVicar believes the incident highlights the worsening wider problem which is making the referee's job so hard.
"Sadly, there are always going to be casualties," said McVicar, "but it is better getting one or two wrong than awarding a glut of penalties that are gained through deception. There will be cases when players get a free kick when they shouldn't and not get one when they should. It's just a fact that some people will get off with it and walk away with a wink but we are doing all we can to reduce the chances.
"The referee has to make tough decisions at every game and nowadays there are so many things to think about that the decision-making process has become even more difficult. As well as having to consider whether the tackle was careless or reckless, there is also the growing trend of simulation.
"A referee has to consider whether a player is making the most of it and, as a consequence, there are decisions that slip through the net. It is a fact that the referee's job has been made even harder by this trend and it does affect their decision making."
In England, Jose Mourinho accused Andy Johnson of diving to seek to gain a penalty during Chelsea's 3-2 win against Everton on Sunday, despite television replays showing that the striker vaulted the goalkeeper, Hilario. David Moyes, the Everton manager, reacted furiously, instructing Mourinho to review the replay footage from the touchline.
Later, he accused the Chelsea manager of hypocrisy as Mourinho recently condemned the Reading player, Stephen Hunt, for not doing enough to avoid contact with Petr Cech in the incident back in October that left the goalkeeper with a depressed skull fracture.
While McVicar believes that diving is not as prominent in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague, he nevertheless believes former players advocating the fall-at-first-contact philosophy are making matters worse for referees.
"Given the amount of simulation we are seeing now – though far more in England than up here – there will always be errors because referees know they must now be 100% sure before they make a decision," he said. "Don't forget, referees only get one crack at it and can often be in two minds.
"It is not helped by advocates of the theory if you are touched in the penalty area then you have a duty to go down and win your team a penalty.
You hear it on phone-ins from former professionals and that only serves to put referees under even greater pressure.
"It is trying to deceive the referee no matter how you dress it up, and gain an advantage. I'm in no way linking this to Neil Lennon or discussing his particular incident but these situations are a result of a growing trend. UEFA released instructions at the start of the season to look at and address simulation but a lot of it is about being at the right place at the right time.
"We try to teach our referees to get into the proper positions on the field to maximise their view but it is often the case the view is blocked or they only see it at the last minute. "
McVicar also commended Clark for his overall handling of an Old Firm derby laced with more intrigue than usual, with the behaviour of the fans also carefully monitored by UEFA in their attempts to eradicate sectarianism.
"I thought Kenny had a good game but people have to understand how a referee sees it," said McVicar.



Well, that´ll be the end of penalty kicks because that was the most blatant I have ever seen.

It also begs the question why Prso´s was given (only to be ruled offside) when his was indisputably a dive?

 

Jeez! That took about a week to read, but it was still a penalty.

 

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/whistleblower.cfm?curpageid=791

Clark says "I was never gonna give Celtic a penalty in front of the Copland Rd end especially cos it was Neil Lennon"

Well mebbe not but i'm sure it's what he meant

 

Suppose Referres nowadays don't know if a Player dives or not and are sometimes scared to call it althoug the Linesmas defo had a good view of it and should've known it was a foul.

 

Another reason why Video Evidence at matches should be considered more

 

I could maybe understand if the referee had a blocked view of it.

But find it impossible to believe that BOTH him and the assistant missed it. The referee should be relegated to the first division if he misses any more like this.

 

Think thats a bit harsh mate as it would be diff if it was a match were everything was up for grabs and we were behind Rangers but in the end of the day we are 16 points ahead.

 

Video Evidence would kill the game of football

 

I know for a fact that Refs do get a couple of * games to ref if they have been poor and any more like that and he should be given a few 1st Div games but the Linesman should defo get a couple of 1st Div games imo

 

dunno Conor it was nae the fact that Clark didn't see it imo he just did'nt want to give it,same for the linesman.Same with both of Svennson's handballs just outside the area,he saw them clearly i reckon.Interesting how he saw their frees just outside the area and was gonna give Poorshow his penalty too.You would think we have someone who is good at freekicks in our side!!!
Clark knew what he was doing

 

Yeah but then again the Refs wouldn't have a choice if the evidance was there in front of them.

 

I know mate but there will be decision dabating even with video then the refs would be in one pickle of a situation

 

because southern european and south american "maestros" would be out of a job?

 

What a crock of * that explanation from McVicar is. He can't admit that they got it wrong and it should be a penalty. At least if they held up there hands and said we screwed up on that one I would have some respect. But obviously that is too much too ask. No instead it has to be someone else at fault for not giving the pk.