ian1964

Danny Wilson has been handed his first real chance to break into the Liverpool first team, with Rangers hoping that he can capitalise on an opening created by Jamie Carragherââ?¬â?¢s shoulder injury. Carragher, who sustained a dislocation against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, will be out for three months and yesterday Wilson was immediately promoted to the side to start against Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League tomorrow evening. Although he earned his first senior Scotland cap in the 3-0 victory over the Faroe Islands last month, the only Liverpool game he has appeared in was their penalty shoot-out defeat to Northampton Town in the Carling Cup. Rangersââ?¬â?¢ interest in Wilson is more than just the normal goodwill towards a product of their youth development system. He left for Ã?£2m in July but there are substatial ââ?¬Å?add-onââ?¬Â payments with financial rewards for the Ibrox club if and when he starts his first Barclays Premier League game and again when he reaches 10, 20 and subsequent appearance triggers. Roy Hogdson, the Liverpool manager, spoke with the 19-year-old before the Faroes match and told him he had been impressed with his work and attitude since moving south in the summer. Hogdson is known generally to prefer experience over youth, which may mean Wilson has longer to wait than would be the case at other clubs, but so far there have been no discussions about sending him out on loan when the transfer window opens in January. The long-term absence of Carragher has moved him up the pecking order. Martin Skrtel and the former Rangers defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos are their other available, senior centre-halves. Daniel Agger is out with a calf injury. Hodgson said: ââ?¬Å?Martin Kelly and Danny Wilson will start against Steaua Bucharest and itââ?¬â?¢s a great opportunity for them to stake a claim to be in the first team. On paper Iââ?¬â?¢m taking a weakened team, but I believe people like Joe Cole, Ryan Babel, Milan Jovanovic, Danny Wilson, Christian Poulsen and Jonjo Shelvey are more than capable of doing a good job for Liverpool.ââ?¬Â Wilsonââ?¬â?¢s former Murray Park clubmate, Kyle Hutton, said he was an example to all young Scottish players. ââ?¬Å?I played with Danny in the under-19s. Seeing what heââ?¬â?¢s done, making his Scotland debut after getting a move to Liverpool, shows that the rewards are there. That gives you added confidence to go and prove yourself.ââ?¬Â http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/wilson-s-promotion-to-liverpool-first-team-benefits-rangers-1.1071768

The consortium of Craig Whyte and Andrew Ellis want to complete their �£33 million purchase of Sir David Murray's shares within the next month. Craig Whyte and Andrew Ellis will hold talks with senior Rangers officials next week, as they look to step up their joint efforts to buy Sir David Murray's shareholding in the Ibrox club. STV understands the duo want the deal, worth �£33 million, to be concluded by Christmas but have conceded privately it may take until the new year to finalise the sale. The takeover, which will wipe out the club's �£27.5 million debt to Lloyds TSB, is understood to be at an advanced stage. Whyte and Ellis will also pay shareholders, including Murray, a total of �£5.5 million as part of their proposals. If the deal for Murray's 92 per cent shareholding is completed, Whyte will own 69 per cent of the club's shares, with Ellis - who failed in his own attempts to buy the club earlier this year - holding 23 per cent. As part of their plans, �£25 million will be invested in Rangers' first team squad over a period of five years, with transfer funds being made available to Walter Smith in the January transfer window if the takeover is concluded in time. News of the pair's bid first broke on November 18, with Whyte and Rangers both putting out statements to the Stock Exchange confirming a possible offer. Nearly two weeks on, evident progress has been made in a bid Whyte's solicitor confirmed as being "at an early stage". Talks between Whyte, Ellis and club officials were also yet to take place at that point. More to follow... http://sport.stv.tv/football/scottish-premier/rangers/213122-rangers-takeover-bidders-want-club-bought-by-christmas/

Jim Sinclair believes there are more young players waiting in the wings capable of following Kyle Hutton and Gregg Wylde into Rangers' first team. Hutton's first start was against Man Utd in the Champions League, while Wylde has been a regular off the bench. "I am delighted that so many kids are getting the opportunity to play," said Rangers' academy director, Sinclair. "And I genuinely feel there are others who can contribute as the weeks and months go on." Rangers manager Walter Smith's hand has been forced by a debt burden that has limited his manoeuvres in the transfer market - and by a lengthy list of injuries to key players. "Whether or not it is the circumstances around the club at the moment, which are not particularly healthy as we are all aware financially, they are getting an opportunity," said Sinclair. Just standing there next to the Manchester United players and the music, it was a great feeling Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton "But getting an opportunity is one thing. It's being able to take it and hopefully they are equipped to do so - and I think they are. "We are really pleased at the chances and opportunities the manager has seen fit to give these young boys." Central defender Danny Wilson became a first-team regular last season aged 18 but refused a new contract and was sold to Liverpool in the summer, since when he has been in the reserves at Anfield. Forward John Fleck made his debut aged 16 in January 2008 but has yet to establish himself as a regular starter, but Sinclair believes that Smith will ensure that defender Wylde and midfielder Hutton do not get carried away by their new-found status. "I think the manager deals with that very well," said the youth boss. "He has a good feel for things and when to take the pressure off and have responsibility. "I think there are enough senior players in the squad to make sure that these lads are not asked too much of and also handle it properly." Sinclair was speaking at the launch of the Community Cashback Initiative, which offers all registered youth teams the opportunity to raise money for their clubs and access to reduced-price match tickets for Rangers' home league games. He was delighted to be able to put money back into grassroots football and, when asked about the standard of young Scottish players, remarked: "I do think there are too many people working too hard at youth development for us not to see some recovery." Hutton was given his chance after Kyle Lafferty fell and broke a finger while larking about with Wylde as they came off the team bus on the day of last week's Group D game at Ibrox. Sinclair joy at young Gers' success Fellow 19-year-old Wylde recalled: "It was just a wee incident coming off the bus and it was his fault, so he can't complain too much. "I was just happy for Kyle (Hutton), but after the incident I was bit scared about what the gaffer was going to say. "I didn't think at the start of the season I would have been involved throughout with the first team and hopefully I can get more games. "Kyle playing against Manchester United and a few others being involved in the first-team just shows that the gaffer's got belief in the young ones." Hutton joked that he would have to give Wylde "a pat on the back" and himself appeared to take playing against Sir Alex Ferguson's side in his stride. "It was absolutely great getting a start, particularly in the Champions League against Manchester United," he said. "Just standing there next to the Manchester United players and the music, it was a great feeling. Obviously, after that, the roar of the crowd is just fantastic. "I will never forget it, but nothing has changed. I will just keep doing what I have been doing and hopefully I will get another chance. "It is all down to me to see if I can take those chances and, who knows, maybe I can try to cement my place." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/9244416.stm

By Ian O'Doherty Tuesday November 30 2010 One of the funniest things about Scottish football is the delusional nature of the fans and their insistence that they are a major league with the biggest derby in the world. And the constant sniping between Rangers and Celtic is priceless, with Celtic taking the lead when it comes to moaning about things. Indeed, if they had a winger who was as quick to the byline as they are to take offence then they'd win the Champions League every year. One example of Celtic's myopia came a few months back with a rather amusing Rangers song with the lines: "The famine's over, why don't you go home." This enraged the Celtic fans, who said it was racist, but they missed a rather salient point -- when you're standing on a Scottish terrace with an Irish flag in your hand, you can hardly get pissy when people comment on it. And the latest example of their paranoia is Celtic chairman John Reid's demand that referees declare which team they support. It's daft of course -- but nowhere near as daft as the situation which sees one of Celtic's hate figures, Hugh Dallas, forced from his job as chief ref after he sent a joke email about the Pope and child abuse. According to Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland: "Catholics in Scotland have drawn a line in the sand. The bigotry, bile, sectarian undercurrent and innuendos must end. Such hateful attitudes have had their day, they poison the well of community life. They must be excised once and for all." Jesus lads, it was a joke. You have heard that word before, haven't you? Repeat after me: joke. Any bets he's a Celtic fan? Or is that racial profiling? http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/ian-odoherty-a-very-middleclass-recession-2441058.html

REGAN ON THE ROPES - David Leggat http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2010/11/regan-on-ropes.html

KYLE LAFFERTY last night branded himself a CLOWN and confessed he has let down Rangers boss Walter Smith again. Lafferty is facing six weeks on the sidelines after breaking a finger in his left hand. The Northern Ireland star suffered the freak injury during horseplay with team-mate Gregg Wylde at Murray Park. He said: "I was messing about while coming off the bus last Wednesday morning. "I fell and fractured my wedding finger in two different places. "Walter Smith didn't say anything at first, but I knew he was furious. "We were already down to the bare bones for the Manchester United game. "I don't know if I was starting against United, but I'd like to think I would have been because we were struggling for numbers. "Walter had to go out and give a team-talk to the players who were featuring. "I apologised to him at the game and just said my stupidity had left me looking like a clown - and given him a bigger headache." Lafferty would have started against United. But livid boss Smith - already without FIVE established stars - was forced instead to pitch in rookie kid Kyle Hutton. Smith was still so angry last Friday he made it clear he didn't want anyone mentioning what happened 'within earshot' of him. Lafferty - struggling to be fit for the January 2 derby against Celtic - added: "Because of my messing about I'm facing the possibility of a decent period out of the team. "But that's my punishment and I've got to accept it. I'm p****d off with myself. "It was wrong for me to be messing about on the day of the game." Lafferty could miss up to eight SPL and European games unless his injury heals quicker. I honestly didn't think a broken finger could keep a player out for so long!!!!!,a keeper aye,but an outfield player?????? Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3252307/Im-a-clown-and-Ive-let-Walter-down.html#ixzz16kSnsLEN

Graham Poll On Dallas & SFA He was the man who would not come off the field when hit by a coin during an Old Firm game despite the blood running down his face. The same man who didn't contemplate giving in to the bullies when a scaffolding pole came through the window of his home. But this weekend Hugh Dallas was finally beaten, dismissed from his position as Head of referee development for the Scottish Football Association for forwarding an offensive email. Whatever the truth or merits behind the final nail in his professional coffin, Dallas was a superb referee who was respected throughout the world of football. His close friendship with Pierluigi Collina, with whom he still serves on the UEFA referees committee, was cemented when they officiated together on the 2002 World Cup Final. It is of course the same SFA that dismissed Dallas which had failed to suspend Dougie McDonald after he admitted lying to Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, to cover up an error in a game at Tannadice last month. I was told two weeks ago that one of the major powers (Celtic) in Scottish football would not be happy until Dallas was ousted from his post. Whether that is true or not, this has been a sad weekend for refereeing north of the border. After feeling compelled to withdraw their labour to highlight the unacceptable level of criticism and abuse levelled at them, Scottish referees saw match officials from Israel, Malta and Luxembourg flown in as replacement. Predictably the managers of those teams who had 'guest' referees lavished them with praise, even Lennon, who held back his usual criticism despite two dropped points at Parkhead. The man in the middle at Celtic was Alain Hamer, a very experienced Champions League referee who was also scheduled to officiate Rangers' game at Dundee United on Sunday; that is, until fell foul of the weather. The double-appointment of Hamer was contrary to UEFA guidelines which state a referee scheduled to officiate a Champions League game on a Tuesday is not permitted to perform his duties on the previous Sunday, thus observing a two-day gap in appointments. I remember saying to Dallas back in 2000 that I would love the opportunity to travel to Scotland and take charge of an Old Firm game. His response was to suggest only someone who didn't understand what was involved would make such a claim. Clearly, after this week’s events a lot of us don't understand. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1333856/GRAHAM-POLL-Hugh-Dallas-superb-referee-finally-beaten.html#ixzz16iFexO14

The week has been very busy, with Scottish refereeing matters thrust to the forefront across Europe, rather than headlines regarding the match we are all eagerly looking forward to. It must be rather embarrassing to be a decent Celtic fan at the moment. Before you start, there are some around. There are times that you have to be honest and speak out against what you believe is wrong. I can tell you now if Rangers as a club and some of their supporters did anything like the disgusting decision not to sell poppies at the ground or produced a filthy vulgar misspelt banner like the one that was displayed recently then I would castigate them. That is never going to happen though, is it? Article continues below... http://www.jeffwinterentertainmentandmedia.co.uk/world/0910050.php

"Given Stewart Regan’s first two months in the job, could anyone really blame the SFA chief executive for wishing he was in Brisbane today watching England draw the first Ashes Test? Instead, since leaving the world of cricket, he has been thrust into the deep end of the mire of problems in which Scottish football is embroiled. There was the Allan McGregor trial-by-TV fiasco while the player was rep-resenting his country in Prague; the now infamous ‘Dougie-Dougie’ gate that finally saw Dougie McDonald fall on his sword last night. Then there was the Hugh Dallas inappropriate email affair that saw the Head of Refereeing Development removed on Friday; a raft of internal political squabbling, and then, to top it all, the referees’ strike that turned Scottish football into an utter laughing stock last week. As news filtered out that some of the foreign referees asked to bail out our game – and even the Israelis who did answer the SOS – had not been given the full picture as to why they were approached, some questioned Regan’s role in all of this and pointed accusing fingers. But cut him a bit of slack here. It was an unprecedented situation and, whatever anyone says, his primary aim was to keep games alive with the shadow of the SPL cast over him and the organisation he now runs. It was, then, heartening to see Regan’s stance yesterday – he remains unbowed; he is determined to modernise his Association and it seems inevitable that change and progress will come from the wreckage of where we are today. And, make no mistake, that is rock bottom. It truly is time for Regan to show what he is made of. If ever we needed someone to provide genuine leadership, it is now. l He has an opportunity to revamp, modernise and streamline an archaic organisation, underpinned by ludicrous committee structures which have antagonised and frustrated us all for years, not just in light of recent events. lHe has an opportunity to put in place a new code of conduct which all players and club officials must adhere to in order to prevent any repeat of the farce last week became; in short, he has to get tough on those who cross the line in refereeing criticism, a promise he has now declared to the world. lHe also has an oppor-tunity to completely modernise the practices of the refereeing system and the other pre-historic structures which need to be brought down. If those in his way don’t want to change, then he must name them, shame them and remove them. The game, now at an all-time low, is bigger than anyone, or any cobbled- together committee of butchers, bakers and candlestick makers who have had too much of a say, for far too long. Will he grasp these opportunities? That is the key question. We are about to find out exactly what Stewart Regan is made of. One challenge he faces will come when the SFA’s General Purposes Committee finally open their Celtic file, after today’s postponed meeting. In it, there will be comments from Neil Lennon on referees made after the matches against Rangers and Hearts, and there will also be Gary Hooper’s claims that referees want to give a disproportionate amount of decisions against Celtic so they can tell someone they have done it. With every referee in the land watching in the wake of McDonald’s retirement and all the fall-out his initial misdemeanour created, just what will this committee do, given Regan has promised tougher sanctions? This is the same body, remember, who took no action against Celtic as a club, or their former player Aiden McGeady, for comments made against the very same Dougie McDonald back in February and March. Remember then, just after the un-named Parkhead ‘source’ blabbed to a BBC source that they were popping off DVDs of bad decisions to the SFA? McDonald sent off Scott Brown in an Old Firm game at Ibrox and, yes, it was a debatable decision which some referees would have deemed a red, others a yellow. That night, on the official Celtic website, their match report claimed “any fair-minded person would not have deemed it a sending off.” Days later, when asked about the red card and McDonald’s performance, McGeady said: “It’s fair to say he wasn’t impartial the other day.” The General Purposes Committee turned a collective blind eye. Anyone looking for the seeds of why the referees walked out, when the battle lines were drawn, in fact, can trace it back to that time. Make no mistake, this situation is about one club – Celtic. Anyone in denial of that should answer this question: Before the McDonald affair six weeks ago, was there any hint of a strike, was there any criticism more than the norm? Celtic have been at war with the SFA ever since, and that has only been heightened by the failure of the referees and their superiors to sack McDonald before he finally took matters into his own hands, something that might just aid those he leaves behind. The Parkhead club were right to demand his removal and now they have got their men in Dallas and McDonald. But now the focus turns to what appetite Regan and the SFA have to punish them for comments emanating from the club in recent weeks. McDonald has gone. That defence card cannot be played any more by the club. Ever since events at October 17 on Tannadice, things have been whipped up by the manager’s over-reaction to decisions and Dr John Reid’s comments at the recent AGM when, again, he questioned people’s integrity, and inferred an institutional bias against his club. Yes, other bosses have their outbursts, slaughter officials after games, use rhetoric such as ‘shocking decision’ and ‘he made blatant mistakes’. But the only other person in the country’s football community – apart from the inferences and innuendo that has come from senior Parkhead figures such as Reid – to have questioned the integrity of the game has been Hearts owner Vladmir Romanov. What is he on now? His third or fourth fine? Make no mistake, he will be watching this one with interest. If nothing is done to counter what has been coming out of Parkhead in recent weeks – with Lennon’s appeal over his dismissal to the stand at Tynecastle still pending, and a further trip to face the Disciplinary Committee to face an excessive conduct charge looming a week tomorrow – then the officials may well point and say: “We told you so.” That said, the men in black, yellow or blue don’t exactly come out of this mess looking squeaky clean; they could have posted intent to strike last Sunday and then acted like men and got around the negotiating table. They should have gone public and said that if issues weren’t addressed promptly, they would have gone on strike and at least given Regan the time to try and placate them and put in place what they wanted. Who were the victims at the weekend? If their beef was with Celtic, or any of the individuals at that club, they should have named them. While the turnstiles ticked over at Parkhead on Saturday, many clubs were denied crucial revenue due to the officials’ actions – albeit that the weather had the final say. Regan must say to the ref-erees – “we will do more to back you, but that can never be allowed to happen again.” He must also demand transparency in relation to everything that is done by their department. He must demand a system that sees referees who continually make mistakes demoted. And he must destroy a refereeing structure that sees former peers and pals sit as judge and jury on anyone in bother, the very thing that protected McDonald until last night. Regan must now show resolve and courage in everything he is about to confront. The very future of the game is at stake. If he’s got that in him, we might just have a chance ... we wish him well." By Darrel King

Kenny Clark Interview http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/9238356.stm

:smile:

By Gordon Waddell on Nov 28, 10 08:45 AM in YOU can only help those who want to help themselves. An age-old saying usually applied to lost causes. But step forward Scotland's referees. Rightly on the cobbles but orchestrators of the worst PR campaign in the history of labour disputes. "What do we want? Er, we're not exactly telling you. "When do we want it? Oh, we'll let you know in due course." We WANT to help. Really, we do. I wrote four weeks ago that the pressure being placed on them was intolerable. That the constant questioning of why they're giving decisions, not what they're giving, was a disgrace and an affront. That the SFA needed to have the balls to stand up to Celtic - and make no mistake this is their agenda - to protect Hampden employees from the not-so-veiled innuendo that they've all got it in for the Hoops as part of a greater conspiracy. I still believe these things. That refs have the right to take strike action and that they've been pushed too far. But they have to want to help themselves. And in the middle of the shambles of a farce of a mockery the past few days have become, much of the sympathy has evaporated because they've let events overtake them. The weekend is no longer about their cause. Not just because the SFA have told such a tissue of half-truths that foreign refs have done a quicker turnaround at Glasgow Airport than the pilots and stewardesses. Mainly because our whistlers haven't actually talked about what their cause actually is. And, more importantly, they haven't had the balls to name names. Neither have the SFA. The biggest thing for officials is that they want more respect, right? They want people to stop questioning their integrity, their honesty. Fine. The notion they give any decision based on prejudice or bias strikes at the heart of the entire game. It's reprehensible. But what about the guy still in their ranks whose lie six weeks ago sparked this month-and-a-half of madness? Dougie McDonald is the bat being used to beat them over the head. They are harbouring a fugitive to integrity and honesty, good guy or not. So the sooner his colleagues put an arm round his shoulder and ask him to look at the big picture, the better it will be. He has to be persuaded to fall on his sword for the greater good. Because any time a ref claims he made an honest decision you know what the comeback is going to be as long as McDonald is still there. "Oh really? Honest? What about yer man lying to Neil Lennon then?" Sadly he completely legitimised Lennon's later rant about refs "getting their stories straight". It was as clear a case of bringing the game into disrepute as you will ever hear but the SFA couldn't go near Lennon because they knew lawyers would be able to get the Celtic boss off by using the word veritas. Doesn't matter that McDonald actually got the decision right at Tannadice. Doesn't matter if he gets every other call right for the rest of his career. And it doesn't even really matter now WHY he felt the need to tell the lie in the first place. Why the kind of climate Celtic created made him feel the truth was the second best alternative. He's burnt. And the flames are licking the feet of the other 30. Take him out of the equation? The whistlers have a cast-iron case to stand on the moral high ground and ask for greater respect. And, as the chaos of the last few days has shown, they have the game over a barrel. Without the officials there is no game. The other thing they need to do is make their case clearer. People have to know WHY they are striking. What their cause is. But there's no clarity. There's a PR war to be waged in any dispute and it can make or break it. They simply haven't done it. They think that by just withdrawing they are proving a point. Which maybe they are - the point being that they are indispensable. We knew that anyway though. What we haven't heard is a single one of them on TV, radio or in a paper explaining specifics about their gripes. Most of the people within the game I've spoken to - and I'm talking about chairmen, managers, players - believe Celtic are the root cause of it all. That other clubs are wrongly being tarred by omission. So if they are? Let's hear it. If they're not? Dispel everyone's theories and tell us who is. Either way, the whole episode has become a sorry mess - not helped by Friday's day of the long knives. John Reid must be feeling pretty smug right now. He's watching the SFA implode thanks to a couple of grenades rolled in which have his fingerprints all over them. He said he wanted a fundamental review and restructuring of the SFA at the Celtic AGM and, whether by accident or design, the Parkhead chairman is getting his wish. Should Hugh Dallas have gone for the "Popegate" email? Was it anti-Catholic? Was it a hate crime, as someone wanted him charged with? Or was it satirical? Was it anti-child abuse? I've heard the vehement arguments on both sides. Me? He's guilty of a gross misjudgment, sure, guilty of poor taste - but a sackable offence? A hate crime? Spare me. And what about the five other guys sacked by the SFA because their electronic fingerprints were on it? Is that justice too? Or simply an acceptable level of "collateral damage" to get rid of the primary target, as they might say in the Ministry of Defence? The people celebrating Dallas' demise should at least be familiar with the biblical maxim "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone". Hopefully their consciences are clear. http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/gordonwaddell/2010/11/stop-the-war-now.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheSundayMail-GordonWaddell+%28The+Sunday+Mail+-+Gordon+Waddell%29

THE Hugh Dallas email storm has exposed "deep and vicious" religious bigotry in Scotland, a top Catholic claimed last night. Peter Kearney warned the controversy over a sick internet jibe at the Pope was the "tip of the iceberg" - and insisted our country was still tainted by widespread sectarianism. SFA referees' chief Dallas quit in the wake of the web message scandal - after the Catholic press chief had publicly called for his head. But in a shock outburst last night Mr Kearney, 47, widened his attack, saying: "Tasteless emails appear to be simply the tip of a disturbing iceberg of anti-Catholicism in Scottish society. "They illuminate the reality of a layer of deep, wide and vicious anti-Catholic hostility in our country." We told last Thursday how Mr Kearney - spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland - wrote to Hampden top brass to vent his frustration over the SFA probe into the email row. And he called for Dallas to be sacked if he was found guilty of sending a message, below right - supposedly from an SFA address - which mocked the Pope and the church's child abuse scandal. Dallas resigned within 24 hours. Now, Mr Kearney has accused Scotland of failing to deal with bigotry going back hundreds of years. He said: "Catholics in Scotland have drawn a line in the sand. The bigotry, bile, sectarian undercurrents and innuendos must end. "Such hateful attitudes have had their day, they poison the well of community life. They must be excised once and for all. "Scotland has a disturbing track record in this field. Reaction to my letter has proved beyond doubt that Scotland has become completely inured to the corrosive effects of religious bigotry." But Mr Kearney said today's Catholics were no longer willing to put up with discrimination. He added: "I detect a new resolve. Our grandparents and even our parents suffered intolerance and persecution. We will not tolerate it. We will not laugh it off or see the funny side - because there is no funny side. "Beneath the surface of the nasty emails and the intemperate asides of public figures there are others whose malignancy is altogether more pernicious." He claimed failure to tackle sectarianism has even resulted in "thugs" launching physical attacks on priests in West Lothian, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire. Mr Kearney also knocked a famous Holyrood slogan, by saying Catholics now refer to Scotland as 'The best SMALL-MINDED country in the world'. Last night a Scottish Government spokesman said: "Sectarianism is an anachronism from our past and should never be accepted, excused or tolerated. The Scottish Government supports a range of initiatives to tackle sectarianism through education and other approaches. "There is, for example, the Show Bigotry the Red Card initiative tackling sectarianism among football supporters, and Nil by Mouth has been working to tackle sectarianism in the workplace." Meanwhile Celtic fans took a swipe at Dallas during Saturday's 2-2 draw with Inverness Caley Thistle - by humming the theme to the 1980's US TV soap of the same name. Supporters in the controversial 'Green Brigade' also chanted "f*** the SFA." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3250228/Hugh-Dallas-storm-shows-deep-religious-bigotry-in-Scotland-a-top-Catholic-claims.html#ixzz16f0a5F2G

The controversial whistler who sparked Scottish football's referee crisis has quit as a top official. Dougie McDonald said he was retiring as a category one referee with immediate effect. In a statement, he took a swipe at both the SFA and the Scottish media and backed his colleagues' strike action. McDonald has been under pressure to quit since admitting he had misled Celtic boss Neil Lennon over his decision to rescind a penalty he initially awarded to the Hoops last month. The 45-year-old was handed an official warning by the referee's committee after an investigation into the incident by SFA chief executive Stewart Regan. And it was that controversy that sparked the escalation of events which led to this weekend's referees' strike. McDonald said: "It is with regret that I have decided, with immediate effect, to retire from my role as a category one referee. "My category one colleagues decided rightly to withdraw their services from matches this weekend in response to the outrageous way they have been treated by sections within Scottish football and, in my opinion, the lack of support they have received from the SFA General Purposes Committee in recent years. "However, their united stand, and the position of strength they have established this weekend, has been clouded by one issue, namely the aftermath of the Dundee United v Celtic match on 17 October. "I apologised for my role in that and wanted my previously unblemished 29-year career to move on. "Now is the time for all of Scottish football to move on. "My decision will therefore remove that issue from the debate and ensure that the next day of action - which, in my opinion, will undoubtedly come if the football community does not have a massive change of heart - will result in media coverage being concentrated on those who engage in referee bashing and those who condone it." http://news.stv.tv/scotland/212596-dougie-mcdonald-steps-down-as-top-referee/?

BHEASTS v ICT BBC Highlights http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/9235962.stm ICT should've had a penalty for hand ball,clarification required no?

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2010/11/baron-reid-of-cardowans-tanks-are.html

Walter Smith lays down gauntlet to 'slow' SFA as he backs refs Premium Article ! Published Date: 28 November 2010 By Tom English There are days for diplomacy and there are days for letting rip. On Friday, Walter Smith let rip. "You've got to, haven't you?" he said. "You can't not say anything when the referees are going on strike." The Rangers manager has huge sympathy for the plight of the beleaguered Scottish referees, saying that he supports them in their protest and that he can't fully understand why foreign officials would want to take their place in the SPL yesterday and today. "If I was a referee in another country, I couldn't referee a game in Scotland this weekend," he said. Smith's remarks will shake the ground under the feet of everybody at the Scottish Football Association, a body which he deems terribly weak in their handling of the club whose name they dare not speak: Celtic. The Rangers manager never mentioned his Glasgow rivals by name but he didn't have to. It was obvious who he was talking about. "The SFA have been slow to act and they've allowed this to drag on," Smith said of the Dougie McDonald saga and the myriad controversies that followed that wearying business at Tannadice. "What are we talking about now? Six or eight weeks where it's just been a constant barrage of referees. Everybody is fed up with it. The SFA have got to clarify what the situation is. They're saying they have a problem with all clubs but the SFA have never written to say they've a problem with Rangers. I can only speak for Rangers, but the majority of other clubs would be the same as us. We've never received anything from the SFA saying they're unhappy with the way we've been handling referees, before or after a game, so it's not right that everybody is thrown into this. It's the same thing that happens - we talk about it, talk about it, talk about it and then when it comes to the action, all of a sudden it starts to get blurred and everybody starts to blame everybody else. "If the SFA have a problem, they need to name their problem. Because this is an important issue and they've got to name that problem. They've to take that responsibility. It's their lack of responsibility that has caused this problem as much as anything." Smith isn't just talking about the new chief executive, Stewart Regan, whom he has a degree of sympathy for given the fact that he's barely in the door at Hampden. He's talking also about a previous regime, a build-up of months where the authorities have allowed Celtic to question the integrity of referees to the point of calling them crooked. It's been a torturous week for the game in Scotland. Humiliating on many levels. The story of the Portuguese officials stepping off the plane in Glasgow on Friday evening and then heading straight back home again encapsulates the farcical element of what has been going on. "The SFA are the body who manage referees. They handle the refereeing situation. They're in charge. The SPL are brilliant at pushing it to the SFA and the SFA are, therefore, in charge of that. So if they'd taken that action quicker then I don't think it would have come to this. I agree with the referees' action. They've had to take this action so that everything comes to a head. "But I think enough is enough for the likes of myself. There's no reason why I shouldn't say it. It's overtaken our football. Nobody's talking about what we're all here for. People should be coming to watch football players and football matches and talking about what happens within a game. They shouldn't be exaggerating one aspect of what happens within a match." Smith said that the treatment of officials has never been worse in his time in the game. "I've seen Sir Alex and Jim McLean and Billy McNeill go in and argue with a referee. I've seen myself do it. But I don't think there was ever this undercurrent that the referees were making decisions for other reasons. That's been bubbling under the surface for a couple of seasons and it's not been confronted and that's a problem. But that's the problem with a lot of things in Scottish football, things not being confronted and no clear cut decisions being made as to what the answer is. If this is going to be a catalyst for a change that will help the game then I think it will be a good thing. There isn't any doubt that (in] the last five to ten years there's been an awful lot of talking and absolutely no action, on all fronts. It's unfair on Stewart Regan. What I'm saying when I talk about the leadership of the SFA, it's not just current, it's previous." Smith added: "First and foremost, we have to end this current climate of criticism for referees and we have to get back to accepting a referee's decision for what it is - purely a decision. In a majority of football countries there's maybe a dissatisfaction with a decision, but there is not this element of there being another reason why the referee gave a decision, all this bias towards one team or another. The quicker we put an end to that, the better. We can't continue the way we are at the moment. It's just impossible." Nobody in the managerial fraternity has come out as forcefully as this since this drama erupted on Sunday night. Indeed, Craig Brown, at Motherwell, has been extremely critical of the referees' stance, saying that they embarrassed Scottish football when they withdrew their labour without first negotiating with representatives from the SFA, the SPL, the SFL, the Scottish PFA and the League Managers' Union. Smith is of an entirely different view. "We have to trust that in the background there has been part-negotiation before (the referees] reached a situation like this one. They've never done this before, so obviously they've been unhappy when the subject has been broached with the SFA, unhappy with the answers they've been getting, and have been forced to take this action. "The other part is that this is the second year in a row we've had this situation where they've been constantly questioned. You reserve the right as a manager to disagree with decisions that a referee makes. You would always hope that after you get your answer you take it in the right way and not the way it's being taken at present, where their integrity is being questioned." From the Ibrox manager, the message is clear. The SFA won't like it and neither will Celtic. But there many others - not just Rangers people - who will say that he has hit the nail squarely on the head.

Article by rod liddle in sun Times Mr Liddle hits the spot - Strikes are not terribly popular with the general public unless they are undertaken by workers with whom, rightly or wrongly, we have a certain admiration or sympathy — firemen, for example, or miners. I think it’s fair to say that football referees do not fall into that category. Almost every week I have a yearning to brick up a referee in my basement and keep him there for 18 years, in the manner of an Austrian child. I accept this is psychopathic. But the Scottish referees have a very good point, I think, and we should all be on the picket line with them this weekend. It is a dispute which could very easily migrate south of the border — and it is a wonder that it has not done so already. For sure, the Scottish business is muddied by the usual intimations of arcane secularism and seems to focus on Celtic’s habitual wallowing in victimhood. But the central issue — that referees, who are not paid very much, are routinely abused, maligned and have their integrity and competence called into question by gobby, arrogant, childish, overpaid players and managers and are given inadequate redress from the authorities — applies just as well down here. The latest development is that Hugh Dallas, head of the Referee Development Department at the Scottish FA, has resigned as a consequence of being involved somehow in the sending of an email which poked fun at the Pope. Most normal people would either laugh or not laugh and move on, but in certain parts of Scotland it’s akin to the public burning of the Koran and indicative of a profound anti-Catholic bias. Meanwhile, the SFA have staffed the weekend’s games with a bunch of imported foreign referees and a woman called Morag they found in Aberdeen. Some of the foreign strike-breakers pulled out. The Israelis were beset by moral qualms (a national first, this) but the Maltese and Luxembourg contingents are still up for a bit of blacklegging, it is believed. The current dispute is supposedly occasioned by the referee Dougie McDonald, who changed his mind about awarding a penalty to Celtic in a recent match at Dundee United. It was supposedly exacerbated by McDonald lying to the Celtic manager Neil Lennon after the game about why he had changed his mind. McDonald should not have engaged with Lennon at all but simply said: “Mind your own business, you overwrought ginger munchkin”. Sadly he did not. Lennon has called for McDonald — who has been a top-flight referee for 13 years — to be struck off the list. This is precisely the sort of pique and arrogance we witness from Premier League managers pretty much each week. More astonishingly, though, Lennon has been supported by the chairman of Celtic, the former Blairite cabinet minister and, before that, Stalinist Commie, “Dr” John Reid. Reid has called McDonald’s position untenable and gone further, demanding a “radical” shake-up of the Scottish game, alleging long-term “lies and conspiracies”, all of which have been committed in order to down his team. I think Reid spent too long pinioned between Mandelson and Brown in those dying days of the Blair government and is now capable of seeing a conspiracy in a handful of dust. This is how Celtic react to not winning the league, I suppose, although Reid says it’s nothing to do with sour grapes and that last season they weren’t good enough, a consequence — he admitted — of his having appointed Tony Mowbray to run the team. So, a swipe at the refs, the football establishment and poor Mowbray. The obvious solution is to have Lennon — a serial offender in abusing referees — banished to the stands for the rest of the season, preferably with McDonald reffing all his games and Reid told to shut up by the SFA or resign. But Celtic are too big a club for that and the SFA too timorous. The abuse of referees has been continual, north of the border, for several years; two years ago both Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, and Gordon Strachan, then Celtic manager, accepted it had gone too far and it was time to cut refs a bit of slack. The reverse has happened. It would not take a huge leap over Hadrian’s Wall for something similar to happen in England. Lennon was no more spiteful and damaging in his attacks upon McDonald than Sir Alex Ferguson was in his vituperation towards Alan Wiley when Manchester United (luckily) grabbed a point from Sunderland last season. The fitness levels, general competence and — yes — integrity of referees are all issues upon which the managers feel at liberty to wax lyrical in post-match interviews, when they’ve been stuffed or dropped a point, and the referees have no redress and little protection from the FA. Maybe one weekend quite soon Morag and Maltesers will be turning out at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford

FURIOUS Hugh Dallas is planning to sue the SFA for sacking him over an offensive email. We can reveal the referees supremo has spoken to lawyers after he was axed on Friday. The dismissal of Dallas, 53, followed an internal investigation into a tasteless email about the Pope. Four other SFA staff plan to fight their sackings. Last night an SFA insider said: "The SFA has all- out war on its hands. Dallas is absolutely furious." RAGING Hampden insiders last night hit out over the sacking of refs supremo Hugh Dallas and four other SFA employees - and claimed all five were scapegoats. Sources revealed that the offensive email about the Pope that led to their dismissals had been passed on by several other workers and officials at the Scottish football HQ. One told us: "If they were sacked, others should have gone, too. They're just scapegoats so the bosses can say, 'Look, we've axed the culprits, now let's move on'. "But that isn't going to happen. The SFA has all-out war on its hands." Dallas and his colleagues were sacked on Friday by SFA chief executive Stewart Regan after an internal SFA investigation into a tasteless email sent on the day of Pope Benedict's visit to Scotland in September. Our insider explained: "Nine staff were interviewed at a disciplinary hearing on Thursday with Regan and Viv Coady, the head of Human Resources. Then five were sacked the following day. Even some very senior people are being kept out of the loop on this one "Since then they have all taken legal advice and intend to lodge appeals.The thing is that the email about the Pope was sent internally within the SFA. "Some people who sent it were sacked but others who sent it internally have kept their jobs. "The punishment seems very harsh and there's a feeling it hasn't been dealt with even-handedly. There's a definite feeling Regan has over-reacted." The source revealed that Dallas is "apoplectic" about his dismissal. We can reveal one of the sacked workers is Tim Berridge, an audio visual technician who recorded games for Scotland boss Craig Levein. Also dismissed was Amanda MacDonald, an administrative assistant who acted as Levein's secretary. The other two axed were coaching official Marco McIntyre and mailroom manager Bob Bryan. All four worked in the SFA's Football Development department. Last night a highly-placed insider at the organisation told us: "Amanda told friends on Thursday that she had been told to report for a disciplinary meeting. "She said it was about the Dallas email. We have heard nothing about what happened to her at the meeting. Her mobile is switched off. "Even some very senior people are being kept out of the loop on this one." Mr McIntyre was unavailable for comment at his home in Crookston, Glasgow. When we asked a woman who answered his door about his sacking, she said: "How do you know about that?" Mr Bryan, speaking from his East Kilbride home, said: "I can't comment." Mr Berridge and Mr Dallas were unavailable for comment. Fixing the morale of the top-flight referees is an entirely different battle Yesterday SFA president George Peat moved to distance himself from the sackings - and indicated he'd not even been told about them. He said: "I read reports in the papers this morning that some people have resigned but I don't know and I can't get involved in it. "All I know is Stewart Regan was meeting with several members of staff. "But if there were to be appeals they would have to come to me, so I can't get involved." News of the impending legal battle comes as Hampden bosses are rocked by allegations that other offensive emails are set to emerge. One has been shown to the News of the World, but we are not disclosing its content for legal reasons. It pokes fun at a high-profile member of the Scottish football world. The email is believed to have been sent to the SFA offices at Hampden Park in Glasgow but it's not known if it was then circulated. The first details about the email scandal were revealed by the Scottish News of the World on November 7. The offensive message showed a road sign indicating a danger to kids and the words "The Pope is coming". This week a Catholic Church spokesman called for Dallas to be sacked if it was proved he had forwarded the email on the day of the Pope's visit to Scotland in September. Yesterday his former refereeing colleagues staged a one-day strike in protest at attacks on their integrity - with their places taken by officials from Luxembourg, Malta and Israel. They took charge of four SPL matches, with the rest of the football card wiped out by the weather. The foreign refs will also take charge of another two SPL games today. Our source added: "The SFA's treatment of Dallas and the other workers is one battle. "Fixing the morale of the top-flight referees is an entirely different battle." Yesterday we visited striking match officials Willie Collum and Dougie McDonald. Collum, 31, allegedly received death threats after the Celtic v Rangers match on October 24. He was criticised by Hoops boss Neil Lennon for awarding Gers a controversial penalty. At his home in Lanarkshire yesterday the whistler declined to comment on the strike after a trip out with his young daughter. A disgruntled-looking McDonald, 45, also refused to discuss the issue when we approached him at his home in Edinburgh. But last night FIFA-listed official Craig Thomson warned refereeing standards have been put at risk by the decision to chop Dallas. The ref, who took charge of the Ajax v Real Madrid Champions League tie in midweek, also warned that Scotland had lost one of the top authorities in the game. Thomson said: "I see Hugh as a world-class individual within Scottish football. There are not many within our game who have been at the World Cup Finals. "The coaching experience he can pass on to referees is immeasurable, particularly to guys involved in European games. "There is a lot of work behind the scenes that I'm hoping won't be lost. On a day-to-day basis it will be difficult to continue. "It's a low day for us. Whether we agree with the punishment or not is another issue." But Thomson then added: "We think it is way over the top. "To have a World Cup finalist in our midst and for some reason to get rid of him is detrimental to referees."

FORMER SFA referees chief Donald McVicar says Hugh Dallas' resignation is a massive blow for Scottish football. McVicar, who was in charge of the SFA's refereeing department for ten years before retiring last year, claims Dallas is a victim of a concerted conspiracy against him. Having known Dallas since he started officiating, McVicar has watched this week's events in Scottish refereeing circles with dismay. He said: "As far as Hugh Dallas is concerned, he's been the victim of the mother of all conspiracies. "People were out to get him, they were out to score points and they were out to do him in any way they could. "Anyone who knows Hugh or takes the time to know him will know that there isn't one ounce of bigotry in his body. There are those who have jumped on a satirical email and made capital out of it. "Hugh's also been vilified over the incident involving Dougie McDonald when in fact everything he did was correct. "The suggestion he's been involved in some kind of cover-up is nonsense. Quite the contrary is the case. "Hugh was doing an excellent job at the SFA. He was in for three-and-a-half years with me learning the ropes, and it's sad this has happened to him. I'm absolutely gutted for him and his family. Dallas doesn't change anything in a referee's report without the referee or the referee observer giving approval to it "The SFA will struggle to get someone of similar calibre to replace him. When Hugh was a top referee and I was in charge of referee development, I used him for instruction and coaching and he did anything you asked. "He went to public parks to help young guys on a Sunday afternoon when he could've been sitting in his house or been out with his wife after doing a game on a Saturday. "He has great ideas and we used to sit together and bounce things off one another. When the baton was handed to him he had the chance to put these ideas through himself and the benefits are already showing. "Believe me, he will be a massive loss to the SFA. Someone with his experience, both at home and abroad, is a terrific person to have at the top level in Scottish football. The guy's been fourth official at the World Cup Final and a tremendous ambassador for Scotland, for goodness sake. "Unfortunately, it's the old thing of a prophet unsung in his own land. "It's part of the UEFA Referees' Convention to have someone of Hugh's standing in this position. "The association has been using former referees in that role since Ernie Walker started it with George Cumming, who went on to fulfil the same role with FIFA." The whispering campaign around Dallas has claimed that he was responsible for the changing of referee's reports - but McVicar is experienced enough to know exactly what Dallas' responsibilities and duties entail. He said: "Hugh Dallas doesn't change anything in a referee's report without the referee or the referee observer giving approval to it. He doesn't change anything to do with the actual content of reports. "If a referee observer thinks it's a penalty kick, Hugh won't turn round and say, 'I don't think it was a penalty'. His reaction - as mine was when I was in the job - will be that if the referee observer thinks it's a penalty kick, that's good enough. "The idea Hugh is sitting in judgment of referees is wrong. He doesn't even decide which referee gets which game. He'll have an input but that's the responsibility of the Referee Administration Department." Sport of the World also spoke to another senior source in Scottish refereeing circles about the storm which has rocked the worldwide reputation of our game. Our source has been in personal touch with many of Scotland's Category One referees this week over their controversial strike action that has seen European refs handle domestic games this weekend. Our man says the depth of feeling at their meeting last Sunday was such that it soon became inevitable they viewed strike action as their only option. And he lifted the lid on the individual abuse some of our top refs have taken. He said: "Emotions were running sky-high at the referees' meeting. I don't think they've done it the right way - my own opinion is that they should've expressed their concerns, and should've told the SFA through the referees committee that they would withdraw labour. "For instance, I'd have given notice that I would be unavailable over the festive period - just try and get replacement refs between say December 20 and January 8. "But while I've been trying to understand, guide and advise, this strength of feeling is what comes through. Of the Category One referees, of whom there are just over 30, I've spoken to nine or ten personally. They don't want to do what they're doing but they don't see any other means of getting their point across. We've all made mistakes while refereeing. But when people are using expressions like 'lies, conspiracies and cover-ups', strong action is required. I think people were taken aback by the strength of feeling from the guys. "The abuse they've had has been appalling. We've got referees whose wives have picked up their house phones to have someone saying 'That orange b*****d husband of yours is going to get it'. The same family were then abused in a supermarket. "We'd three referees who were called in by their bosses at work and told, 'If your integrity is called into question over this, you either give up refereeing or give up your job'. "These are guys whose jobs are such that trust is a key element of their work. Another referee's firm is being bombarded by emails demanding to know why they employ him. "You can see how people are upset about it all by this constant vilification from a particular club. It wears them down, it's intimidation, it's bullying, it's harassment. And that's why they've done this. "People say referees are high profile but they don't want to be high-profile. "They want to do their game, go home and go out for a meal on Saturday night. It's so sad they're not able to do that, and it's all coming from one source. An apology from Celtic to the referees for calling their integrity into question would get us over this first hurdle "The suggestion from MP Peter Wishart that referees should declare their allegiance is totally impossible. "There are checks in place at the SFA. If a referee worked for B&Q and B&Q sponsored Airdrie, he would go to the SFA and ask if that was a conflict of interest. "There was one case where the referee's boss at work was the chairman of a football club. But what do you do? "That ref doesn't handle his boss' club's games - but does he handle games involving clubs who are round about that club in the league? Where does it all end? The permutations are immense. "There isn't one man who takes up refereeing who hasn't grown up supporting a club. But once you start making your way in refereeing, you stop going to see your local team because you're always refereeing and the last thing you think about is giving favours to this team or that one. You're too busy concentrating on your career. "If you asked all the Category One refs who they supported and they all said Celtic, does that mean Celtic can't play any games because every referee supports them? "An apology from Celtic to the referees for calling their integrity into question would get us over this first hurdle. "Then we'd need to get all groups around the table and get some sort of agreement in place - no talking about refs before matches, be careful what they say at the end of matches. "There's an acceptance that referees make mistakes but to say there's bias is rubbish. "Somebody can call me the worst referee there is, but to call a ref a cheat is the biggest insult you can give him. "There's an academy of refs in their late teens just now and the SFA will try to fast-track them. "When they pass their examination they will be told their skin has to take on the thickness of an elephant's hide. "The people who are calling the integrity of our referees into question would do well to think about what their thoughtless remarks are doing to all referees and the image of the game in Scotland."

By Tom English You only had to look at some of the websites on Friday night to understand the sickness of some who attach themselves to football clubs in this country. In this instance, we are talking about Celtic. And we are talking about secrets and lies. When the news came through late in the evening that Hugh Dallas had left his post at the Scottish Football Association, a near-orgasmic glee broke out in some parts of cyberspace where Celtic fans were gathered. They contributed in their hundreds, if not their thousands, each one acclaiming this to be one of their greatest days, one of their finest triumphs. Their venom for Dallas was untrammelled. It was, and I use the word advisedly, an orgy of abuse. A man claiming to be 71 years old said that the only sad part about it all was that his father and his uncles weren't alive to see it - "but I hope they're cheering in heaven". We had to cut the quote short because what he said about Dallas thereafter doesn't warrant repeating. Suffice to say that the pensioner has entered his dotage without a shred of perspective in this world. It was the kind of contribution that made you feel more sorry for the person who wrote it than the man it was written about. These people purported to defend the Pope's honour in the wake of the toxic e-mail sent from Dallas's computer at Hampden. These are people who jumped on the bandwagon by declaring themselves insulted and offended by the lampooning of the Holy Father, who demanded that Dallas be sacked for a supposed act of sectarianism that grossly disrespected their faith and the head of their church. On Friday, this righteous flock turned into a baying mob and in that moment we saw their duplicity in all its ugliness. For these people, the Dallas e-mail wasn't an affront, it was an opportunity, a chance to hound a man they have had a grudge against for years and an association they've harboured bitterness about for generations. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/celticfc/Tom-English-39In-effect-they.6642373.jp?articlepage=1

They really are pathetic cretins eh!!,it's what seperates us from them,they can never just admit they are pish,it's always someone elses fault,SCUM

Wash your mouth out sir,that's TGFITW don't you know:whistle:

It's looking good though,I know it's a bit of a cliche', but he will be like a new signing,the BHEASTS will be shitting themselves,if they're not already:boogie:

I see what you're saying,however I'd like to see him involved sooner,if he is 100% ready of course