Did Paul Hanlon dive?

Of course he didn’t, but how did the Hibs defender end up on the ground?

Almost forgotten amid the frenzy of condemnation aimed at Aiden McGeady is the fact that his ‘victim’ Paul Hanlon ended up on the ground during the incident.

BBC HIGHLIGHTS (only viewable in the UK)

At the match I was sure that Hanlon had fouled McGeady and that’s what referee Dougie McDonald was recognising as he reached for his yellow card.

RIDICULOUS
McGeady’s ordering off seemed a ridiculous decision but after watching it a good few times on television it seemed to become more of a marginal decision, contact didn’t appear to take place but it certainly wasn’t as cut and dried as the Eduardo incident.

There was enough in the incident to say that something had happened before taking into account the fact that McGeady had already been booked the incident took place on the half way line and the attention that any diving would attract post-Eduardo.

It is possible for two young athletes running at speed to end up grounded without any contact being made. That doesn’t make either or both of them cheats.

McGeady has made a career out of skipping past and avoiding heavy tackles as footage of his early days on ash pitches testifies.

INTERNATIONAL
If he went to ground easily he’d never have developed his talents and made it through the ranks to being a regular in the Champions League and international football if he was prone to falling over.

The attacks on McGeady didn’t take long to emerge from predictable sources with equally predictable agendas, background that doesn’t need revisited.

With the transfer window creating a frenzy of speculation and excitement the events at Easter Road will be allowed to die with attention turning to George Burley although no doubt he’ll be asked for his tuppence worth.

Should any Scotland player hit the deck in the upcoming internationals the treatment they receive from the media will be interesting.

WINDOW
More importantly there seems to be a fair amount of movement going on at Celtic today.

Darren O’Dea has signed a new three year contract and swiftly moved on to Reading until January at least with the deal being reviewed again to see if it should be extended through to the end of the season.

Chris Killen also seems to be moving on with Doncaster Rovers appearing to be favourites, hopefully there will be some incoming transfers with plenty of options on the radar of Tony Mowbray and his scouting staff.