Is it really all the fault of one club (guess who)?

The on-going crisis within Scottish football is increasingly being blamed on one club.

Following the lead of SFA President George ‘conspiracy theory’ Peat last week not many people seem prepared to name the club.

Passing aside it’s duties of public service and balance BBC Scotland have been leading the attack on Celtic on an almost daily basis.

The license fee funded state broadcaster has hardly been able to contain it’s excitement with giants of the game such as Donald Findlay, Kenny Clark, Stuart Dougal and John Yorkson given air time to live out their fantasy punishments for Celtic.

Would BBC bosses in London allow a debate between Ed Miliband, Alastair Darling, Harriet Harman and Ed Balls about the economy on Newsnight?

Until an interview yesterday with QC Paul McBride there had been little attempt at balance from the state broadcaster.

While grudgingly admitting that Dougie McDonald shouldn’t be allowed to continue refereeing and that perhaps Hugh Dallas had been foolish to forward on a spoof/satirical/humourous email any discussion has inevitably turned into a full scale attack on Neil Lennon and Celtic in general.

Despite the best wishes of many there is no link whatsoever between Dallas being sacked and Celtic. Not a thing. The bigot from Bonkle brought on his own dismissal in exactly the same way as five other SFA employees were sacked.

Was it Celtic that engineered the sackings of the other employees that had never previously been in the public domain?

Whilst newspapers are a matter of choice and radio stations can be switched off there’s no getting away from the BBC.

Other media outlets live or die by advertising but protected by the license fee the BBC has a unique role which within Scotland at least their sports department uses irresponsibly.

The constant wheeling out of Dougal and Clark for the latest attacks on Celtic must be getting tiresome for even non-Celtic fans, do the BBC not know anyone else with a worthwhile opinion?

Suggestions that Celtic are undermining Scottish football or chasing an agenda flies in the face of the BBC’s own evidence.

Going through the events of the last six weeks on the BBC website it’s difficult to come to any conclusion other than Lennon and Celtic have been very disciplined in their comments.

Not until the defeat from Hearts on November 10 was there any questioning of referee’s precious integrity.

After the lies of Dougie Dougie at Tannadice Lennon suggested that: “I’ll seek clarification, but they’ll probably have their story ready.”

During the Hearts match Lennon had watched Celtic denied a very obvious penalty which resulted in the hoops manager being sent from the dug-out.

John Reid’s comments after the club AGM were the only comments from Celtic at boardroom level in recent weeks and it’s difficult to describe a former cabinet minister as hysterical or paranoid- especially since Dougie Dougie has belatedly accepted Reid’s suggestion and will no longer be telling lies to managers.

LOOKING THROUGH THE BBC SITE

DUNDEE UNITED 1-2 CELTIC 17/10/2010

After praising the quality of the match and Celtic’s play Lennon was no more critical than any other manager of the decision to reverse the penalty decision.

The Celtic boss said: “The linesman took his position up as if it was a penalty. There was a long delay for some reason and the linesman says it’s not a penalty.

“For me, it’s another strange decision that has gone against us in the last six to eight months. The referee was adamant it was a penalty.

“If he has made the decision he shouldn’t really have to be overturned by his linesman. It’s very rare you see that happen.

“I thought Dougie had a far better position and look at it than the linesman.”

Like most observers Lennon was trying to understand the chain of events that saw the penalty overturned. After the match Dougie Dougie lied to the Celtic manager to point the blame for the u-turn at Steven Craven.

>>>>>>>>>>>  page 2 Celtic v Rangers  >>>>>>>>>>>CLICK HERE

 

 

CELTIC 1-3 RANGERS 24/10/2010 Ahead of the following weeks match with Rangers Lennon made the sort of comment that earns managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Walter Smith adulation for mind games.

He said: “I would say that refereeing an Old Firm game at any time is difficult but when it is your first one, he might be a wee bit extra nervous. I just hope he has a strong game.”

Unfortunately for Lennon Collum had an abysmal game, totally out of his depth and making the sort of mistakes that should be seen far away from the professional game.

Collum’s rise towards the top of refereeing in Scotland has been down to Hugh Dallas determined to mentor through a Scottish referee to take part in the World Cup or European Championships regardless of their ability.

Throughout the match Collum bottled out of making tough decisions but with his back to the incident and seconds after the ball had struck his back because he was badly positioned he decided to award Rangers a penalty.

“He has got a lot of questions to answer,” Lennon answered after being asked about Collum’s performance. “I have problems with my team but you have to get the big decisions right. I’ll be asking for an explanation.

“I want to know why McCulloch was still on the pitch, it was blatant obstruction when we were breaking.

“It was a second yellow and they should have been down to 10 men in the second half.

“And I feel let down on the penalty incident for sure. It’s a big decision. I have seen a replay of the penalty and it looked soft. I’m not sure he saw it and I’m not sure why he has given it.”

The following weekend the lies and cover-up from Tannadice were exposed as Steven Craven revealed that the u-turn was entirely down to Dougie Dougie.

In the days following the Dundee United match shamed former Head of Refereeing Hugh Dallas ‘explained’ to Radio Clyde and Radio Scotland what had happened to reverse the decision knowing full well that Lennon had been lied to by one of his top referees.

HEARTS 2-0 CELTIC 10/11/2010

After praising officials at the double header with St Johnstone and home win over Aberdeen Lennon was next ‘in the dock’ when Celtic lost 2-0 to Hearts with Joe Ledley red carded and referee Craig Thomson denying another clear cut penalty.

Following the penalty decision Lennon was dismissed from the technical area.

“The referee just called me over on the advice of the fourth official and sent me to the stand. It was a scandalous decision,” Lennon said.

“I’ll seek clarification, but they’ll probably have their story ready. At the moment I don’t know where my relationship with officials lies.

“They keep getting big decisions wrong as far as I’m concerned – and game-changing decisions as well.

“Craig Thomson’s supposed to be one of the best in the country. It doesn’t say a lot for the rest if that’s the case.”

Having been lied to at Tannadice the previous month Lennon’s comments are understandable.

Despite grudgingly admitting to the lie and cover up no apology was issued by McDonald, Dallas or the SFA.

Lennon’s comment that ‘they’ll probably have their story ready’ won’t have gone down well with the Referee Committee of the SFA but after Steven Craven’s revelations from Tannadice the Celtic manager has a perfectly valid argument.

>>>>>>>>>>  page 3 Celtic AGM  >>>>>>>>>>>CLICK HERE>

CELTIC AGM 18/11/2010

At the Celtic AGM club chairman John Reid added to the debate by calling for McDonald to be dismissed if he wasn’t prepared to resign.

Thankfully after engineering the weekend strike from referees Dougie Dougie will no longer be denying Celtic penalties or lying to managers ever again.

While it’s been open season at the BBC to rant and rave about anything Lennon related they know that they are dealing with a far more experienced and formidable character in Reid.

Boasting a CV that is untouchable in Scottish football Reid laid out the facts of the case concisely and answered the questions of the media in a matter of fact manner.

Asked about McDonald continuing as a referee Reid responded: “His position is completely untenable. The SFA’s position on this issue is also untenable.

“If the SFA had any sense of their own integrity, they should look at it again.”

During the AGM Reid had told shareholders: “”We’re not asking for special treatment, but neither will we be treated as less than anyone else,” he said. “Those days are gone.”

Looking through their own archives is the current crisis really about ‘one club’ or are is that just wishful thinking from the once impartial BBC?

Perhaps the imminent takeover of the second biggest institution in Scotland isn’t quite running as smoothly as originally suggested?

Craig Thomson: It’ll be difficult to continue without Dallas

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