17th April 2022, Hampden Park, Gasgow, Scotland; Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic versus Rangers: Referee Bobby Madden chats with a police officer before the match
Bobby Madden is finding life tough as he tries to become a refereeing authority on You Tube.
It looks like becoming another failure on his CV alongside his attempt to make the grade as a referee in England which he ended after two years travelling around League Two with barely any media attention.
At the start of this season Madden launched So Near Yet So VAR to provide a Monday morning review of weekend decisions.
With a professional studio set up and multiple cameras the production looks good and won’t come cheaply.
MORE FAILURES FOR MADDEN
Unfortunately for the former ‘warehouse operative’ there is virtually no audience for his content despite aiming it at Ibrox fans and the legacy Scottish media to provide it with attention and links.
This week Mark Clattenburg joined Madden as they highlighted James Penrice’s Karate Kick on Afeez Aremu of Aberdeen.
It was the sort of attack that Madden regularly let go if it was delivered by one of his heroes such as John Lundstam, Kenny Miller or Andy Halliday in a match against Celtic.
This time he was forced to call it out but more than a day on from putting the show on You Tube it had attracted just over 200 views!
Eight other incidents were covered in the show attracting not one comment.
In contrast an edition of Celtic AM from Saturday attracted 11,000 views.
FAILING MEDIA CAREER
Madden has an open invite to join Kenny Macintyre at any time on Radio Scotland to discuss decisions going in Celtic’s favour.
Media darling Halliday is a very close friend but it seems that fans just aren’t interested in Madden’s views on VAR issues.
Every fan in Scotland knows what Madden is and can predict his take on incidents in advance.
Now and then for glaringly obvious incidents like the Penrice attack he will have to call out foul and mistake.
At Hampden on Saturday referee Ryan Lee reluctantly awarded Aberdeen a free kick, on VAR John Beaton decided not to suggest a pitch-side review.
So Near Yet So VAR claims:
Welcome back to So Near Yet So VAR, the football show where controversial refereeing decisions are put under the microscope!
This week, former FIFA-accredited referees Mark Clattenburg and Bobby Madden break down the biggest VAR controversies, red cards, penalty claims and missed decisions from a dramatic weekend of football across the Scottish Premiership and the English Premier League.
With less than 1000 subscribers SNYSV won’t be getting any payments from You Tube.
Just like in English football Madden is finding life difficult after membership of the Lanarkshire Referees Association fast tracked him through Scottish football.
His demise strangely matches that of David Tanner since he left Sky. Perhaps there could be an audience for Tanner and Madden telling funny stories from the past?
Joe maybe he could apply to his favourite club scummy hun fc for a job surely they owe him a favour or two…