There is no conspiracy in Scottish football, just very inconsistent refereeing as perfectly displayed by Bobby Madden’s display for our game against Dundee at the weekend.
Just a few weeks ago he missed several incidents that would have benefited us in a 1-1 draw against Dundee United and yet he was able to spot less obvious infringements jut across the road at Dens Park.
Chris Sutton has done his usual job of criticising a referee when Rangers have benefitted, it’s strange how quiet he’s been since the Celtic AGM though isn’t it, almost as if his old club have had a few go in their favour but, putting him back in his box has been former Premier League whistler Dermot Gallagher who has backed Madden’s call, as reported by The Daily Record:
“It was actually, because when you see it, I thought it was a foul the other way.
“But he grabbed a hold of his (Morelos’s) shirt, pulls him back, it’s a very good spot by the referee.”
Kris Boyd took things a stage further by suggesting that, after pointing to the spot, Madden should have sent the Dundee defender off because he has committed a foul, stopped Alfredo Morelos from getting to the ball and made no attempt himself to play it.
It was actually a rare moment of common sense from the ref though because, for all that it was a foul, I don’t think, with hindsight, that it merited a red card, the problem is, you will see exactly the same sort of defending when the Scottish Premiership kicks off again at the other side of the international break and players will get away with it depending on who the man in the middle is, what the score is at the time, and how long has been played.
We don’t want, or expect, every decision to go our way, we just want the refs to apply the laws of the game without fear of recrimination and with consistency, is it too much to ask?