(Celtic win 11-10 on penalties)
What can you say after a cup semi-final is settled 11-10 on penalties?
Firstly, you can congratulate two teams on a classic football encounter, praise the players for their nerve and sincerely commiserate with Dundee Utd, particularly their two players who missed penalties. The Terrors produced an outstanding performance and their level of professionalism under the extreme pressure of a penalty shoot-out on live television should be commended by all.
For many years United have represented all that is best in Scottish football, in recent times under the governance of the late Eddie Thompson, and today’s side is bettered as a football team only by the Scottish champions. This is the best United side since the heyday of Jim Mclean and they should be challenging far more strongly for the second place in the SPL table that their ability fully merits.
Without a doubt, Willo Flood and Lee Wilkie will be agonising over their penalty misses but we have seen many truly great players miss on these occasions and the two players would do well to spend more time reflecting on their performances, which let none of their supporters down.
Both sides produced some excellent football and, however incredible, two sides who sought to attack at every opportunity failed to score in 120 minutes of open play yet could hardly miss when the tension was at its height.
Add to that the spectacle of Scotland’s two best goalkeepers, close friends, Polish compatriots and soon-to-be club-mates facing each other from the spot and scoring – with Artur Boruc’s deftly floated strike the most audacious spot-kick since Panenka.
Yet for all this, someone, somewhere was contriving to spoil the occasion.
The BBC – the world’s oldest broadcaster, allegedly most respected, and one of the few that demands payment on pain of criminal proceedings – managed to wreck one of the great encounters Scottish football has seen in decades.
This was incompetence on a grand scale, for sure, but it also reflected policy that was contemptuous of the Scottish TV licence-payer.
It is irritating at the best of times when viewers are forced to “turn over to BBC2” to see the entirety of a game. But the BBC really went the extra mile in ruining a great night of football – in bending over backwards to prioritise its national schedules, the BBC managed to contrive the first change while play was going on.
Presumably, nobody at the corporation either understands the potential for cup semi-finals to go to extra time and penalties or recognises the fact that matches can turn in the time it takes for someone to reach for the remote control.
That was bad – but Auntie (presumably so-called because it knows nothing about football and doesn’t understand that distracting people while they are trying to watch a game isn’t cool) wasn’t finished. After Lee Wilkie’s penalty miss (the first in 19) gave Glenn Loovens the opportunity to win the tie, the Beeb actually managed to change the broadcast again while Loovens hovered over the spot.
Curiously, this coincided with referee Callum Murray delaying Loovens’s attempt to take the penalty. At the time, that looked to be outrageous interference – it is a well-known tactic of gamesmanship when trying to put a player off his penalty. Not totally unsurprisingly Loovens missed.
However, there is a serious question to be asked. Was Murray instructed to delay Loovens to accommodate a second channel switch by our inept national public broadcaster? If so, the incompetence of the BBC very nearly materially affected the outcome of the match. That can never be allowed to happen again.
Aside from those very real suspicions (which if unfounded would strongly call Murray’s actions into question), the public have been let down by a corporation that clearly sees Scottish viewers as being less important than its current affairs schedule.
The least the BBC can do is publicly apologise and re-broadcast the match for those whose attempts to record it on Sky+ were ruined. This, however, will do nothing to compensate for ruining viewers’ enjoyment of the game.
In the light of this latest debacle, it is perhaps just as well that there is now so little live sport on the BBC Scotland. The corporation clearly lacks the professionalism to be trusted with the game of football.
 |
--
10 comments:
I moved to Bournemouth three years ago but i'm still a season ticket holder. I watched the game on BBC Scotland which is part of the Virgin Cable package and i beleive part of freeview also. For te second year running they have switched the game to bbc2 half way through it and i've missed the conclusion as access to BB2 Scotland is not replicated int he same way. What's the point of giving me half a agame? You don't see Sky switching prgrammes half way through to a channel people don't have access through. The way the BBC operate is crazy yet they are the only broadcaster i am forced to pay money to.
You are SPOT on! In my view the penaly WAS delayed for TV putting Loovens off his stride and could have cost Celtic a place in the final! had Loovens scored we were through! Outrageous by the BBC.
Totally agree. Sent to BBC this morning.
I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms re the shambles that this programme represented in the presentation of last nights CIS Cup semi final at Hampden Park.
The shamateurish switching of channels from BBC 1 to BBC 2 then back again to BBC 1 made a mockery of the drama which unfolded in this match. Whilst the commentator assured the viewing public that they would not miss a moment of the action we did as first the switch was made in open play near the end of the 90 minutes and then this was compounded by a further switch just after Dundee Utd had missed a penalty and Celtic had the opportunity to seal the match.
It is little wonder that so many people now subscribe to pay tv for sporting action. Clearly your professionalism at handling sporting events is at its lowest ebb. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Agree, the BBC ruined my enjoyment of the game. Nevin and Dodds were annoying and the channel switch was just a rouse.
I still haven't seen Loovens miss or the following Dunt pen.
Can't comment on the Loovens delay but I'm sure Lee Wilkie greeting behind the goals had something to do wie the delay.
He's a carrot.
Celtic Don't Make A Butcher Of Penalties Against United. Celtic 0 Dundee Utd 0, Celtic Win 11-10 On Pens.
the delay was to allow wilkie to move away from the kicker, that is all
Craig: Excellent point.
In my anger, I had totally forgotten about those who aren't in a position to just flick the remote and hope the damned thing is on the other BBC channel.
Question: couldn't BBC3 or 4 be used for these instead of repaets of The Real Hustle, if the news schedule is sacrosanct?
Steven: The denials are coming from the BBC but they are doing nothing to address the issue or apologise to the fans.
derbyshirebhoy: Couldn't hae put it better. Unfortunately the BBC doesn't seem to do shame.
Their latest reaction is consistent with many other instances showing they are out-of-touch with public opinion.
An apology is in order but, given the Beeb's track record, very unlikely.
The statement that schedules were published "subject to alteration" was an insult.
When an English games is on, that alteration is almost invariably, a delay to the news.
When a Scottish match is the most important game in the UK that night, we are left to lump it as they ruin the occasion without even having the decency to say sorry.
Kevin: I wasn't even going to mention Mitchell and Dodds but their idiotic glee when Feeney "nutmegged" Scott Brown was in stark contrast to their reaction when the same thing happened to Feeney five minutes later.
Add to that their insistence that it was correct to book Glenn Loovens for winning the ball when a Dundee Utd player was challenging him from the wrong side and various other comments, and you are talking about a seriusly bad commentary team.
This was after Stephen Craigan in the studio had said pre-mathc that the referee would be on Celtic's side - a remark that went unchallengged by Dougie Vipond or Pat Nevin.
I think my favourite comment was when Mithcell concluded that "it's been fairly even in terms of possession" as the actuall figures of 50-50 came on screen.
Curiously, Celtic's roughly three corners to United's one didn't seem to deflect from the duo's insistence that Utd had been "dominant" in the second half.
Gerald: You seem very certain. Do you have any supporting info?
Post a Comment