Rotten to the core. Scottish football: of the peepul, by the peepul, for the peepul

Forget the corruption jibes against Italian, Eastern European or South American football. It has become increasingly evident in recent years that Scottish football is rotten to the core.

Take the Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association, the Chairman of the Scottish Premier League and the Chief Executive of the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association and they have one glaring thing in common: all three are former Rangers players. This is such an astonishing imbalance that it would shame Ceaucescu's Romania or Saddam Hussein's Iraq but is easily overlooked, given the fact that the Scottish media routinely ignores the issue.

Is it a coincidence that all three bodies have contrived in recent seasons to materially affect the outcome of the Scottish Premier League Championship in favour of Rangers? And, today, true to form, they continue their naked corruption with the approval of the Scottish news industry.

Cast your mind back to the end of last season where one extension was not enough for Rangers. In an unprecedented act of duplicity, the SFA's (former Rangers player) Gordon Smith and George Peat secretly met with Rangers officials and offered to move the date of the Scottish Cup Final, briefing the Daily Record in the process to present the move as a fait accompli.

In doing so, they disregarded the rules of their own association without consulting any member clubs, including Queen of the South who were Scottish Cup finalists. And crucially, this move could not benefit Rangers in their UEFA Cup final campaign – it could only benefit their SPL challenge.

The attempted intervention was an outrageous act of duplicity yet acting against the interests of one of the competing member clubs – Celtic, of course – was allowed to pass without censure for the officials.

At the same time, the SPFA's (former Rangers player) Fraser Wishart, a man paid as a trade union official under the umbrella of the GMB, actively supported a full season extension, again without consulting his members, even though it was against the interests of those who paid his wages.

Take any unionised company or organisation in the United Kingdom and see what happens when they arbitrarily announce, at short notice, an illegal reduction in holidays without consultation. Any union would immediately threaten action. But Wishart, acting in favour of Rangers against the interests of his own members, actively supported an extension that could see hundreds of players having to cancel holidays without compensation, never mind affecting European Championship preparations, all for the sake of trying to help Rangers win the SPL.

No reference has yet been seen in the Scottish mainstream media querying Wishart's role or, for example, his publicly disavowing the actions of his own members when they happen to play for Celtic. In any real trade union, he would have been dismissed.

The SPL, led by (former Rangers player) Lex Gold, at the time agreed to one extension, specifically defying UEFA's continent-wide instructions to finish the season on time due to the Euro 2008 championships. It was a move that was opposed by Celtic and defied the SPL's own rules but it was largely supported by the mainstream media in Scotland, those who like to claim they are the arbiters of common sense, even if their diction and attire suggest that most of their “journalists” would be better suited to selling knocked-off bottles of suntan lotion.

This season, the SPL contrived to allow Rangers to play Scotland's third-best team, Hearts, three times at Ibrox Park, excusing the actions in such fanciful terms that they could only be believed by a proponent of the seven-day-creationism school of science.

Again, this materially affected the run-in to the SPL and was largely supported by the Scottish media.

Further hitherto unheard-of actions have been undertaken by our referees. For the first time in several decades, referees have been publicly punished for “dubious” decisions, the head referee, Don McVicar having abandoned his practice of defending officials in the face of club attacks when decisions were seen to go against Rangers or in favour of Celtic.

The most obvious example of this was the removal of Iain Brines (who has no fan on this blog) after accusations emanating from Rangers that they had been hard done by. This is the same club whose former manager in his “132 years of unsurpassed dignity” rant insisted that nobody at Rangers would ever question the integrity of an official.

Walter Smith publicly implied bias by assistant referee Tom Murphy, again without sanction or comment from McVicar, even though he was forced to send Murphy a written apology which was unreported in the Scottish newspapers and broadcast media.

Finally, in recent weeks, two Celtic players have been referred to the SFA to consider further sanctions over incidents that referees thought unworthy of attention at the time while we are now told that the Rangers and media campaign to free Madjid Bougherra for the last match of the season has been successful.

This is in the face of one of the most appalling pieces of cheating by a footballer in recent years, Kyle Lafferty's dive to have a fellow professional sent off and regardless of the fact that Bougherra's studs are clearly shown to have made strong contact with the head of Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield. Smith and Smith have clearly been in consultation again as the SFA Chief Executive has now praised the Ibrox club for fining Lafferty in a move that was intended only to pave the way for Bougherra's reinstatement.

And let's not forget Rangers' flouting of international anti-doping legislation in using pain-killing injections to allow them to field injured players or the dismissal by Gordon Smith of Rangers fans racist chanting, even though it strained international diplomatic relations between the UK and Ireland.

In the meantime, Celtic officials remain silent, save for one letter requesting “clarification” of the SPL post-split schedule. We have a former Home Secretary as Chairman, who apparently sees fit to allow the combined forces of Rangers and their allies to continually move the goalposts for the benefit of the Ibrox club.

We have a billionaire major shareholder, who may or may not be aware of these things from the sun-drenched tax haven of Gibraltar and we have a Chief Executive who has learned from Reid to keep his head down when there is flak flying, regardless of the detriment to the club that pays him handsomely.

It would appear that the parlous state of R-word's finances have led to desperate measures by the Scottish football and media fraternities to support them, rather than observe fair play. Celtic should – but won't – refer the entire matter of the administration of Scottish football to UEFA.

It seems that only Celtic fans have the interests of Celtic at heart.





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Celtic need that Conan Spirit

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you; hear the lamentation of their women

Conan the Barbarian

Enjoyable as it has been to witness fans of our smaller rivals surrender the SPL, we would do well to remember that rumours of our fourth consecutive title are premature.

Competitive European football is now a memory, with a Champions League visit from our friends at Villarreal little more than a prestige friendly, and the time is now to look forward.

Looking as objectively as any Celtic fan can – and noting a fascinating piece of statistical analysis by Pablo 5 on Celtic Underground (one that will surely be copied in every red-top in the country) – the omens are good.

We have a lead of seven points, the best squad in the country, we are anticipating the return to fitness of some of our best players and we have a promise that the squad will be strengthened in the January transfer window, playing under one of the best managers in the UK.

Meanwhile, our most respected and professional competitors (Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Falkirk, Caley Thistle, Motherwell, Hamilton, St Mirren) are just some of those who may lose some of their top talent in the new year.

But there is nothing more dangerous in football (outside of visiting Rangers fans) than complacency and that makes me worry when I hear talk of the treble and breaking British records (In fairness to Gary Caldwell, that was tabloid spin on very reasonable comments).

The trouble with too many people telling you that the league is won is that sometimes the wrong people believe it.

A seven-point lead can evaporate in football faster than you can blow a fortune on Deal or No Deal – a couple of draws and the picture can look very different. And winter football is notoriously turgid, where nil-nils thrive along with all the other bugs.

Seven points, at this stage, is no more than a platform. What is needed now is absolute ruthlessness, a revelling in crushing the ambitions of our rivals. None of them will stand back and applaud us to the title.

You could call it the Conan spirit. After all, why should all the barbarians be on the other side?

• Well done to Gordon for telling the punters where to go as they tried to goad him into discussing leaving the club after they had been asked not to. Tomorrow's rags will no doubt carry headlines "Strachan refuses to rule out Sunderland move"
  

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Motherwell 1 - 2 Celtic

Celtic’s ugliest three points all season also brought the greatest relief to a side that has now opened a sizeable gap at the top of the table. With Rangers having four games in hand, the Ibrox side remain favourites to win the SPL but Celtic’s eight-point lead must look like a chasm to the chasing side at this stage of the season.

Top-flight football will probably never be played on a worse surface than the disaster that is the Fir Park pitch, but Motherwell adapted their game better in the early stages.

A combination of a packed midfield, tenacious tackling and using an offside trap to limit Celtic’s previous aerial success against the home side, left Celtic struggling for answers as Motherwell won eight first-half corners. Celtic, on the other hand, failed to make any impression in the first period with Aiden McGeady’s threat negated by a combination of an uneven pitch and opponents prepared to double up or even send three players to challenge him.

For Motherwell, Keith Lasley and Darren Smith were especially impressive in a confident, committed and aggressive team display and such little football as there was came from the men in Claret and Amber.

The match came to life in the second half when Chris Porter beat Bobo Balde to a Brian McLean cross to nod home on the hour mark. However, it was Motherwell whose game was more disrupted by the goal and the over-excited players allowed Celtic hitherto unheard of space through the middle allowing Shunsuke Nakamura to find Scott McDonald who headed an immediate equaliser.

With the crucial goal came a sense that the momentum had swung in Celtic’s favour.

Gordon Strachan brought on Scott Brown for Nakamura, whose skills were largely wasted on the bumpy ground and under some rough physical treatment. Giorgious Samaras replaced captain for the day Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who had had little joy with the few high balls that were launched his way and who seems to be penalised every time he tries to challenge for a header.

Samaras’s strength and skill on the ball gave Celtic a greater sense of composure married to the now expected resolute play of Barry Robson as Hartley tidied up when Motherwell pressed forward. Meanwhile McGeady, on the left wing, was benefiting from running on the only decent patch of grass on the field and getting forward more regularly, playing some testing deliveries.

On the other side, Brown’s energy gave Celtic more width and the ability to reach the touchline.

Mark McGhee decided to go for the win, replacing the excellent Smith with Ross McCormack while Strachan responded by replacing Lee Naylor with Mark Wilson.

The breakthrough came from a 79th-minute Robson corner which Samaras duly converted, being the hungriest man for the ball. It is indicative of the team spirit that exists at Celtic that Samaras’s first instinct was to head to the bench and embrace Vennegoor of Hesselink in a display of solidarity.

With the game now far more open, nerves were jangling in the Celtic supporters but another top-drawer performance from Gary Caldwell did much to alleviate the pressure, not just with his defending but through clever forward passes that relocated the play to the Motherwell half.

The home team continued to press, forcing corners and with Stevie Hammill’s shot flashing across goal in the 88th minute, Motherwell could yet have wrecked Celtic’s dreams.

The final whistle was greeted with joy from Celtic fans who were asking for nothing other than a “job done” performance. But, in difficult circumstances, the spirit of the team shone through. Special praise is due to Gordon Strachan who demonstrated all his managerial expertise with his substitutions and transformation of a match when the stakes were at their highest.

Man of the Match: Barry Robson for his insistence on taking charge of the midfield when most needed. Gary Caldwell could make a case for his own bottle of champagne.

Empty vessel begs for favours

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

These wise words are attributed to President Abraham Lincoln. They also stand as rarely heeded good counsel for certain figures in Scottish football.

On Friday Celtic’s Chief Executive Peter Lawwell announced his satisfaction that the SPL has confirmed the dates of upcoming matches and states his opposition to any altering of the fixture calendar that might give an advantage to opponents.

In doing so, he quite properly defends the interests of the club that employs him – simply stating that the league should adhere to its commitments.

“Thankfully it seems the integrity of the League will not be threatened by playing any more games away from home stadia or by extending the season.

“Clearly, an extension is something which we would be strongly opposed to, as it would further inconvenience supporters and could have a significant effect on the integrity of the competition.”

Fixture congestion is not unique to Scotland – it is a perennial issue in the English Premier League and has led to clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal making radical changes to their squads, prioritising the league and European cup competitions, or employing squad rotation systems with the intention of avoiding burn-out of players.

It is a fact of life that goes along with success. Occasionally one or two replays or postponements further complicate the issue but changing the conditions of a competition after it has started is not countenanced.

We can only speculate therefore as to what prompted these vacuous comments to Radio Clyde from Rangers Chief Executive Martin Bain.

"It's probably more to do with the fact that there is a points difference at the moment.

"Why would we want to play eight games in four days? Our preference is to extend the season if it comes to that.

"I'm not prone to comment on other's comments but what I would say to you is that to ask this football club to play four games in eight days, when we could be possibly competing in European competition, is not something that I think the SPL would do to be quite frank.”

"Rangers' involvement in the UEFA Cup affects everything, from the co-efficient to Scottish football (as a whole), so I think it would be rather foolhardy to ask us to play four games in eight days."

The story as reported in many news outlets comes from the Press Association Scotland’s reporter, Rangers historian and co-author of, among other titles, It’s Rangers for Me, Ronnie Esplin. One can only speculate as to whether or not Esplin’s impartiality has been compromised in the story headlined "Gers chief senses Hoops fear".

If Mr Bain thinks the suggestion that Rangers should be expected to fulfil their fixture obligations is foolhardy, perhaps he will invite UEFA to indulge his club by bending their own rules.

The club does seem prone to expecting rule changes in their favour. There was apparent bewilderment at Ibrox that FIFA chose to adhere to its own rules over the proposed sale of Daniel Cousin. Maybe UEFA will allow Rangers to play their ties with Sporting Lisbon at a time to suit them.

Of course, amid the growing clamour to have the league calendar altered to give Rangers a competitive advantage over their rivals, some obvious questions have been overlooked:

• Why should Rangers, unlike every other team in British competition, not be expected to fully utilise its squad to cope with any upcoming pressure?

• Why do Rangers currently have the fourth-smallest available squad in the SPL and is this fact relevant to their public request to have the league calendar changed?

• Given the demands on their squad, why then did Rangers transfer out three players and attempt to sell Daniel Cousin during the January window?

If Rangers have been unable or unwilling to assemble and maintain a squad capable of fulfilling their fixtures, it would be foolhardy, wrong and probably liable to legal challenge if their negligence should be accommodated to the detriment of other league members.

The next time Bain is thinking of saying something about Celtic, hopefully he will think of Honest Abe.