My thinking on Scottish refereeing decisions ( the Honest Mistakes myth ) has been fomenting for nearly six decades of watching 'poor' decisions being explained away by various excuses ranging from incompetence to corruption to the hand of God .
I started questioning the fairness as far back as the sixties . In those far off days there was little coverage by TV and questionable decisions could be easily covered up .
I always thought that with the advent of live TV matches and intense scrutiny by a plethora of cameras that these 'honest mistakes ' would decline and eventually we would have a level playing field - but no !
The problems have in recent years been highlighted ad nauseum ; clubs ( not just Celtic ) have suffered reidiculous injustices and yet the guardians of the game ( the aptly named S.F.A. ) do precisely that .
Incompetence is clearly part of the problem . But if it was just that most of us could accept it , knowing that everyone would suffer equally . Unless you are naive in the extreme , most people who follow football will know of several former/ serving refs who clearly wear their heart on their sleeve -and some perhaps even as a tattoo . And they are not Thistle supporters or Ayr or even Celtic supporters - Lord forbid !
We know because they have declared this by their actions over the years and some are so blatant that they will openly boast of their transgressions as they derive a nice little living out of speaking to their fellows after they retire - and are beyond reproach . ( As if the SFA would even consider acting against former refs for clearly bringing the game into disrepute by their revelations )
Some welcome the use of VAR , seeing this as a counter to obvious cheating . But who administers the VAR - who makes the final decision ? In the World Cup Final , the second France goal , in my and many viewers opinion , should not have stood - but the referee as the final arbiter allowed it . So it will be in our game if it is introduced .
So I cannot as a committed optimist ( lol ) expect change from that quarter . I fervently hope that I am wrong .
( If anyone reaches the end of this diatribe then you may wish to view the full version at
Millsy@cynicalTim.co.lol )