We might make it 1 year on the road undefeated in the leagues without playing if this strike goes ahead.

Lookey Lookey

"English speaking" refs to step in, say SSN and BBC.

Yanks?

SCAB, SCAB, SCAB, SCAB, SCAB...

Who are the scabs? First off this strike could be deemed illegal. The refs association did not give the statutory 7 days notice of impending strike. Second, the SFA and the leagues have agreed to the demands of the refs yet they are continuing with their action. If they do go ahead they could effectively find themselves out of work. As self employed people they are not covered by the same protection as employed people and they will be in breach of contract.

Apparantly the Dutch FA have agreed to supply refs.

Whilst I have every sympathy for the refs and accept they have a difficult task I think they have brought a lot on to themselves by not being open and honest and by operating as a secret closed shop. I think this situation has to bring about a serious look at the way refs operate. There are too many dubious mistakes. There's no consistency and now there will be no right to critisise them.

If I had any clout the first thing I'd do is put together a committee made up of refs, players and managers and their remit would be to improve the game, improve the standards and be the disciplinarians for all refs, players and managers.

The Scottish FA can confirm that agreement has been reached with several European Associations to ensure matches in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the Alba Cup final will be covered this weekend.

Negotiations are continuing with other national associations to help ensure that some, if not all, matches in the Scottish Football League go ahead as normal.

Clubs will be informed by 3pm today whether their matches will go ahead or not in light of the Scottish Category One referees electing to persist with their withdrawal of labour

LRT, here we come!

YAAAAAS!! Let's make it a year ICT!

Here's hoping we don't get a Romanian Ref!!!

"English speaking" refs to step in, say SSN and BBC. Yanks?

You better hope not !!! If you see the name Baldomero Toledo near any SPL fixture you know that the players and fans will soon appreciate Scottish refs !!!!

As an ex-referee I always have a chuckle when the accusation of inconsistency is made.

Referee training standards were applicable across the board, from us juvenile refs right up the class ones. We had an annual conference that was open to anyone with a referee qualification - which includes coaches, managers and players if they so wished. Obviously the higher up the leagues you went, the more frequently you would be observed and a report submitted to your local Referee Association. Regardless, your decisions could be held to account at the disciplinary boards held by the local Football Association (so in effect, you were open to scrutiny and criticism from either Association!) and could be asked to clarify aspects of your report. Indeed, I had to do so on one occasion when they called me at my place of work, which I had no problem with. I was unaware of the outcome of the hearing however, which meant I was not aware if my decision was being upheld, moderated or dismissed. Therefore I had no idea if I had made an error but if I had done, then I would have had an opportunity to learn from it.

I attended routine referee meetings, although these were not mandatory. Mind you, if you were interested in doing the best you could on the field, then it was advantageous to do so because there would be a discussion on recent high-profile games usually supported with video clips. I believe the meetings were mandatory for the higher grades, as was conference. For us lower league people it was optional.

Now here is something weused to do and they probably still do today ? there would be several clips ofgames that some may have seen, but most would not (mind this was before theexplosion of satellite and digital free-view when foreign games were still "exotic"). An incident would be played in real time, thenstopped and the following questions asked:

- was it a foul?

- If yes, whattype (direct or indirect)

- Was it a card,and if so, what colour?

- Why?

In a room full of trainedand experienced referees, there would usually be a majority in agreement BUTthat still meant there were some who didn?t. Obviously there would be concern if thedifference was ?no foul? and ?red card?, but you will realise that there cansometimes be a subtle distinction between ?yellow? and ?red?. And that was having seen the same incident, onTV, at the same instant. Make ajudgement, now ? don?t wait, don?t consult ? what is it? The point was two-fold ? this was the type ofpressure the referee was under, and a cadre of his peers did not necessarilyagree with the outcome. So who is rightand who is wrong? Law 5.

So for those who thinkthe referees are inconsistent, try that exercise yourself with a group of matesand see what the general consensus is ? I am not saying you will be wrong, allI am saying is that you may be surprised that the majority may not agree withyou. But football is not a game run bydemocratic opinion, it is a dictatorship. And unfortunately, no matter how much we trainand develop to try and ensure it is a benevolent dictatorship, there willalways be those who disagree. It is whenthat disagreement becomes endemic and insidious that it leads to what we arewitnessing now.

As a final point, I wouldurge you all to do the referee course. Youdon?t need to then go on an referee, but you will be arguing from a position ofstrength and confidence having been through the course. It is really very interesting to have thediscussions surrounding the laws and hear what the trainers (usually class onerefs) have to say about it.

There is no closedshop. Anyone can join.

This whole thing sucks. I feel sorry for the lower league clubs they are one that will loose much needed gate money

while the SPL scrape around to find Refs to keep craphead open. Wont be making the trip south this weekend.

STV reporting Portuguese and Polish Refs with the possibility of others from Malta and Luxembourg who have said they are available being added.

Israelis!!!

I'll get this old one in first: are they Catholic Jews or Protestant Jews?

Hopefully they'll get a bit of banter with Gil if that's the case.

I like the idea of getting Israeli ref's in. If anyone tries to issue a death-threat the IDF will bulldoze their house and if anyone retaliates then the East End of Glasgow will be occupied for Orthodox Jews to build settlements on it. I think this would be an improvement. Mazol tov!

anyone got an Israeli flag? Seem to remember Celtic have a Palestinian one somewhere!

Hopefully the football over the weekend will do the talking and we aren't all left talking about the 'refs' again, I for one am glad the games are going ahead but am undecided whether it is a good thing that foreign refs are being used or not. It shouldn't make a difference as it should be the same across the board but we'll soon see.

The SFA and SPL must have had contractual arrangements or something that made them source refs from elsewhere, I just can't believe they are happy to use them over their own for any other reason.

What if all the refs are really good? Should we use them every week?

Asher Cohen from Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/181898.stm

Hope he's ready to face Tokley and Tel! Wonder if the bogey brigade will have their Palestinian flags out on Saturday...

Jew are yi?

Did nobody check to see if Sandy Roy, Mr W Knowles of Inverurie or even A D C Kidd were available?

Edited November 25, 201015 yr by DJS

anyone got an Israeli flag? Seem to remember Celtic have a Palestinian one somewhere!

I'm sure you could borrow one from a pub en route to the game. Wouldn't fancy your chances of getting out of the stadium intact though!

Stuart Regan (of the SFA) has announced that refs will be brought in from other associations in the UK, and is hoping that most SPL games, and the Alba Cup final will go ahead.

Here's hoping a ref from the Northern Ireland FA will be taking the Celtic-ICT game!

Sean O Rourke is the ref

Israelis!!!

I'll get this old one in first: are they Catholic Jews or Protestant Jews?

it doesnt matter Saturday nis their Sabbath so they wontn be working

First off this strike could be deemed illegal. The refs association did not give the statutory 7 days notice of impending strike.

How many times does it need to be said - the referees are not striking! They are universally not making themselves available for their part time weekend job. It's happened on an individual basis before as not every referee can do a game at the weekend but this is different in that they are ALL making themselves unavailable.

Will other Scottish clubs sue Celtic over loss of earnings due to postponements?

Jew are yi?

:aghast: Jeez a joke from Stan..... whatever next.

First off this strike could be deemed illegal. The refs association did not give the statutory 7 days notice of impending strike.

How many times does it need to be said - the referees are not striking! They are universally not making themselves available for their part time weekend job. It's happened on an individual basis before as not every referee can do a game at the weekend but this is different in that they are ALL making themselves unavailable.

Will other Scottish clubs sue Celtic over loss of earnings due to postponements?

yeah! lets sue the ass off them and they might shut the hell up and crawl back under their rocks.

Does anyone know if any of the refs actually been confirmed for this weekend? Cant seem to find anything official and i noticed this in the Daily Record:

Officials from Poland, Israel, Austria, Portugal, Luxembourg and Malta will take charge of the six top-flight matches and ALBA Challenge Cup Final after Hampden chiefs failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop Scotland's top whistlers withdrawing their labour. The foreign legion were cobbled together over a dramatic and frantic period of negotiations yesterday to bring an end to what has become a 40-day crisis. But the day was also one of the most bizarre yet. The SFA were at the centre of another cover-up when they refused to reveal the identities of the officials.