Huisdean

I have read the posts on here and the majority on P & B as well. having calmed down since Josh was first cited, I think there are a few things to consider. Despite all the camera angles that have been shown, nobody has been able to, nor will they be able to, show the exact view the officials had of this incident. Why - becasue no official had a camera strpped to their head.Unless you were physically standing where the official were, you cannot 100% say from television footage that the officials saw this. If they did not see clearly or were not a 100% sure, they cannot give a penalty. Referees should not try to second guess situations although some do. The SFA are really hanging the officials out to dry here and I do have sympathy for the officials. All the SFA needed to do was to come out with a statement that they had consulted officials and this is whay they thought happened/why they did not award a penalty. I genuinely believe the officials think they got the decision correct at the time and it must be remembered that they only get to see the incident once in real time, not on endless television replays. If Josh does get banned for this, then, as has already been said, it opens up a real can of worms for the future and could change how the game is played and viewed. While technically the Compliance officer may be within the rules, it is my understanding that these rules were brought in to basically capture off the ball or violent incidents that the referee missed/did not see and to then discipline the offenders. If the rules are badly written, then the clubs need to get them rewritten as soon as possible as the clubs agreed this. The final point has to be that if these rules have been in place for 4 years, why have they not been used for an incident like this before as this cannot have been the first time this has happened. An obvious conclusion would be because the SFA did this to shift the blame from the officials and to say, they got it wrong (but did they?), we cannot change what happened but we will ban a player retrospectively to make you/the SFA happy and look like the good guys. I rest my case m'lud

So Celtic are writing to SFA for an explanation on why a penalty was not given. Do they have no shame?. Wrong decisions happen every week to every team so man up and accept the decision. What this has done however is highlight the poor state of refereeing on show as this is the type of performance you see from referees week in week out. And by the way, Jock Stein would be birling in his grave at the way Celtic now act when refereeing decisions go against them. Sooner they leave Scotland with the other ugly sister, the better it will be for Scottish Football.

Absolutely brilliant result, made even better by the whingeing from Celtic fans about the penalty. Poor coverage on Sportsecene and Pat Nevin almost in tears as Celtic lost. As for him stating Celtic were the better team, no wonder he wears glasses. Onwards and upwards.

Astonished that some people are dropping Tansey and Doran while saying Nick Ross should keep his place and played well on Saturday. Nick Ross was neat and tidy as he always is but didn't carry the same threat as Doran does. We play a lot better with Doran in the team and he gives us a lot more options. Renegade - Doran played wide left for majority of second had on Saturday and did okay beating his man and getting crosses in so what is the issue. He can play wide on either wing and really gives us something different. Tansey is probably our best/most creative midfielder and if he is dropped, who replaces him?. Same team for me with exception of maybe Brill replacing Esson and Ofere on from the start relacing Ross or Christie.

Some very negative posts on here. On paper, we should beat Dundee but we don't play games on paper. On their day, just about every team is capable of beating each other and we have been very close to getting 3 points in a few of the drawn matches but are carrying very little luck at present. Agree with the poster that the quality is not really there in depth but if we can get something from the next two games, I would be confident we can get at least third place. What does worry me slightly is I don't think Yogi is totally sure of his best team and that could be an issue

How could he sink so low ? Maybe he is trying to tap into a new market

This has merit for the fans anyway. It wopuld also lessen the risk of clubs being relegated as a bigger league and fixture numbers remain the same so keeps the finance people happy.Will not happen though as clubs will kick back at their season being written off after 26 games if in the bottom half of the table but not in any danger of relegation. Given that we already havea 1 2team league with 3 "gig" clubs in the Championship, a 16 team league would be even better although only 30 games plus cups. Would this generate more revenue as some fans would go to more games where they pick and choose just now due to the cost?.

unless you have your tongue in your cheek, this is irrelevant although I hope Kilmarnock kick lumps out of them.

Althought not daft about playing at Hampden, you are spot on about the Saturday. It would be so easy to change and help fans attend but no consideration appears to be given on that.

I would be really disappointed if the players thought that. It is a cup semi final so wherever it is played, I would expect them to be up for it. The practice of playing both semi finals at Hampden, and for that matter Wembley is a fairly recent event and certainly a lot of fans in England are not happy at this. Think of how much more special it would be to plat at Hampden if you could only do so in the final.

I totally agree with you Wanderer but, as other s have said, the increased revenue available from a larger crowd will benefit the club more and helps sustain full time football. It will be interesting to see, especially if we win the semi if this results in increased gates for the final few league games.

Personally I would play it at the largest football ground outside Glasgow, in other words at Pittodrie but that won't happen. Playing at a neutral ground, not Hampden, is the fairest thing but that is just my opinion. It is true SFA have a duty to maximise revenue from these games but they also have a duty to promote the Scottish Cup as well as generate fan interest wich a 1215 kick off on a Sunday does not address either of these points.

Celtic take maybe 3000 fans when they visit us but not all travel from Glasgow as large numbers come from "local" supporters clubs and places closer to Inverness. In addition, easier to get the number of buses from Glasgow than it is to get from Inverness. It is not therefore a like for like comparison and this is not a league game but a cup semi final.

While not all semis used to be at Hamden, the games that attract bigger crowds used to be played there. There is no way a Scottish Cup Semi against Celtic would be played anywhere other than Hampden if it was available. But the point is they don't have to be. This game could be played at a neutral venue, not in Glasgow, be a sell out and would still be able to be seen on TV. Atmosphere would be miles better that will be generated at Hampden. Still maintain the SFA could have had our game on the Saturday which would have been a bit better than the Sunday. On a personal level, having the game on a Sunday makes it more difficult for me to travel to so am in danger of not being able to attend. Having been at all our major cup semi finals before, this really annoys me.

Disagree totally as the main issue is the fact that it is a Sunday. With a bit of thought, our game could have been at 1215 on a Saturday, still not ideal but at least better public transport connections. With declining crowds, SFA need to sell these games more, not just sell out to the TV companies and of course, had the semis not been at Hampden, as used to happen, chances are a venue that was easier to get to might have been chosen.

Would be very surprised if the SFA at all on this as another acronym for SFA is Sweet **** All

No as I think the same as you. Personally, I don't think semi finals should be played at Hampden, end of story. That was the case many years ago and as far as I am aware the only reason they are now played there is financial to justify the money wasted on upgrading Hampden. Hampden is a crap stadium, one of the few which was better with terraces instead of seating and I have been there when crowds of over 100000 still permitted. If Celtic win the replay Hampden may be full, with Dundee Utd, maybe 30000 crowd tops with big empty spaces. I was at both semi finals against Dundee and Dunfermline and both these matches had no atmosphere due to low crowds. Replay at Pittodrie was much better. We have earned our placed in the semi final regardless of what happens but Hampden should not be the venue for semi finals, simple as that.

dont your recordings normally start by giving you the right to remain silent ? That would be a novelty for IHE!!

Totally agree IHE. On the subject of bookings, I feel we have been on the end of some really poor refereeing decisions especially for cautions. haven't seen the United game so cannot comment on the cautions we received there but standard of refereeing is definitely worsening in Scotland.

You high bud, raven has been fantastic this season Mmm fantastic? Should you not be on the training pitch practising crosses and ball control David? As he has been doing for most of the season and yesterday was an exception FFS. You could see Raven was getting frustrated at his own performance but everyone is entitled to one bad game surely.

So, sandwiched in amongst all the posts is a answer to the original posts.

You cannot be serious. He was slow, looked overweight and had a touch like an elephant!

BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling." No question he was clipped, but no ref is going to give a pen for the way he went down. Not a criticism of Watkins, but he took two paces before going down. Feel the contact, go to ground - no argument. Fair play to Watkins if he tried to keep playing, but plenty would have played for the contact and won the pen. No criticism - just was never going to be given as it happened. Pretty sure the penalty should be award for the offence, not based on style marks for how the victim goes down...or have I got that wrong? Of course, but the delayed reaction was unconvincing. I think Marley genuinely tried to keep playing and was unbalanced by the clip, but it looked like he realised he wasn't going to make and went down. The issue really is: If he was clipped, ref has to give a pen; if ref didn't see it as a clip, he has to give Watkins a yellow card. I'm not sure what no pen and no yellow means? It means the referee was absolutely dreadful and made the wrong decision yet again. Referees can see if there is an advantage for the team who has been disadvantaged but call the play back if not and give a foul. In this case, it would have been a penalty. Truly dreadful refereeing today as witnessed by the booking of Nick Ross. Dreadful play acting by some County players today with McIntyre and Dodds trying to get ICT players booed at every occasion.

Don't think a showe and County fans go together somehow

Heavy snow forecast overnight and tomorrow will be the main issue