PerfICT

Good find, Davie! Need to get this widely circulated. With any luck it will tee the SFA up for ridicule should the verdict go the wrong way tomorrow, which will help to fuel the fire and (hopefully) keep the club keen on pursuing the issue. Edit - It's OK - BBC have got hold of this now, so there should be good coverage.

...it was his first-time, inch-perfect pass that set Shinnie off into the box for the Raven goal. Can't coach that!

Please, please, please let there be a contentious handball in the area by a Celtic palyer against Dundee tonight...letters of complaint, compliance officers, retrospective bans - bring 'em on!

....and a terrible decision by Gordon to race off his line and bring down Watkins, not to mention the tactical car-crash that was Ronnie Delilah taking off Forrest instead of Commons for Gordon! They need to look closer to home for reasons that they lost.

....you would think!

I am (naively) assuming that the compliance officer only gets involved if the incident does not appear in the ref's report and is therefore deemed to have been missed by the officials at the time. This is the only way the SFA/officials' stories can stack up. So, McLean and Muir will presumably say that their views were obscured and Muir will have to stick to his alleged story that he thought it hit Josh's face/head. The case for the defence therfore has to centre on the deliberate nature of the action. The close proximity is one aspect; the other is the head movement towards the ball, the eyes closed expecting impact, which clearly point to an attempt by Josh to head it. To deliberately handle it, he'd need to be looking at the ffffing thing! You could even argue that Muir's misconception that it hit Josh's head was driven by the player's movement with that intent. The Mail's poll is 75% in favour of the charge being dropped.

His opinion is irrelevant, as this is now a "legal" issue. Only facts count and if the panel go with opinion rather than fact then this needs to be taken to a proper court.

Glad to see that there's outrage across social media about this (apart from the irrelevant green-eyed monsters, of course). Even some Celtic fans acknowledge that Josh is the wrong target here and that he is a scapegoat. Michael Stewart has tweeted that this is nonsense. I hate that this has totally overshadowed the performance of our team and fans on the day.

I really can't see how this can be seen as deliberate. However, I fear that he'll be the scapegoat to appease the disgusting hoards. I'll say this: if Josh is banned for the final, we'll win it for sure. The sense of injustice would be irresistible and the boys would do it for Josh and Gary. Let's hope that, for once, there's a sensible outcome. There's rage about this from across Scotland.

He didn't say it was deliberate, though.

Here's the apparent breach "Disciplinary Rule 200: In that at the above match you did deny the opposing team an obvious goal scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball" As others have said, I can't see how intent can be proved in this case (remember, Cifci's assault was thrown out as "unproven") because he clearly tries to head the ball and has his eyes closed! As Yogi has intimated on the STV site - he'll drag up every possible case possible to show that there is no precedent for this. But this is the SFA....

It is hard to believe that a so-called professional organisation can get literally EVERY decision that they make wrong! From handling the Rangers affair to scheduling of cup matches to overturning (or not) refereeing decisions - they truly have an astonishing record. Even the selection of McLean to ref a Celtic match was a hostage to fortune. Now, in attempting to pander to a powerful member and to cover up for mistakes of officials, they have opened an even bigger can of worms and attracted even more ridicule. Just grow a pair and stand up to the Grusome twosome with an unacceptable sense of entitlement. Disgusting.

Here's the defence: Manuel Neuer would have been hard pushed to have deliberately got his hand to the ball at that range....with his eyes open! Josh has quite clearly got his eyes closed (because he was expecting it to hit his head!) Given that hand-eye co-ordination is required to deliberately handle the ball, it is simply impossible to have done this intentionally with your eyes closed. Perhaps the SFA think he's equipped with sonar?! Tw@ts!

Good statement from the club. Absolutely the correct thing to do. Excellent. Get the DU lawyer in.

Of course, Zaluska will be cited for a reckless and dangerous challenge on Ofere too..............no? How can that possibly be?

Gutted for him. I think there's a case to be made that he went for it with his head, missed and it caught his arm, but I don't think they'll contest. That'll make it tricky in the final - Tremarco and Devine central defensive partnership?

Nick Ross has never let us down. For those who think he's still too lightweight, note how he bullied Broon on Sunday on at least 2 occasions. I like him, but I just don't know what position he plays best in. I suspect he fits better into a 4-4-2 than a 4-2-3-1 formation, so perhaps there's something for him if we use that more regularly. Really hoe he stays and would not be happy if he went OTB! Miles too good for Elgin.

Apart from Celtic, I'll be surprised if any team in the top 6 pick up more than 10 points or get fewer than 3. At the moment, at least, there are no dead games, so everybody will take points off everybody else. I think we'll get something of Abdn on Saturday and I can't see DU getting anything off Celtic. St J v Dundee is a Tayside derby, so I don't think that'll be straightforward. Here's my prediction: 1. Celtic: 94 2. Abdn: 78 3. ICT: 61 4. St J: 54 5. DU: 53 6. Dundee: 50

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32390325 Wonder who the 4 or 5 are that are likely to leave? Shinnie is obviously a cert and I think Watkins is too. I think most of the others would stay if they were offered a contract, but I wonder what's happening with Ross, Polworth, Devine and Raven. I'd be keen to keep all of them tbh, but I suspect that Ross, Devine and Polworth are getting a bit frustrated with their lack of first team action.

"It's all just sour grapes, sour grapes: no treble"!

I hope (and think) you're right, CaleyD, but this is the SFA...

Agree. The buzz at work from everybody (not just ICT fans, but even those who don't like football) is immense. It has captured the imagination and I'm sure plenty will take their extended families and friends. 8-9k for leugue cup final in winter will translate into 12k for the season finale in (hopefully) summer sunshine, with all the hype and build up. Again, I don't really care how many are there, so long as I am one of them!

Not at all sure on this one. Hopefully, the ref will say that he saw the ball strike his arm but maintains that he felt Meekings had no time to move it out the way. If he sticks to those guns, there's no cause for the compliance officer to be involved. If he says he didn't see it, then there might be retrospective action? Who knows how this all works.

Fair point, RobRoy. However, I suspect it was the SFA that set the price, not Celtic and I'm sure they'd like to keep consistency year on year. I think we just have to wait and see how they'll manage to screw us over this time!

The final should be at Hampden - no discussion. A St J fan on P&B put up the cost last year - £35 for adults £10 for concessions. I suspect it will be the same next month, but would be good if the SFA could bring these down a bit. Somebody suggested £50 for a family, which sounds like the right kind of incentive to me! Frankly, I don't care how many are there.....so long as I'm one of them!