posted Aug 5, 2008

Go on Levein. You're the People's Champion. Even Old Firm fams must be ashamed of the refs sometimes.

I think he used the right terminology as well. It's not bias its just a lack of bottle.

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posted Aug 5, 2008

If the SFA really thought CL was out of order, they would have fined him a lot more than 5K. This fine is more or less an admittance that he said nothing that Smith & Co., would not agreed with in private. As for George Peat, he should have known better than to comment in advance of the hearing and now looks a bit silly. Rangers fans should not see this as a slight against their club as good or at least reasonable refereeing performances are equally to their advantage. 5K might turn out to be a bargain.

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posted Aug 5, 2008

I have heard from the horses mouth (a former top spl referee) that referees do have alligences with the old firm and he stated himself that that it is no way possible to be totally unbiased. However the reason why the old firm get more decisions for them against the smaller teams is because there is a higher percentage of referees who support one or the either. This referee stated that he believed the united rangers game was a game definitly with refereeing bias. I swear this is the gospel truth.

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posted Aug 6, 2008

Also consider the influence of 40-60,000 weegies howling at them for every decision, and it's no wonder why Celtic only win at Parkhead in Europe.

But that aside, Levein told it like it was, and I feel that the rules which do not permit a manager to criticise a ref's performance are a farce.

Referees MUST have more accountability in the Scottish game.

Perhaps we could get some neutrals in to ref the games - Poles, perhaps or even better some Lithuanians...

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posted Aug 6, 2008

"Mr Levein was found to be in breach of the following Articles of Association:

123 - Bringing the game Into disrepute
126 - Criticising the performance of match officials in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence."

Surely it was McCurry that brought the game into disrepute?...again.

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posted Aug 6, 2008

It wasn't so long ago that Levein criticised Gus MacPherson because he had concerns about a now retired referee. The problem with the Scottish game is that there is no transparency - referre's are allowed to hide behind the shroud of secrecy that the SFA provides. Indeed I have it on good authority that if you want to get a referee to comment on a bad decision, you have to inundate the SFA with fans complaints. If only one or two complain, then they will just ignore you. So go on, get emailing when the ref's turn out to be incompetent, be that for £800 or £1,000 per game.

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posted Aug 7, 2008

While I do keep in mind that Refs are human, and as such human error will creep into certain decisions. I do think that a lot of refs are baised for the OF. At the end of the day refs are proffessionals and should act like them. As a supporter of the OF, it is nice to win, but there is no dignity in winning if its merrited only by poor decisions from a ref. It has to be fair for both sides.

CL has every right to say what he said, as I am sure every gers fan was silently agreeing with what he said. Managers and players get critised when they perform poorly, and so should refs, as they get paid for doing it. The day a man cant give his honest opinion on something legit for fear of backlash and fines is the day it has gone ridiculous.

Fair play to CL, the same rules accross the board for all teams.

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posted Aug 7, 2008

Blues, Is this the start of the softening up approach in order to try and temp CL and our entire midfield to Rangers when you sack SMIFFY

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posted Aug 7, 2008

ha ha, maybe it is! I am a secret Ibrox scout on the search for a manager who signs midfielders and plays 2 strikers...

In all seriousness though, that game was a joke. No self respecting Rangers fan could have watched that game and not understood CL's anger. If the boot was on the other foot I would have been reeling.

Kenny Clarke and Dougal are the same, make pish decisions and are protected by the who's who of the SFA.

Like I said, it is great to win matches, but there is no pride in winning by crook. And its comendable to see CL say what everyone thinks.

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posted Aug 7, 2008

Anyway, are our refs not making use of their sponsorships? If they are then im going to a new optitians, cos Specsavers lense quality is clearly pish

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