[0762]

Jim, I'm glad someone else has noticed that discrepancy as well!!! My refereeing "benchmark" re a potential pk handball offence is Smith's dismissed handball offence at Tynecastle v Celtic when he literally held the ball for a split second in the Hertz pen box - compare it with some of the handball VAR calls Hertz have been awarded and others given against the likes of Celtic (and many others!) in highly questionable pk awards against eg O'Riley who just stood back in utter amazement!! And the Celtic manager's PM response on the Smith incident is famous in the way he just scoffed at the whole flawed process of interpretation in making these kinda bizarre decisions ("you saw it, the same as me eh!!" said Ange) without mentioning the "double standards" that are clearly being applied. IMO Hertz would be well embroiled in the relegation mire if it wasn't for very favourable/dodgy VAR decisions and I revert back to a comment I made, pre-VAR, re the huge importance of deploying competent and truly impartial ref officials in the whole process. Otherwise it would be potentially compromised in its infancy. There is no point deploying the same poor referees who debased the game in Scotland for years - NUTS! Taking well over 6 mins to come to a refereeing decision tells me that you default to the original decision as the initial incident was unclear from the start. Also the "double-handed save"/stonewall pk by Goldson in his own pen box at Ibronx yesterday was another unbelievable ref/VAR call where lotsa normal footie people must be privately raising questions re the integrity of VAR and the people who are making these poor calls. There were pundits on the bbc radio commentary team who were clearly afraid to just "call it out" for what the offence was - TWO ARMS UNNATURALLY HIGH IN THE AIR IN GOLDSON'S OWN PEN BOX AND BATTING AWAY A FOOTBALL!!!!!??????????? IMO there are big questions to be asked at a higher level than this Sb board. Also I must say the Celtic manager did well just not bothering to call it; a draw will do fine in a shit match overall. Ange must have been privately seething re this convenient oversight, one of many duff ref/VAR calls in weeks gone by!!