With Scottish football, controversy is never far away and this has been proven with events in the last few months (sorry - writer's block).
Celtic's rotund midfield general Neil Lennon has been in the news recently, although not in the joke section, which he usually finds himself in. After being booed by the Dundee support last Saturday, Lennon gave the Dens Park homeboys a little homemade gesture in return. The response? A quite pathetic one. All of a sudden the Dundee support go off running to their mummies complaining what that bad man Mr. Lennon did. The Police were informed about this incident ( Surely not. The Police in Dundee ? ) and an inquiry has been launched. What a waste of the tax payer's money, as some people would say. Imagine having to pay for Lennon's food bills in jail ( ! ). Seriously though, the Northern Irishman was in the right on this one. The man has had been subject to sectarian abuse from day one and has been forced to quit playing for his own national side, so give the man a bit of a break. It's a sad day when you can dish out a finger and not expect one in return. In fact, I seem to remember our good friend Jock McStay giving the Queen's support a salute after Rovers scored the opener in an encounter from last season. Sure, I was a little angry at this, but after some serious thought, I showed some empathy. After all, I'd rather be given a harmless gesture than be nutted by a 6 foot donkey.
In European competition, Celtic and Rangers faced their first matches of the Champions League. And whilst the Huns won and the Tims lost, let's not kid ourselves here. Celtic and Rangers will do nothing in Europe for quite some time if they aren't willing to start some of the promising youngsters that are at both clubs. I mean, Henning Berg? Honest to God ... And I've had just about enough of this "great advert for Scottish football" nonsense which seems to continuously roll off the tongue of pundits like Derek Johnstone and Mark Hateley ( well, maybe not "roll" as such ). Unless I see some Scots in the sodding starting eleven, I'll refuse to condone and agree with this cliche. It's seems like a great advert for the corporate big-wigs who would like to see an Atlantic league or something, but the directors of both clubs are just kidding the fans of both teams on. Quick fixes are not the long-term solution.
Good to see Hearts manager Craig Levein stand his ground too against the SFA. After comments made about joke referee Dougie McDonald, Levein was summoned to pay some stupid fine, and this case has dragged on longer than at all necessary. It's about time that someone grew the balls to take on these clowns. Hardie, Richmond, McDonald, even Willie Young, etc. The list goes on. It seems that nowadays all you need to be a ref, is have your own whistle and have your mum make sandwiches at the SFA fayre. And what is even more stupid is Chris Robinson is on the board of the SFA taking part in an attempt to get Hearts kicked out of the Scottish Cup. This thing has gone on for so long, I've failed to keep track with what has happened in this case, to be honest, but a big Oh Hampden thumbs up goes out to Levein.
And finally, Dunfermline's new pitch is getting laid out down Fife way. So whenever anyone fancies like a wee lie-down during a match, I bet it'll be dead comfy. Chris Sutton, come on down... |
