The combined body of knowledge on the English language and the phenomenon of protesting too much, unless I am misunderstanding your point? Happy to be wrong.
Bang on the money as usual, Andy. Thanks. Let’s not forget that there is potentially an additional aspect to this manufactured controversy. Tony Bloom is a proud Zionist who donates millions of pounds to Israeli ‘charities’ linked to the IDF and Mossad. As we have witnessed recently, no slight is ever too small for Zionists like Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, to lash out against. It would be very naive indeed to believe that Netanyahu’s Zionist regime will tolerate Celtic’s fans well-known support for the Palestinian cause without doing everything in its power to damage the Club. Why has Tony Bloom invested in Scottish football of all places?
An insight into the Celtic-minded mind. How the SFA have not sanctioned the club after what happened is beyond me. And I’m a neutral who despises the other of the Ugly Sisters far more than I do Celtic.
Scottish FA can't sanction Celtic for a game that is under SPFL control. And as there is no Strict Liability rules, the clubs cannot be punished for fans invading the pitch - that is why the Scottish Government are sticking their noses in to see if they can impose legislation. Yet, pitch invasions have happened for years in Scotland - yet the fallout from the Celtic title win and pitch invasion [with no evidence of assaults] pales in comparison to the violent scenes and assaults we witnessed in 2016 when Rangers fans ran onto the pitch to attack Hibs fans celebrating. We didn't have all of this commentary or demands for legislation to ban pitch invasions back then? Three years later, the SPFL clubs voted against Strict Liability - which would have punished Celtic for the pitch invasion that occurred.
I have no skin in this game. A St Mirren supporter living in Edinburgh. As neutral as I can be. The pitch invasion was the catalyst for this whole situation. I agree the game wasn't abandoned, but the invasion caused it to be ended, rather than purely the ref's decision and blowing the whistle. How can that be acceptable? At what point during the 8 minutes added time would it have been a problem? Who decides this? It's dangerous territory and really disappointing that Celtic didn't come down hard on the pitch invasion issue. There don't appear to be any laws in place to provide some kind of framework for these situations and unless SFA/SPFL set out punishments in black & white, it will keep happening. Players should not be put in that situation.
Graeme - in 2019 the SPFL clubs voted on Strict Liability - all but three clubs rejected introducing it. Strict Liability would have punished every club whose fans invade the pitch or any other act deemed in breach of rules. That is why there is no laws in place - because turkeys will never vote for Christmas. The Scottish FA cannot impose laws on SPFL clubs unless playing in SFA competitions - Likewise the SPFL cannot impose any rules on their clubs without the clubs agreeing to it and they never will if it means they'll be punished for every fan infraction from use of pyro to pitch invasion to fighting to blocking stairways etc.
As for the game itself - as you said yourself the game ended when Don Robertson spoke to Derek McInnes. The goal from Callum Osmond was scored with less than 30 seconds to go - it took over a minute for the game to restart when Shankland scored his goal. So ultimately, the game was at an end when Osmond put the ball into the back of the net with or without the fans on the pitch - which they shouldn't have been.
You then have to question a few of the Hearts players also - yes Celtic fans were goading them and doing wanker signs or sticking the fingers up at them, but it was the Hearts players who made contact with the fans - rather than leaving the field of play as quickly as possible. If you saw Shankland, he had to be dragged off the pitch by team mates, club officials, and stewards because he was clearly itching for a fight - which happened right after Celtic scoring their second goal when he faced off against Maeda, kicking out at him and grabbing him by his throat off the ball.
Surely THIS will make our useless board wake up to the fact that too many of their "friends" in the media want to do us harm and knowingly spread lies to our detrimental.
Hehe mate, it does feel rather like we were vindicated. Again. Here's why it doesn't feel good; it should not be this easy for one organisation to whip up the media into such a frenzy and turn them against another organisation. Whether it's football or not, whether it's Celtic or not, the media should have a higher standard than this. It's been a shameful week for them and now we've found out that all of it was predicated on a lie. Which they knew to be a lie. And that elevates their disgrace to a whole other level. We should feel like this is a win. And it is. But I do feel a bit queasy and a bit sick to my stomach just the same.
The combined body of knowledge on the English language and the phenomenon of protesting too much, unless I am misunderstanding your point? Happy to be wrong.
Bang on the money as usual, Andy. Thanks. Let’s not forget that there is potentially an additional aspect to this manufactured controversy. Tony Bloom is a proud Zionist who donates millions of pounds to Israeli ‘charities’ linked to the IDF and Mossad. As we have witnessed recently, no slight is ever too small for Zionists like Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, to lash out against. It would be very naive indeed to believe that Netanyahu’s Zionist regime will tolerate Celtic’s fans well-known support for the Palestinian cause without doing everything in its power to damage the Club. Why has Tony Bloom invested in Scottish football of all places?
An insight into the Celtic-minded mind. How the SFA have not sanctioned the club after what happened is beyond me. And I’m a neutral who despises the other of the Ugly Sisters far more than I do Celtic.
Scottish FA can't sanction Celtic for a game that is under SPFL control. And as there is no Strict Liability rules, the clubs cannot be punished for fans invading the pitch - that is why the Scottish Government are sticking their noses in to see if they can impose legislation. Yet, pitch invasions have happened for years in Scotland - yet the fallout from the Celtic title win and pitch invasion [with no evidence of assaults] pales in comparison to the violent scenes and assaults we witnessed in 2016 when Rangers fans ran onto the pitch to attack Hibs fans celebrating. We didn't have all of this commentary or demands for legislation to ban pitch invasions back then? Three years later, the SPFL clubs voted against Strict Liability - which would have punished Celtic for the pitch invasion that occurred.
Methinks thou doth protest too much Andy.
Which is exactly what we would expect someone who is projecting to say.
Who is 'we', and what am I projecting?
I have no skin in this game. A St Mirren supporter living in Edinburgh. As neutral as I can be. The pitch invasion was the catalyst for this whole situation. I agree the game wasn't abandoned, but the invasion caused it to be ended, rather than purely the ref's decision and blowing the whistle. How can that be acceptable? At what point during the 8 minutes added time would it have been a problem? Who decides this? It's dangerous territory and really disappointing that Celtic didn't come down hard on the pitch invasion issue. There don't appear to be any laws in place to provide some kind of framework for these situations and unless SFA/SPFL set out punishments in black & white, it will keep happening. Players should not be put in that situation.
Graeme - in 2019 the SPFL clubs voted on Strict Liability - all but three clubs rejected introducing it. Strict Liability would have punished every club whose fans invade the pitch or any other act deemed in breach of rules. That is why there is no laws in place - because turkeys will never vote for Christmas. The Scottish FA cannot impose laws on SPFL clubs unless playing in SFA competitions - Likewise the SPFL cannot impose any rules on their clubs without the clubs agreeing to it and they never will if it means they'll be punished for every fan infraction from use of pyro to pitch invasion to fighting to blocking stairways etc.
As for the game itself - as you said yourself the game ended when Don Robertson spoke to Derek McInnes. The goal from Callum Osmond was scored with less than 30 seconds to go - it took over a minute for the game to restart when Shankland scored his goal. So ultimately, the game was at an end when Osmond put the ball into the back of the net with or without the fans on the pitch - which they shouldn't have been.
You then have to question a few of the Hearts players also - yes Celtic fans were goading them and doing wanker signs or sticking the fingers up at them, but it was the Hearts players who made contact with the fans - rather than leaving the field of play as quickly as possible. If you saw Shankland, he had to be dragged off the pitch by team mates, club officials, and stewards because he was clearly itching for a fight - which happened right after Celtic scoring their second goal when he faced off against Maeda, kicking out at him and grabbing him by his throat off the ball.
Surely THIS will make our useless board wake up to the fact that too many of their "friends" in the media want to do us harm and knowingly spread lies to our detrimental.
I agree totally! A lot of so called journalists need to take a long look in a mirror to see what they've become.
Hehe mate, it does feel rather like we were vindicated. Again. Here's why it doesn't feel good; it should not be this easy for one organisation to whip up the media into such a frenzy and turn them against another organisation. Whether it's football or not, whether it's Celtic or not, the media should have a higher standard than this. It's been a shameful week for them and now we've found out that all of it was predicated on a lie. Which they knew to be a lie. And that elevates their disgrace to a whole other level. We should feel like this is a win. And it is. But I do feel a bit queasy and a bit sick to my stomach just the same.
A very good article and more importantly, the truth .