Tricky winger facing a tricky Tynecastle trip
After yet another stupid booking at the weekend, Aiden McGeady is now facing the possibility of missing out on the Celtic v Rangers New Year match.
If the Irish winger picks up a booking on Sunday at Tynecastle, he will be suspended for the top of the table clash.
There may be some hope for Celtic fans in the fact that the referee for Sunday’s clash is Willie Collum. Collum has refereed two top flight Celtic games this season but he has only delivered one booking to a Celtic player so far.
Sadly, that player was Aiden McGeady.
In total, Collum has refereed eight league matches and has delivered a total of 16 bookings, averaging at two per match.
Given that Aiden McGeady will be booed from kick-off by a Hearts fan who appreciate the skills shown by tricky opposition wingers (wait, sorry, that is the Derek Johnstone explanation for booing opposition players, Jambos hate McGeady because he chose to play for Ireland and all that entails), playing on a narrow pitch in a highly charged atmosphere, there is every chance that McGeady will be booked.
One thing that can be agreed upon is that this news will bring out the worse elements in the hardcore fans of both Celtic and Rangers fans.
Some Celtic fans will feel it is inevitable that McGeady will pick up a booking at Tynecastle as the SFA set out to deprive Celtic of their creative force for the big New Year clash.
For all his skill, McGeady does show petulance at times and if he picks up a booking, there is every chance it will be fully deserved. However, if any Celtic fans are of this way of thinking, stick some money on Aiden being booked and at least you will win some money to soften the blow.
If Aiden does get a booking, it will no doubt have Rangers fans digging out their ‘ambulance chasing’ nonsense and banners as they will expect Celtic to find any loophole to enable their key player to play.
For all the noise that Rangers fans make, you can guarantee that all at Celtic would rather have had Phil O’Donnell still around than Aiden McGeady on the park. Clear thinking is not always applied to these games though.
Spirit of goodwill to all men is obviously lacking when it comes to Celtic and Rangers fans at any time of year but when it comes to crunch, it is nowhere to be found.
It is vital for Celtic to pick up all three points at Tynecastle so there is very little chance of McGeady being rested. Hoops fans will have to hope he can conjure up the skill to win the match without giving the referee any reason to discipline him.
It will be a nervous few days for Aiden McGeady, Tony Mowbray and Celtic fans.
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Aiden McGeady gets daft yellow cards for sure. However, there is one agenda for him by some refs and that agenda is to make him miss old firm games as often as possible. Paranoid? Ask yourself if he has ever played in a game refereed by Brines and came off without either a yellow or a red card. fact, there isn’t one. Brines goades mcGeady at every turn and books him for no reason. remember too that his yellow cards against Hibs earlier in the season when he was disgracefully yellow carded then red carded for having the audacity to allow himself to be being booted in the air are the original markers for a plan well prepared in advance. Paranoid? Watch Brines next time too.
Brines is a really terrible ref. Not sure if he is biased or just really bad but his demeanour certainly makes him look to be a vindictive and petty man.
His decision to send off Jan Venegoor of Hesselink in injury time at Inverness Caley for celebrating a goal a couple of yards behind the touchline was petty to the extreme.
Fair enough for a ground with a large running track but that is not Inverness.
We’ll definitely keep an eye on Brines the next few games he takes charge of.
Joe and the author of this article i think the both of you need to go back in re-hab because obviously it did not fix your brains the first time
Thanks Drunken, have a drink on us!
WeKnowSFA can’t speak for Joe but as for us, we’ll have to be like Amy and say no, no, no to the rehab idea.
I was told that policemen were not allowed to have two jobs is this true if it is then they should not be referees.
If that is the case, he is definitely not the only one.
The infamous linesman Andy Davis is also a cop.
There is probably some allowance made.
How can SPL refs seriously threaten to go on strike about the criticism the yget when they keep making ridiculous calls week in week out?
Thanks Tim.
Although its not something most fans will admit…but it must be a really hard task being a ref.
However, as you say, the decisions are getting worse with each passing season.
Maybe this is as much to do with technology / video replays / tv coverage / demand for points and money / society going to hell in a handbasket but its becoming rarer to come away from a game without thinking the ref had an influence.
If there was a bit more humility and open-ness with refs, people would probably be a lot happier with their decisions.
Two stonewall pens for Celtic totally ignored by the ‘ref’, the ref blowing for full time as Fortune was running through on goal with what would have been only the keeper to beat?
I seem to remember something about Celtic loosing a league on goal difference not so long ago!
This is week in week out, with very few exaptions.
The SPL/SFA are as responsible, what exactly is the procedure for the retrospective Celtic player punishment committee, are rangers infact given the choice of whether they want a defender (Loovens) or a stricker (McDonald) barred for a couple of days?
And why is it not possible to play an OF game due to a womens 100m race event happening in Glasgow because of “policing problems”, yet the police seem to be able to cope perfectly well with an OF game being played while Glasgow is celebrating a Hogmany week-end?
Although the last bit of the first question was (a bit) tongue in cheek, the answer to the second is patently obvious!