Lennon describes the appeal process as a nonsense

Neil Lennon has added his backing to the demands to reform the appeals process describing the current set up as a nonsense.

Support to overhaul the current procedure which sees referee's review their own decisions was set in motion last week by Players Union boss Fraser Wishart and an open letter from Celtic Chairman John Reid.

SPL Chief Neil Doncaster has also backed the campaign to change forcing Gordon Smith to admit that he too is now in favour of reforming the system.

Asked about the current system on Celtic's Channel 67 service Lennon said: "I think it's a nonsense. You appeal a decision and then the referee, who made the decision, looks at it again agrees that he was right in the first place!

"Surely it has got to be done by an independent body to get a neutral opinion on it. I'm glad that it is being looked at again. I certainly don't agree with the current system.

"Possibly this will take some pressure off the referees, I don't think that there's anything wrong with saying 'look I've got that one wrong or I've made a wrong decision'.

"If someone else comes in and says that three or four people think that was decision was wrong that's fair. We're just looking for a bit of common sense in the game."

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FA move quickly to demote referee

Problems and issues with referees happens throughout the game, mistakes are made, even Champions League ties and World Cup qualifiers have suffered from terrible refereeing decisions.

Dealing with those mistakes is crucial to retaining respect for the game with the FA moving swiftly to demote Mike Dean after his sub-standard performance in the Manchester United-Chelsea match.

The showpiece match between the two favourites for the Premiership crown was marred by mistakes from Dean and his assistant Simon Beck, the sort of decisions that didn't need multiple camera angles to detect.

The FA have a body called Professional Game Match Officials Limited in charge of appointing officials with Dean unlikely to see another high profile Premiership game this season.

On Saturday, seven days after being in charge at Old Trafford he'll be in charge at Ashton Gate as Bristol City host Swansea in The Championship.

Dean's next Premiership appointment will be on April 14 as fourth official at the Wigan-Portsmouth match which is probably as far removed from refereeing a Manchester United-Chelsea match as you can get in the Premiership.

Other than the spectacular demise of Mike McCurry, which was probably more related to off-field actions and comments, the SFA seem reluctant to acknowledge or address mistakes from referees.

The English FA does have a far bigger pool of officials to select from and are represented at the major championships but the SFA seem reluctant to demote their referees.

Getting Scottish referees in contention for the major European matches and international competitions is a worthwhile goal but if the same referees are making repeated mistakes and still being awarded the bigger matches it's not offering much of an example to referees further down the ladder.

Refereeing is a part-time job for Scottish referees, it's not their main source of income.

Creating a more competitive environment where sub-standard performances are punished with demotion for a month or two from SPL matches should ensure that those that perform erratically are kept away from the top games.

A spell down the divisions getting decisions right and restoring confidence wouldn't do a referee any harm, when they return to the high profile SPL matches they'll be more determined than ever to get things right.

Just ask Mike Dean as he heads to Bristol City on Saturday.

Total breakdown as SPL bosses repeatedly criticise referees

Billy Reid has become the latest manager to openly criticise refereeing decisions in games against Rangers.

Craig Brown, Gus MacPherson and Peter Houston have all been outspoken about decisions in recent months as has the Celtic website.

Not much more than a year ago the SPL were delighted to announce that they had come to an agreement with club managers to prevent public criticism of referees.

The announcement came six months after Craig Levein had been hit with a massive fine for his comments about Mike McCurry's performance during a 3-1 defeat from Rangers at Ibrox.

A new maturity seemed to be breaking out within the game suggesting that general grievances would be looked at professionally provided that managers held back from public criticism.

The cynics wondered how long the love-in would last.

This season's events have consigned the 'peace-process' into the dustbin of history with managers despairing at decisions going against their teams.

Despite the regular criticism of decisions the SFA seem very reluctant to discipline managers with the charge of 'bringing the game into disrepute' virtually forgotten.

Hamilton boss Reid didn't even bother to look at a slow-motion replay of James McArthur's disallowed goal such was his conviction that his 'goalscorer' was onside.

Accies are currently clear of the relegation dogfight but if Falkirk and Kilmarnock continue to pick up wins they  could find themselves scrapping to beat the drop after the split.

Reid said: "I haven't seen McArthur's goal on the monitor but I don't need to.

"I knew Joel was offside when the cross came in but James wasn't. He came from deep, timed his run well and I'm told he was three yards onside.

"I was celebrating the goal so I'm disappointed it wasn't given. I had a word with the ref but he had a hard decision.

"Some they get right, some they get wrong. He called this one wrong."

Despite the popular opinion that it is Celtic that are most upset about refereeing decisions very little has been said by the club.

The first time that any official criticism was made was on February 28 when Dougie McDonald's decision to send-off Scott Brown at Ibrox was appealed- and dismissed by McDonald.

Even in a match where the referee admitted to a mistake in not awarding Celtic a penalty, against Rangers in October, Tony Mowbray's criticisms were all aimed at his central defenders rather than referee Craig Thomson.

Elsewhere managers have been highly critical of officials ranging from elder statesman Craig Brown to caretaker Peter Houston at Dundee United.

After having a 'goal' disallowed for offside against Rangers to put his side two up in a game that was eventually drawn 1-1 Motherwell boss Craig Brown almost got angry.

He said: "I feel very aggrieved. All he has to do is look along the line.

"I've had this feeling before at international level when the other team gets decisions like these and now I know what it feels like at club level. I call them big team decisions.

"There's a sense of injustice in the dressing room. I really feel that at 2-0 the game would have been over."

After losing 3-1 to Rangers at Ibrox last month St Mirren manager MacPherson was more outspoken about refereeing inconsistencies.

The St Mirren boss said: "David Weir impeded Michael Higdon in the process of shooting, he affected how he was shooting. There's a decision to get made there. No decision was made.

"We watch games, we go to games and we see clips on the BBC and we see a different set of rules getting applied. None more so than when we're coming here (to Ibrox)."

During his side's Scottish Cup tie with Rangers Dundee United caretaker boss Peter Houston watched his side's 1-0 lead become a 3-1 deficit courtesy of two penalties that certainly fell into the 'soft' category.

Despite fighting back to earn a replay which they eventually won Houston wasn't afraid to come out and criticise referee Dougie McDonald despite knowing that the same official would be in charge of the replay.

Houston said: "I am disappointed and I just wonder if the penalties would have been given at the other end. I hope they would have been.

"Dougie is an honest referee in normal circumstances, I think he is one of the best in Scotland but I was disappointed that he got there early to give the penalty kicks."

What is going on in the background between the clubs and the SFA is anyone's guess but it shouldn't be forgotten that the clubs are the SFA with an Annual General Meeting coming up next month.

The standard of refereeing is clearly a major concern as is the appeals process with Celtic chairman John Reid and SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith issuing statements clearly aimed at one another.

When a third of the managers in a division are complaining about an issue it is clearly worthy of investigation.

Turning the other cheek or hiding behind the 'it even's itself out over the season' cop out surely can't be an option for managers or their clubs.

Smith confused over appeals process

Rangers boss Walter Smith appears to have aimed some criticism at the SFA over Kevin Thompson's failed appeal after being sent off against St Mirren.

Smith is smart enough to say the right phrases without overstepping the mark knowing that his audience and the public in general can read between the lines.

Crucial to today's comments is the phrase 'I'm happy, as long as, in the future, every club is dealt with in the same manner.

"By that I mean when an appeal goes in, they will have an answer within minutes."

The rules and workings of the SFA can be a bit of a mystery at times but when it comes to discipline there are a few clear matters.

The crucial difference is between incidents disciplined by the match referee or others drawn to the attention of the mysterious, secrative Review Panel.

Any club can appeal against a red card issued during a match

Last season Stuart Dougal recognised his error in sending off Madjid Bougherra for a reckless lunge on Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield. The appeal was upheld and Bougherra was made available for Rangers game at Dundee United.

Celtic attempted to appeal Scott Brown's red card at Ibrox last month, they made their appeal on the same day as the red card. Before their next match the appeal was rejected.

With orderings off the SFA give a verdict before the next match regardless of whether the 'appealing' clubs appeals on the day of the decision or just minutes before closing time at the SFA on the next match day.

Less transparent is the mysterious Review Panel. In successive games last season Celtic's Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald had incidents put in front of the Review Panel.

The case against McDonald was dismissed however Loovens was given a one match ban which Celtic appealed.

That appeal was dismissed four months after the incident prompting Celtic to publically ask the SFA for clarification on the Review Panel.

To date it is unclear if the club has received an answer with reports that Morten Rasmussen and Kilmarnock's Fraser Wright have been reported to the Review Panel further clouding the issue.

Clarity from the SFA and bringing disciplinary matters into the 21st century would be welcome, a Review Panel meeting at Hampden every Monday morning to look through all SPL matches would do a lot to remove suspicions.

Celtic openly criticise referee McDonald after more honest mistakes

For the third time this season honest mistakes have had a major bearing on the Celtic-Rangers fixture.

Unlike the two previous occasions however Celtic have been quick to voice their concerns about the mistakes of referee Dougie McDonald.

The referee's decision to send-off Scott Brown was rash and unwarranted and appeared like the actions of an inexperienced referee reacting to the roar of the crowd.

Without hesitation McDonald, who sent off Aiden McGeady earlier this season against Hibs, went racing to the scene with his red card primed for the Celtic midfielder.

Celtic kept quiet after the previous controversies against Rangers but have come out with all guns blazing this time with McDonald in the firing line.

The comments from the official club website will surely earn a request from the SFA for an explanation unless the governing body decide to sweep refereeing matters under the carpet, again.

Celtic said: "It was a decision which had a major impact on the game and Celtic will now appeal against the red card, which saw Tony Mowbray’s side down to 10 men for the last half-hour of the game.   

"Certainly, the Celtic support in the Broomloan Road Stand and beyond were left mystified and angry at yet another refereeing decision in a derby game this season which has gone against the club.

"In the first derby match of this season at Ibrox back in October, Celtic were denied a blatant penalty by referee Craig Thomson, who admitted after the game that he had made a mistake.

"And in the game against Rangers at Celtic Park, referee Steve Conroy disallowed a Marc-Antoine Fortune goal, though replays showed that there was nothing wrong with the goal.

"Now, Dougie McDonald’s decision is added to that list and will be the major talking point from the game. "

That statement is going to create as much attention as Chris Sutton's outburst against Dunfermline on the final day of the 2002/03 season.

The SFA will have little option but to challenge the statement from Celtic which will open up a can of worms about other refereeing decisions through the season.

Celtic's statement makes no mention of Madjid Bougherra's performance where an early booking seemed to give the Algerian defender license to do anything that he liked without further punishment.

Bougherra had two further fouls given against him for challenges on Robbie Keane but on neither occasion did McDonald feel the need to even speak to the offender.

A further foul by Bougherra in the 71st minute was ignored by McDonald who seven minutes earlier hadn't been slow to flash the red card at Brown.

McDonald will now have to review the incident again as part of Celtic's appeal which should make for an interesting couple of days.

If McDonald admits to making a mistake he'll be congratulated all round for being honest enough to admit to an honest mistake.

If he stands his ground it'll be interesting to see which avenue Celtic decide to take the matter on.

The focus was always going to be on McDonald after George Peat criticised Celtic for discussing refereeing matters with the SFA, as most clubs do.

A simple no comment from Peat would have killed the 'story' stone dead with Rangers manager Walter Smith adding his comments afterwards.

He said: "If somebody was going to criticise a referee they should come out the closet and do it rather than do it in an anonymous manner.

"There is enough pressure on a referee without anyone else bringing things up."

Having bodyswerved the issues all season long the SFA will be in the spotlight having failed to deal with Celtic's earlier concerns about a number of issues.

Celtic haven't made such an official challenge to Scottish football officials since Fergus McCann went to war over the registration of Jorge Cadete.

On that issue the former Celtic chief was derided for chasing after a lost cause, eventually McCann was vindicated and the then SFA Chief Executive Jim Farry was hurriedly removed from office with a line drawn under the affair.

Today's challenge to the SFA's authority is going to be much more public than who did what with faxes sent between Glasgow and Lisbon over a registration.

A feeding frenzy beckons, there is no conspiracy or paranoid involved, Celtic seem to be questioning the repeated honest mistakes of officials which even Hugh Dallas admitted to earlier this month.

Celtic website statement  
Dallas criticises his own

Dallas admits to 'disappointing decisions that he's uncomfortable with'

Hugh Dallas has admitted that it has been a disappointing season with disappointing decisions that he has been uncomfortable with.

Predictably the man that has developed and groomed the current batch of referee's hasn't highlighted any specific incidents and has, true to form, reached out for the honest mistakes line. As if there could ever be any other possibility.

Once again over the weekend we witnessed amazing inconsistencies, Celtic players being booked for kicking the ball away and an Aberdeen player able to leave the field of play, celebrate with supporters and take his shirt off without referee Iain Brines reaching for a card.

No Celtic supporter has any real complaint about Stevie MacLean's actions, if he had ran towards the Celtic support, Adebayor-style, it would have been a different story.

He scored his goal, earned his team a point and deserves the right to celebrate. Just like Georgios Samaras at St Johnstone or Morten Rasmussen against Hamilton. 
Or Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink at Inverness three years ago which left Brines with no option but to yellow card and send the Dutchman off.

That day Brines applied the letter of the law, presumably on Saturday he used the 18th law of the game Common Sense which covers up for refs disobeying the laws of the game.

There has been much more than goal celebrations for Celtic supporters to get concerned with this season, aside from the obvious deficiencies evident in the team.

Clear cut penalty decisions were denied early in the season against Dundee United, Hearts and Rangers which finally saw Dallas issue a second hand apology on behalf of Craig Thompson who admitted to one wrong penalty call in the October 4 Rangers-Celtic game.

Interestingly in today's admission Dallas claims: "the first question we always ask is: ‘Why?’ In order to understand the reason behind it we need to hear the reason."

Strangely enough no explanation was ever offered for Thompson's failure to see David Weir's foul on Shaun Maloney, human error we can assume.

Dallas met with SPL managers at Hampden last Friday and finally admitted that it hasn't been a season to be proud of from the countries referees but again opted out of giving specific instances or reasons for the error-strewn season.

He explained: "If I am being honest, I would say this has been a disappointing season with some disappointing decisions, which I wish we didn’t have to analyse and talk about.

“We examine these in detail at the Referee Development Department and the first question we always ask is: ‘Why?’ In order to understand the reason behind it we need to hear the reason.

“Obviously there have been incidents this season I have been uncomfortable with. I am not going to sit here and pretend mistakes have not been made but it is how the referees learn from these that is important."

Perhaps publically admitting to mistakes being made by referees and demoting them from SPL matches would be a good start in ensuring stronger decisions are made and referees who repeatedly fail to apply the laws of the game are removed from the higher profile matches.

That may initially effect referees, but equally, younger promising referees with a flair from the game, not necessarily coming through from the professions, may be encouraged if they see a clear route to the top based on ability and decision making rather than being a favourite of the games rulers.

Dallas's comments are clearly aimed at supporters starting to air their concerns and gathering evidence of repeated mistakes from referees.

Whether he has addressed his officials and issued clear guidelines on fairly trivial matters like post-goal celebrations remains to be seen.

With a Rangers-Celtic game looming less than two weeks away the SFA could do without their officials being ridiculed with the eyes of the world looking in via Sky Sports.

Thompson and Steve Conroy have both made major mistakes in these fixtures already this season, a repeat of that next Sunday will confirm today's statement from Dallas as having all the conviction of a political manifesto.

As the Champions League resumes this week we will see increasing numbers of younger, fitter, dedicated officials not afraid of making big decisions. 

None of them will be Scottish.

Article from SFA website

The day Craig Levein went tonto

As he was unveiled as the new Scotland manager at Hampden tonight it's hard to forget the most dramatic time of Craig Levein's management career.

May 10, 2008, just over 18 months ago, was the day that the then Dundee United managed exploded in rage with a number of his new colleagues in the firing line.

An abysmal display by former referee Mike McCurry was the source of Levein's anger as Dundee United's UEFA Cup hopes took a savage blow, whilst Rangers prepared for the UEFA Cup final and an unprecedented quadruple.

After watching his side denied a clear penalty and have a perfectly good own goal disallowed for reasons known only to the officials Levein couldn't contain his anger as he was interviewed afterwards.

About Mc Curry at the penalty incident the new Scotland manager said said: "We had a blatant penalty and he bottled it.

"If it's not a level playing field and, if we don't get the decisions, blatant, important decisions then what is the point of turning up?"

"I thought Mike McCurry had the balls to stand up and give these decisions. Not only is it a penalty kick, but it's a sending off for Davie Weir. But he didn't want to do it because this game meant so much to Rangers."

Levein continued: "Anybody who is of a fair mind watching that today would see that we had no chance of winning that.

"We get a perfectly good goal chalked off and a blatant penalty, with not even a decision to make, and it should've been a sending off."

The SFA were quick to defend McCurry against Levein's allegations but he was never allowed to referee another Rangers match before retiring early because he was being overlooked for high profile matches.

Levein picked up a £5,000 fine for his outburst but would have had to pay much more than that for the publicity that his comments generated.

Tomorrow he'll be rubbing shoulders with many of the committee men that his comments upset.

The controversy rumbled on throughout the summer with SFA President George Peat claiming that Levein's comments were criminal, United were far from happy with this since Peat would be part of the committee that judged the 'offence'.

BBC match report including Levein interview.

Levein fined £5,000 but not apologising

Dundee United statement on George Peat

New date for Rangers game (February)

With two months notice the SPL can't be criticised for putting back the Rangers-Celtic game scheduled for February 27 to February 28.

The third derby match of the season will be screened live by Sky Sports, hardly a surprise, with a 12.30 kick-off.

Celtic's trip to Aberdeen on Saturday February 13 will have a 12.30 kick off to enable it to be shown live on ESPN.

Other less exciting fixture news sees the u-19 side face St Mirren tomorrow at Barrowfield with an 11am kick-off which makes it possible to catch the first half before heading along to Fir Park.

Jim Gannon's thoughts on that match should be interesting after his recent criticisms of referees and in particular 'supremo' Hugh Dallas.

EXPLAIN

The Motherwell boss has come out with some risky comments over the last few weeks and can expect a request to visit the SFA to explain himself.

Last year's embargo on directly criticising referees has been disregarded by the new intake of bosses with Gannon not prepared to stay silent on issues effecting his team and indeed others.

His comments about the abysmal performance of Craig Thomson in the opening Rangers-Celtic game of the season were stronger than anything issued by Celtic at that match.

On the subject of the SFA it seems that Celtic are still awaiting an explanation for the criteria for incidents referred to the SFA Review Panel.

RESPONSE

Celtic issued a statement on October 16 saying: "We have received no substantive response on this issue so far and the procedure by which Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were referred for review remains unclear.

“Therefore, we still do not understand the procedure by which Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were referred for review and other similar incidents in recent months have not been. The process seems to be disparate and arbitrary."

This disparate and arbitrary process has not been used so far this season...

Tom Boyd's thoughts on the Robbie Keane rumours

Six Months of SFA Silence

Back in May of this year, with the SPL title in the balance, Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were asked to appear in front of the SFA's Review Panel to explain incidents in games against Rangers and Dundee United.

Not unreasonably Celtic asked for clarification as to how these charges were brought about, in almost every game there are questionable incidents that could be reviewed and looked at differently.

With no answer forthcoming from the SFA Celtic finally went public on October 16 to explain to their supporters that their request for clarification hadn't been answered.

An incident between Loovens and Maurice Edu resulted in a one match ban for the Dutch defender.

Mistakes are part and parcel of football, two weeks before the Celtic statement Craig Thomson appeared to admit that he should have awarded Celtic, or the away team as they were referred to in the statement issued through Hugh Dallas, a penalty in a game against Rangers on October 4.

Dallas's statement however fell short of explaining why the penalty wasn't given, was the referee unsighted or did he have a clear view and failed to notice David Weir's foul on Shaun Maloney?

These incidents apparently even themselves out over the course of a season.

The SFA rule book is comprehensive and thorough, there is a sub-paragraph and explanation for every possible action on the football pitch.

Strangely a month after going public Celtic are still awaiting a reply from the SFA for the criteria that brought Loovens and McDonald before the Review Panel.

It really should just be a quick reference to the rule book, there are general catch all clauses to cover anything not detailed in the rule book.

The longer that an answer is delayed the more suspicious it all becomes.

Celtic statement 16 October 2009: "We still do not understand the procedure by which Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were referred for review and other similar incidents in recent months have not been. The process seems to be disparate and arbitrary.
“Our objective is to ensure that these processes are applied fairly, consistently and in a transparent manner, for the benefit of all clubs and players.
“We will continue to pursue this objective and look forward to hearing from the SFA shortly."

SFA gig for Broadfoot

The SFA have pulled off a major surprise by appointing Darryl Broadfoot as their new head of communications.

It's certainly an attractive job for any newspaper man in terms of profile and salary and offers a lucrative escape from the depressing rounds of cuts at the Herald group.

Broadfoot will be involved in all levels of communications at the SFA and his appointment will add extra spice to the strained relationship between SFA Chief Gordon Smith and James Traynor of the Daily Record and Radio Scotland.

Despite being former colleagues Traynor has been scathing of Smith since he moved to the SFA with the SFA man being drawn into one sided live slanging matches over various issues.

Traynor hasn't been shy to criticise Broadfoot either and recently referred to the youth and inexperience of the Herald's football chief, a title that Traynor once had.

Broadfoot will no doubt be given the task of 'minding' for Smith and George Burley to keep their public gaffes to a minimum against a media pack that doesn't take too kindly to one of their own moving to the other side of the microphone/laptop.

Celtic of course are still awaiting for a reply from the SFA for the criteria and an explanation of the process that brought about Glenn Loovens recent suspension.

Broadfoot will be anticipating a challenging time in his new job at Hampden and can be certain that his newspaper background will be regularly brought back into the public domain when the next SFA crisis erupts.

Super-fit Craig Thomson admites to 'many crucial decisions'

by Joe McHugh Craig Thomson is really fit, he works out in the gym every day and has his fitness monitored constantly by the SFA. On Wednesday the SFA decided to let Sky Sports know just how fit Thomson is.

After his performance on Sunday the fitness of the referee is of no concern to anyone unless the SFA are trying to send some sort of message down south where Sir Alex Ferguson publicly criticised the fitness of referee Alan Wiley after his side drew 2-2 with Sunderland.

As a diversion tactic to the scrutiny, largely online, that Thomson's performance has attracted since Sunday the fitness feature was virtually pointless.

Daley Thompson was the fittest man on the planet throughout the eighties but was never put forward for football refereeing, basic fitness is expected of a referee and as the pictures and video from Sunday showed Thomson was perfectly placed to make decisions, his placing and fitness weren't issues, it wasn't a case of Arsene Wenger-like problems of not seeing the incidents.

INTERVIEW

Thomson did speak during the interview and interestingly did suggest that there were other tough decisions to call but since he refused to discuss them it's not unreasonable to conclude that he felt that he got the other major decisions correct in the match.

Word for word Sunday's referee said: "I'll never probably have another game where I have so many decisions, of crucial decisions to make within the first thirty minutes of the game.

"Making mistakes, we're only human like players, players make the same mistakes but that's the way that we develop as referees, there's no point going away from the game and not learning from the game.

"It's a big pill to swallow at times."

Thomson never came across as very confident or comfortable speaking but that's maybe just my interpretation.

He mentions the number of crucial decisions that he had to make in the first thirty minutes, since he's only admitted to one mistake, without any explanation being given for that mistake, it's safe to assume that he feels that he got Shaun Maloney's booking correct when many of us thought that a penalty should have been awarded.

QUESTIONABLE

There were further crucial decisions throughout the game that looked questionable, David Weir and Kyle Lafferty managed to avoid being booked while Mark Wilson has already gone on record saying that his booking was incorrect.

Will the SFA ask Wilson to explain his comments to the Celtic website or will they hope that the issue is forgotten and that everything moves on.

After side-stepping the penalty issues on Sunday Tony Mowbray has spoken out about it to the Celtic View, using the club's own magazine to communicate his thoughts to the supporters.

The Celtic manager said: "I have watched the incidents back and I don't think it would have been harsh if we got three penalties, but we can't question the referee's motives.

"He made a decision based on what he thought was right and in the aftermath he has changed his mind, but it's a bit too late for us."

Mowbray uses his words wisely and like Wilson it will be interesting to see if the SFA ask him to explain his comments.

APPEALING

The whole issue is unlikely to die down with Glenn Loovens appealing against a one match retrospective suspension handed out after an incident was reported to the SFA after Thomson reviewed the Rangers-Celtic game in May.

The timing of this appeal must be a nightmare and Celtic's approach will to the appeal will be thorough.

In 2005 the club were satisfied when a three match suspension was handed to Neil Lennon when much lengthier bans were being suggested, that outcome greatly upset Stuart Dougal who had issued Lennon with a red card after a 3-1 Celtic defeat at Ibrox.

Lennon was represented at that hearing by the SPFA's Fraser Wishart, Gordon Strachan and lawyer Rod McKenzie, Loovens is likely to receive similar support.

EXPLAINING

The SFA are perfectly entitled to stick by their one match ban on Loovens but explaining it will be much more difficult.

What is the criteria for retrospective suspensions, was the Loovens-Maurice Edu the only incident in the match worth looking at again?

How many retrospective suspensions are handed out over a season?

Does every referee watch a tape of their matches to look for decisions that they missed?

Celtic have kept a low profile over the decisions at Sunday's match, the comments coming from Mowbray and Wilson suggest that that shouldn't be interpreted as acceptance, the Loovens appeal next week will show the club's strength of feeling about these decisions.

In every walk of life people are judged, if a referee can't get the big decisions right other referees should be given the chance to show that they have the decision making qualities as well as fitness for the big occasions.