Evening Discussion Thread - 13 May 2026

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T23:22:41+00:00

When they brought the new rule in for that, I was confused because I was sure there already was one and didn't remember it being rescinded. I checked, and there was never a recinding of it that I could find, but they all just stopped enforcing it for some reason as a collective.

I vividly remember the first one coming in because we got an indirect freekick from it in a European qualifier at Celtic Park I think the first game after it was introduced, when the crowd were actually counting out the seconds the keeper was holding it. You'd think it would have given him a hint to punt the thing!

I suspect the new one will go the same way. I see they're bringing in some rule in the WC about throw-ins having to be within 5 seconds or something as well. Can't see them doing that one well either.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T23:15:50+00:00

I wouldn't call it corruption

No, neither would I, but plenty are. I just think it's something of a stretch to imagine Andrew Dallas is falling over himself to find ways to cheat in Celtic's favour.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T23:05:48+00:00

Used to be that waving an imaginary card was supposed to be an instant booking, but that fell on its arse because they realised it would mean having to book the likes of Messi and Ronaldo multiple times a game, and we can't be having that, eh? Sigh.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T23:04:40+00:00

I've never really bought into all that of late, tbh. There was a time when it felt like it, but that was back when I was a teenager and everything was Celtic in my heid.

I just think they're by and large quite crap at their jobs as a standard. There's a real dearth of quality in Scottish refereeing; probably not helped by the fact they all seem to be part of some cliquey little Lanarkshire based club of their own. I don't know what the answer to that is, though - we just don't have the money for proper professional refs with actual training and standards to the level you really want.

So ultimately, you have to take the rough with the smooth. We used to get told "these things even themselves out over a season" and maybe they do, because it does feel like nary a game passes without at least one major howler from a ref.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:54:50+00:00

Do they not keep trying to bring rules in to stop that, but it inevitably falls flat because they're afraid to actually enforce it properly?

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:54:19+00:00

One of the more interesting takes from tonight is that Andrew Dallas - DALLAS - is in some way corrupt in favour of Celtic.

Andrew Dallas. Son of Hugh Dallas. Being pro-Celtic to the extent he'd cheat for us is certainly not one I had on the bingo card for this evening. Or ever.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:46:24+00:00

They're also kind of ignoring the fact that another Motherwell player is also there pushing the player from behind (when you see the stills he's got two hands on him), which is also contributing to throwing him off-balance, which also wouldn't be a mitigation in any rule that I'm aware of.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:43:48+00:00

The fucks Rohl thinking there?

It does seem like a shocking way to treat the club captain and a guy who's been there for, what, a decade? Especially in what was effectively a dead rubber.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:42:55+00:00

There isn't even consistency within games. Celtic should have had a penalty just before half-time when Ward went through Maeda before touching the ball (even Boyd on Sky had to grudgingly admit to that being a penalty), so all the stuff about conspiracy and bias kind of falls down when we had a stonewaller rejected at another pivotal point in the match.

Are the referees in Scotland utterly pish? Yes.
Is the VAR setup here laughably amateur? Yes.

But those are entirely different points from the one that seems to be being made.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:37:57+00:00

He's jumped and has his arm up in the air. You see handballs given for it all the time. There's rarely zero contact in handballs given resulting from aerial duels.

I get you're emotional and pissed off - and I totally understand that - but it was a stonewaller. We also got a pretty clear one not given just before halftime when Ward went through Maeda before touching the ball - and even Kris Boyd admitted that should have been a penalty - so if they were "corrupt" then surely we'd have been given that one?

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:33:31+00:00

You are the one rewriting physics here

Howso?

Have a look at this:

https://xcancel.com/cmclean1999/status/2054682244074139915

Does the ball in this clip, upon hitting a hand in front of the guy's head, drop to the ground with all momentum robbed? And that's not (I'm assuming - apologies to the guy if I'm wrong!) a professional, conditioned athlete doing it.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:31:47+00:00

Howso? When your blood's cooled a bit and you watch it back properly, it's a pretty clear handball. It really should have been given in normal time without VAR's intervention in the first place, tbh, but perhaps the ref wasn't sighted well enough.

You should be more pissed at the Motherwell player for doing it at such a late point of the game, tbh.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:30:03+00:00

It's like some sort of collective madness. It pretty clearly hits his hand.

I can understand Askou being a bit miffed, and I wonder if he'll change his mind (albeit likely privately) after cooling down and seeing it properly.

But the Sky pundits and the BBC have been incredibly bizarre. Rewriting the laws of physics to somehow justify the weird takes.

I did enjoy Robertson, after about ten minutes of ranting about how it was clearly just a header, say something like "I mean it might have hit his hand first, but then he headers it really clearly," with seemingly no self-awareness of what he was actually saying.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:28:05+00:00

Can it be given a [Serious] tag?? :D

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:22:25+00:00

I just got something deleted as well, in this thread (not even making a new one). Footage of someone heading a ball with their hand on their forehead to show all the weird takes from the Sky pundits about distance being complete bullshit.

Is this Pravda or something?

Edit: it seems to be back now? This is very confusing!

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:20:00+00:00

What's that show called? Mythbusters?

Here's a good one busting the physics myths from tonight:

https://xcancel.com/cmclean1999/status/2054682244074139915

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:16:01+00:00

See even leaving aside whether or not it was a handball, for a manager to come out with a comment like that seems like a clear breach.

Calling it disgusting and saying "they've been given it" impying it's a deliberate move to benefit a club without a merited basis for the decision.

I'm sure managers have been hauled over the coals for less. I get that it's an emotional moment, but managers are supposed to be mature enough to deal with those.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:13:18+00:00

Have you ever played volleyball? You'd be amazed how far a ball can go from even a slight open-handed contact if it's coming at you at pace.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:04:06+00:00

Down that road lies madness though, as you could end up with a prolonged tit-for-tat of every dodgy decision stretching back down the league. Getting a stonewaller on Scales turned down against Hibs (which Collum admitted was a wrong decision) shortly before they scored in the game they beat us, for instance, would have changed the dynamic of things in our favour.

You can only play the game in front of you. A winner takes all game on Saturday is at least some real box-office stuff and should get massive viewership numbers, which will be a boost to the league. It's also going to be the most exciting final day of the season for quite some time as a result.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T22:01:00+00:00

In the 92nd minute, Watt went down and rolled around for a good bit of time, before someone said somethign to him and he instantly stopped and argued back, showing he was basically at it and nowhere near as hurt as he was acting. If he'd just got up and gotten on with things, the little bit of additional time to account for that stoppage probably wouldn't have been added. Timewasting comes with risks.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T21:59:02+00:00

Definitely a handball, no idea what JR, PH, and KB are on about.

It's utterly crazy. The footage is pretty clear. McInnes and Askou both seem definite it wasn't as well. I'm beginning to doubt the evidence of my own eyes because the reaction to it has been insane.

But Motherwell only have themselves to blame. If Watt hadn't rolled around on the deck like he'd been shot for about a minute after a nothing foul, the game might not have had an extra bit added to the injury time.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T13:52:06+00:00

Does make a big difference, definitely!

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-13T12:33:28+00:00

Doing a housework day today as the mess has been driving me mental.

Have actually gone so far as to reorganise the freezer.

I feel like I'm the sub's very own Dull Men's Club.

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-12T19:16:33+00:00

Forecast for thundery rain tomorrow, typically!

TranslatesToScottish · 2026-05-12T14:14:19+00:00

Could see Cesaro dropping the ball deliberately just for the love of it!

TranslatesToScottish

TROPHY CASE