The hypocrisy of John Reid

[ian1964 10,418]

By Gary McDaniel

 

So it has come to this, our referees have decided that enough is enough and they're taking strike action in demonstration as to the constant flack they have been subjected to recently. I say good on them.

 

Celtic chairman, John Reid, is without doubt the Keith Flint-esk firestarter who has been regularly stoking the flames on the burning issue of referees, especially Dougie MacDonald.

 

Mr Reid is adamant heads should role as the heinous crime of a lie has been told to their manager Neil Lennon and the SFA match observer. Now I don't condone lying and I�m sure as his time as a politician John Reid would never condone such a thing............. Oh hold on wasn't he a member of the Blairite New Labour party which was built on the foundation of spin? Wasn't he once a prominent member of our government's cabinet?

 

Let us remember that John Reid was part of one of the biggest lies in our country's recent history in the run-up to the war in Iraq. He was privy to information of claims of 45 minute warnings and weapons of mass destruction, which all turned out to be a load of nonsense but yet thousands of Iraqi's lost their lives and many of our troops were killed, all for what?

 

We were then told that the removal of Saddam Hussein was part of the plan, didn't remember being said on the run-up to war? Change of story there, doesn't that sound familiar?

 

He was part of a government which deviously set about ditching bad news on the day of 9/11. Ok he wasn't directly involved in that but that all stemmed from the culture being set by the party he was a member of.

 

So how many heads rolled after the PR disaster which was the Iraq war cover-up? Erm one, namely a Dr David Kelly who took his own life.

 

Now Mr John Reid wishes to see P45s issued within the SFA and to Dougie MacDonald over the Tannadice incident? A lie, which I agree was stupid, but which was taken without real thought. A decision which in essence did not have any real effect on the outcome of the game in Dundee. Compare that to Reid's political decisions in the past. Yes, he has a cheek to sit in Parkhead and believe he has the moral high ground.

 

I have a lot of respect for Celtic Football Club and many of their fans for what they have done for Scottish football. Their achievements abroad. The behaviour of their fans when following their team in Europe over the decades. For me though, the likes of John Reid and Peter Lawell are tarnishing that image. I would have more respect for them if they cleared the smokescreen and laid their cards on the table and openly admitted that they believe that there is a valid question about the integrity of Scottish referees. I might not agree with them but I would respect their bluntness.

 

I've been over this ground in a previous post about referees but we seem to forget how invaluable they are to our game and the fact that, like us, they are human beings. They are committed to the job and have taken up the call in which the vast majority of us wouldn't touch with a barge pole. They face, not just stick from managers and players, but also from fans whose abuse is much more colourful. Who in their right mind would run the line and suffer constant verbal attacks from fans questioning their integrity, their eyesight but also the much more darker issues of having their sexuality questioned, members of their family verbally abused and threats to their personal safety? Imagine its like a taxi driver having every fare in his cab hurling abuse at him or a call centre worker being told were to stick their double glazing on a regular basis. You would pack it in after a while for your own sanity.

 

We now live in a culture were football referees are now constantly in the spot light. Many ex-referees are TV pundits or have their own columns in national newspapers. This didn't happen 20 years ago. We are fascinated by officials and the decisions they make. It frustrates us and it annoys us but we accept, well I do, that they have taken an honest decision in relation to an incident.

 

We have a situation in which players earn thousands or millions of pounds. They have the life style they desire, the house they dreamed of, the sports car they sought after and the eye candy on their arm they thought was never possible when they were a plukey wee pubescent teenager. They virtually do what they want. They can demand more money and sign up to lucrative sponsorship deals. But when they run out onto a football pitch and have a referee blow the whistle and tell them its not a penalty, they blow their top. How dare this authoritarian weasel that I have no respect for tell me I'm wrong.

 

Let us all remember players and managers never get it wrong? They never lie or cheat? No no never. Yet their behaviour is never regularly punished by their club. A manager rarely criticises one of his players for diving to get a penalty. They never take action when their players hound match officials to get an opposing player red carded. No its all accepted as part of the game.

 

Referees are demonised by many quarters from within the game but we also forget the other role in which referees play. Not only do they have to judge if a player has dived or feigning injury but they are there to protect the players. It is the job of the man in black to blow the whistle and ask for urgent attention for a player who has a head knock. It is them who decide when a pitch is unplayable and is threatening the well being of those playing on it. It is them who red card a player, not to annoy a manager or fans, but to punish a player for recklessness which could threaten the career of an opponent. We sometimes forget that.

 

We have also heard calls for referees to reveal the team's they support. What a load of nonsense. Which referee would put their career at risk by revealing that they support one of the top clubs in this country? For example how could they excel in the profession if they were forced to reveal they supported one half of the old firm? They wouldn't get on the UEFA or FIFA list to officiate top international or Champions League games as they hadn't been able to referee a top SPL match due to their integrity being questioned. They are professional and wouldn't wish to put their career in jeopardy. Do we do the same when a former Celtic player returns to Parkhead? Like when Henrik Larsson scored for Barcelona in front of his adoring fans? No he's a footballer doing the job he is employed to do, no matter the opposition.

 

Imagine that in the last game of the season Celtic need to beat Aberdeen for the title and it's late in the game, finely poised at 2-1 in favour of Celtic. The Dons have a corner which lands at the feet of Zander Diamond (a well known supporter of his bhoyhood heroes) who is in front of goal 6 yards out. He skies is shot over the bar and the final whistle blows. Would we suggest he did it deliberately? Make-up your own mind, but I would hope he just fluffed his lines.

 

So what does the future hold? Well I don't think Celtic will give up on this issue lightly until a certain few go through the exit door at Hampden. What makes this whole episode ironic is that you could say that while this whole issue has blown up, Celtic's performances on the field have suffered. Has Neil Lennon's focus been distracted? What you may find is that in the end Celtic may have scored an own goal by allowing an ever increasingly tired and threadbare Rangers' side remain top of the SPL.

 

http://www.theawayend.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=468%3Athe-hypocrisy-of-john-reid&catid=59%3Agary-mcdaniel&Itemid=119

[ian1964 10,418]

Reid playing with fire

 

"This referee lied and conspired and then attempted to cover-up what he'd done - there can't be any integrity in a system that permits lying." Thus did the former home secretary and current Celtic chairman, John Reid, call last week for the removal of the referee Dougie McDonald and his overseers at the Scottish Football Association.

 

Given what the Chilcot inquiry may say when it reports in the coming weeks on the Labour government's decision to go to war in Iraq, Digger wonders whether Reid may come to regret his words about a lowly referee.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/24/plymouth-argyle-john-reid-celtic