Diamond Scot

So do Israel then pay us back? Would seem strange if it cost us to defend Israel from an attack from Iran which came about because Israel attacked some Iranian commanders (rightly or wrongly)

When an RAF jet shoots down a drone / missle. Who pays for the fuel and RAF missle used to shoot down the drone? Does Isreal reimburse the UK or is it just chalked up to expenses of defending an ally?

If Hickey is back out on the grass doung light training now then he will be fine come the Euros. Brentford dont need to rush him back. If they were fighting for Europe or against relegation then it might be different. Hickey will just need to get his match sharpeness back but given how well he reads the game im not overly concerned. He also tends to keep things simple 2 friendlies and he will be good to go.

I was against VAR or technology for anything other than factual decisions. Ie ball crossing the line, offside or was a foul inside or outside the box. Ive softend my views a little as its good for correcting really bad errors however I think there needs to be a bigger review on the rules to start with (handball especially) and thereafter what VAR should get involved in. Ive always thought we shouldnt be slowing down replays. Certainly not to super slow mo. A few times full speed and then a couple 3/4 speed should be enough.

Im confident that Celtic will do the right thing and make a full apology for their part in what was a horrible period of their history (and other clubs). The reason why they havent so far will be on advice of lawyers. Its standard practice to not say anything whilst proceddings are ongoing.

Very sensible and well balanced statement. Can you imagine that had happened in the OF game at the weekend!!!

The problem is that legally it isnt clear that the boys club was a seperate entity to the senior club hence the compensation claim. The boys clubs and senior club were so closely aligned that it the senior club was felt to have control / influence over decision making, recruitment etc at the boys club.

Was speaking about this earlier. The problem from a refereeing perspective with Silva on Sunday and those who act like him is how you differentiate between diving / simulation and over reacting. I cant remember all the times Silva was rolling about like a twat on Sunday but for the ones I can remember he was fouled / there was contact. The one Johnstone got booked for example. Silva was blocked off, it was a foul but thats all it was. Silva the rolls about as if he has been shot. Now to the casual fan its easy to point the finger and say, he is clearly at it but in terms of the authorities it would be a minefield. For example I remember watching a game a while back and the player rolls about similar to Silva, replay shows minimal contact so he is clearly trying to get the opponent booked I was saying. Turns out he had broke a bone in his foot. As a general point I get the hatred. I hate that side of the game aswell but it how you address it thats hard. Its much easier to punish an actual dive. Ie where there is no contact. Authorities have stopped doing that it seems though. Remember the Hearts guy from Lithuania got a retrospective 2 match ban. What happened to stuff like that?

Thats what I was saying about Skys replys and Sutton consistently refusing to not see what was on the screen. Because he was adament it was a dive (that there was no contact etc which there clearly was) all the replays started after the point where Johnstone gets a touch on the ball. Ive still not seen a good replay to see how much he gets the ball. Although if the Brighton game midweek is anything to go by, skimming the ball and then connecting with the player is still a penalty these days. Im not sure how I feel about that. The ball skimming your arm and then hitting the post would be a penalty. Skimming the ball when in an offside position would still be offside so why is skimming the ball in a tackle not considered enough? (Assuming the rest of the tackle isnt dangerous / reckless.

Said for a while that the door shouldnt be closed on McBurnie however its probably too late for the Euros unless somebody gets injured. That being said, most games ive watched him in this season he does one or 2 things that would risk a straight red with foreign refs which would be a worry for me.

I comment on lots of games but few get into much debate cause other games fans can be rationale. The fact Silva is a diving wee C, whether he would get to the ball or not to take a shot at goal are all irrelevent as you well know. Again, even accidental doesnt come into the equation. If it was then most of fouls and almost all penalties wouldnt be given as few defenders deliberately kick other players rather than the ball. Its the missing of the ball and kicking the player that makes it a foul. Im sure you know this already.

If it wasnt careless or reckless, how would you describe making contact above the knee after swinging for the ball?

Absolutely disgusting behaviour. Ive never understood the thinking behind a grown adult acting that way but I suppose that also go for the songs sung. CCTV should make it easy to identify somebody throwing anything onto the pitch. Should result in a ban even when it doesnt hit anybody. You could be banning about 50 fans per game if you actually wanted to in these games.

Exactly, but whether and how much he connects with the ball is part of how the ref considers whether it was careless or reckless.

The problem with what you say is that its not what the rules are. Nowhere in law 12 does it mention that any contact has to be enough to make the opponent go down. Very few fouls that are correctly awarded in football would result in a person going to ground. If a person is kicked on the leg in a non football context then the natural thing to do would be hop about abit, not fall to the ground. In football though its accepted that players fall over when kicked. Thats what happened here, Johnstone swung and kicks Silva. I dont think anybody is disputing that. The only consideration then is whether the ref thinks its in careless / reckless. If it is then its a penalty. I saw that whilst also saying Silva and players like him do my nut in. He was rolling about trying to get Celtic players booked or sent off all game. He was very much looking for Johnstone to connect with him but thats then what happened.

So you are saying if player A kicks the ball full on but on his follow through kicks Player B then thats a foul? Because thats blatantly not correct. Whereas in the same scenario, if Player A misses the ball and only kicks player B then that is a foul.

Its a foul and a penalty anywhere on the pitch, any day of the week. Johnstone catching Silva above the knee whilst attempting to kick the ball. Out of interest, what makes you think its not a foul? As I said earlier, the only thing that could have made it not a foul is if he had taken alot of the ball beforehand. From the replays Sky showed, he swings for the ball, either misses it or doesnt get alot of it, starts to fall back and follows through onto Silva leg (who then goes down easy but as expected)

If the defending player kicks the ball then then follows through onto the attacker then how much contact he makes with the ball 100% matters. Another thing that annoys me watching OF games is how its generally accepted that the ref can just apply the rules differently. Scales had a deliberate pull of a Rangers player who was then going to go into the attacking 3rd. Its a yellow all day long but because it was only 5 mins in he just gets a warning. Likewise, CCV walks up and flicks the ball away, preventing Rangers taking a free kick. Again, a yellow all day yet because its early in the game he gets a warning. Ironically the booking Khun gets was the least deserving of this and the above 2 but because it was 20 odd mins in he gets given one. I understand that if its a questionable foul then use abit of discretion but you cant just not book somebody because it might put them and the ref in a difficult decision later in the game. This indirectly affects other teams as a natural result of this type of refereeing results in the OF having less players suspended. It doesnt happen in any other derby or game.

Really poor game in terms of quality but action and incident packed. I normally like Sutton but having him commentate on this match is pointless as there is the natural bias. I thought Rangers penalty was a dive real time. But when you see the replay Silva is caught about the knee. He goes down easy and might have gone down anyway but Sutton just repeatedly said he was already down at the point of contact, even though at the same time you were getting numerous replays showing that wasnt the case. What this did was take away from the other aspect which was how much did Johnstone touch the ball. Unfortunetly Sky didnt even show that part of the replay. CCV was the standout for Celtic. Tavinear, Goldson and Lawrence were shocking for Rangers who were lucky to get a draw.

Sadly you are correct. Its not just the west coast however in my experience its certainly more day to day in the west coast.

Lively and dangerous is a fair assesment but also ineffective. As I said previously, not all of this is down to him and is something that he will improve on no doubt. I think RW is his position as he can cut inside but also go down the line. He has very quick feet and low centre of gravity. Salah is the perfect role model for him which is why im not overly fussed about him going out on loan, providing he still gets decent game time at Liverpool.

But surely every person is responsible for their own behaviour ragardless of who they are. If more "common" people / football fans stopped acting this way like it was normal behaviour then perhaps it would be easier to call it out when somebody in the public eye does it. Anybody who acts this way is being a bigot, theres obviously levels of bigots. I dont believe you or McCoist let it influence their day to day like alot of people do. Ie there are people who wont mix with people of other faiths etc but casual bigotry is still a big problem. Takes a bigger man to address his own faults than to highlight others.

The amount of people who dont understand laws worrys me at times. Its fuelled by the media and quite often the politicians themselves. The police currently have the authority to arrest somebody for pretty much any act that most reasonable people would agree was criminal. What they dont have is the political will to allow them to do so. Police are under specific instructions not to arrest people at football matches, their policy is to observe and if neccesary door stop in future weeks. The issue is that the bar for criminality for them to take such future action is stupidly high that they rarely do it. Ie they will watch somebody commiting an aggrivated S38 / BOP but do nothing as long as that person isnt putting others safety at risk. Ie throwng a flare into opposition fan section. They will know a crime is being committed however are under direction not to action it or follow up on it. In turn the allows the law breakers to carry on and often believe that what they are doing isnt actually a crime.

Ramy, you have openly admitted to being a "90 minute bigot" on here previously who sings all the rebel songs, songs in support of the IRA etc. Does that make you and absolute scumbag aswell? For the record I think McCoist is a great example of everything that is wrong about the west coast of Scotland. That its fine to be openly bigoted as long as you are a funny, cheaky chappy who has like minded Catholic mates who give you the banter back.

I think if he had remained fit then he might have been in the March friendlys squad. He would have played the rest of Liverpools Europa games, the cup games and some games when Salah was in Africa. Its not that he has played badly for Liverpool this season. Ive pretty much watched all his games and to me its a combination of teammates not giving him the ball at the right times, them not being on the same wavelength when it comes to being on the end of his good stuff, some poor / inexperienced decision making on his part and then the normal drifting in and out of games that alot of young players have. You are correct on the Hungary game however we need to remember that was U21 level. Its the type of performance that gives people so much hope with him but I think he needs to do something similar for Liverpool before he gets called up. Gilmour for example got motm against Liverpool in the cup where he made experienced top level pros look silly. He then followed it up with several top performances in the league. Doaks time will come but I just dont think not including him prior to his injury is a stick to beat Clarke with.