Getting In Early. When Did Drawing Become The New Winning??

In my post game blog on Monday I deliberately did not go too hard on savaging Mr Madden and his performance. To be honest I was more concerned with our own performance where we let a poor Sevco team dominate us for parts of the game. In my view they deserved their draw although I understand from people in Scotland that they may have overdid the celebrations a wee bit.

I would rather talk about referees when we have won as it only appears as if it is sour grapes when we lose ( or draw as we did on Sunday). It looks like some Sevco fans are saying drawing is the new winning . To be honest we will have an occasional blip against teams like Dundee, Sevco and St Johnstone. They will occasionally beat us or in some cases if they are really lucky, draw with us and prompt celebrations akin to winning a trophy. I really need to see the footage !!

In the run up to the Scottish Cup semi final next month I want us to be on TV, in the papers, on radio the Internet – anywhere, saying we hope our ball players get protection. I want us to ensure we are flagging BEFORE the game that we want a level playing field. I want us to lay down a marker to the referee and everyone else that we need to have our players protected and allowed to play football without fear of two footed lunges or scissor tackles. That is all, not too much to ask is it?

That I even had to type that preceding sentence is a disgrace. Here we are in 2017 with the technology and media exposure vast and unedited and yet we still manage to get turned over by a ref on not one but several key decisions. The focus was on the penalty and the Holt assault/ tackle but for me the sleekit blowing of the whistle when we had a corner or allowing tackles, pushes and pulls to go unpunished all combined to ensure we were not on the aforementioned level playing field. I say again on the balance of play Sevco deserved their draw so no complaints on the outcome of the game.

The other thing that I probably omitted to mention the other day was the outstanding performance of Craig Gordon. With the new contract signed it may have been easy for Craig to have lost a wee bit of focus but no way did that happen. His two saves from Waghorn were exceptional and on both occasions I was fully anticipating a goal. That we were conceding the chances was of concern to me and thank goodness Craig was switched on.

I know I am biased but if we could have a fit Tom Rogic for the semi final I would be a lot happier. The big Canberran ( born in Griffith) offers us a wee bit of something different with his skill and creativity and the only down side for the big fhella is that he would likely to be kicked out of the game due to some excessive assaults/ tackling. It would be great if he could start or come on from the bench to add his guile and craft to the team.

Before then, however, we have a league to win. It would be great if we can pick up the necessary points as soon as possible and give guys like Stuart Armstrong and others an opportunity to get over any niggles or knocks they may have.

If we can pick up the points we need we can see Kouassi Eboue get a run and see if he is going to bed into the team for the big picture item, namely the assault on the CL next season. European football is where it is at for us at this moment in our history. This is where it is important for us, as a group of fans, to have a sense of perspective. We are in position A and whilst our Board comes in for criticism we are a well run club with no legal matters to complicate things. Not having a go at other teams but this is the reality.

Celtic getting to the CL group stages is important financially, but more important in a football sense in that it makes us more attractive to better quality players and the cycle continues of spiralling upwards. We may have been getting past on the cheap after Rangers Football Club were liquidated but that backfired in terms of investment in the team and European results.

This season, under Brendan, we have put down a marker for CL qualification. We must seek to expand on that and ensure that the team ON the pitch is the priority for our club. If we do that we will be fine. With Brendan emerging as a dominant personality we should continue onwards and upwards.