5 Comments

Guess the YW is working off last seasons definition for the handball rule.

Expand full comment

I'm surprised at YW's Celtic penalty call, as apart from the perma-whinge ex-manager of Hearts, it was seen as an uncontention decision.

John Moss, the SFA VAR Head, is leaving after less than 2 months, as he's been offered a "top referee job with an association in a different continent".

I found it a bit odd that he was practically invisible despite the increased transparency in the process.

Perhaps Collum, also new in the job, wanted to show his visibility and would've deferred to Moss later but we'll never know.

Expand full comment

The idea that Penrice is protecting his face seems incredibly generous given that his hand is not between the ball and his face, and is in fact extended out towards the byline, where Kühn is looking to cross the ball. I think he has almost no time to react and doesn't consciously move to handle the ball, but then it seems hard to justify his arm being in a natural position given that it massively extends his silhouette. Would that mean you are allowed to defend by crab lunging like a goalie? I'm all for giving fewer penalties, including for stuff like this, but I think that makes the line a bit murky and makes it hard to be consistent. I really don't think he was protecting his face at all, and the interplay between proximity to the cross and how 'natural' a position the player is in (itself surely hugely dependent on the player's physiology) needs to be more specifically defined by referees.

Expand full comment

Nope, the whistler is wrong, the left arm would not be used to protect his face (right arm maybe), only to stop the passage of the ball

Expand full comment

The penalty award to celtic for me is the correct one. He did not have his hands up to protect his face it was out from his side and hit his arm or maybe I missed someting

Expand full comment