The Bobby Madden Review
Pundits on Premier Sports called Madden’s performance in the Scottish Cup Semi Final “embarrassing” and “shambolic”.
Whilst my Yorkshire Whistler series was intended to review SPFL matches, such was the furore around this particular match performance, I asked if he’d review the whole game.
Very kindly he said yes, and here are the considerations of a non-biased expert in the laws of football.
Take it away, sir!
Finally managed to finish off watching the match last night. Please find below my observations.
Given the number of incidents I tried to note down, I have been pretty brief in some of my findings – so if there are any incidents you wish me to expand upon any more detail, please feel free to ask away.
Having watched the game now in its entirety, I have attempted to assess and provide my thoughts on various incidents and contentious decisions made throughout the game. This is not to say I appraised every single decision or non-decision made by the match official on the day, just what I felt were incidents that merited further consideration.
In total there are 21 moments in the game that I reviewed. Some could be perceived as minor, others maybe having a larger impact on the outcome of the game.
In chronological order:
6th min. McGregor fouls Aribo with his studs showing.
On field decision: Foul but no caution
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Foul & caution to McGregor for a reckless challenge
11th min. Hatate is blocked by Jack.
On field decision: No foul awarded
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Free kick awarded to Celtic
14th min. Lundstram catches McGregor late.
On field decision: Foul but no caution
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Foul & caution to Lundstram for a reckless challenge.
31st min. Lundstram commits to a strong 50/50 challenge.
On field decision: No foul
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: No foul
31st min. Bassey impedes Celtic player
On field decision: Foul but no caution
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Foul but no caution
35th min. Bassey appears to hold onto a Celtic player.
On field decision: No foul
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Free kick to Celtic
35th min. Aribo fouls Celtic player with a clear shirt pull.
On field decision: Foul & Aribo is cautioned
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Foul & Aribo is cautioned
39th min. Aribo challenges Juranovic in the air. Juranovic stays on the floor. Rangers launches counterattack. McGregor picks up a caution, I assume for dissent towards the referee.
On field decision: No foul
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: No foul
44th min. Assistant flags for a Rangers corner but referee although further away from the incident, over rules assistant and awards a Celtic goal kick.
On field decision: Goal kick to Celtic
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Goal kick. Good spot by referee as last contact was off Rangers player
45th min. Jack fouls Hatate and is cautioned
On field decision: Foul & caution to Jack
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Foul & caution to Jack
47th min. Bassey appears to foul Rogic and then free kick is given in Rangers favour.
On field decision: Free kick to Rangers
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Free kick to Celtic. Bassey appears to tug back Rogic at least twice before Bassey is sent to the floor.
47th min. Lundstram appears to block Hart’s attempted quick kick up field from out of his hands.
On field decision: Free kick to Celtic. No caution shown
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: As the ball is already classed as being in open play, blocking the quick kick is not classed as a mandatory caution under Law 12 fouls & misconduct under the ‘delaying the restart of play’. This makes specific reference to delaying the taking of throw ins, kicking the ball away after referee has stopped play etc. The only way a caution would be shown for this offence is if the player in question has committed a number of ‘persistent offences’ (down to referees’ discretion as to what constitutes persistent)
48th min. Roofe slides in and catches Celtic player late.
On field decision: Free kick to Celtic and Roofe cautioned
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Caution for a reckless and cynical tackle but not committed with excessive force. Not a sending off offence.
53rd min. Lundstram commits a foul
On field decision: Foul but no caution
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: In isolation not a caution able tackle, but given the number of fouls now committed by Lundstram and still not booked, I would start considering the ‘persistent offences’ yellow card action imminently for Lundstram.
54th min. Bassey commits a late challenge on a Celtic player
On field decision: Foul, but no caution to Bassey
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Foul & caution to Bassey. This was a late challenge that appeared to be reckless in nature & justified a yellow card.
61st min. Lundstram commits a foul
On field decision: Foul against Lundstram but still no caution shown
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Foul & caution shown to Lundstram. Firstly, I feel challenge on its own was a reckless challenge and worthy of a caution. Added to this the 5/6 infringements already committed by the same player at this point, I was very surprised a caution was shown for persistent offences regardless.
72nd min. Goldson commits a foul.
On field decision: Free kick to Celtic & Goldson is cautioned
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Free kick to Celtic & Goldson correctly cautioned
96th min. Free kick awarded against Rangers for a Barisic handball just outside the 18-yard box.
On field decision: Free kick to Celtic, even though there were players asking for a penalty as they felt Barisic hand was on/inside the line of the penalty area
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: No offence committed. I have been consistent with my view and application of law around accidental hand ball incidents all season. For me Barisic is jockeying his player with his arm slightly outstretched. The ball is fired at him from close proximity and hits his left arm. I feel this body shape/movement is natural for this specific situation and I would not therefore consider his body shape to have been unnaturally bigger as a consequence.
111th min. Starfelt goes down in Celtic box holding his head. Referee spots this injury as Rangers have possession about 25 yards out and blows to stop play so Starfelt can get seen to immediately. Play then restarts with an uncontested drop ball in Ranger’s favour.
On field decision: No offence has been committed so play is resumed with an uncontested drop ball
Verdict: Correct
Expected Outcome: Uncontested drop ball to Rangers. Law 8 – Start & Restart of Play was revised 2 seasons ago and in essence there is no such thing as a ‘contested’ drop ball anymore.
If play is stopped by the referee and the ball is outside the penalty area, then ‘the referee must drop the ball to the team that last touched the ball at the position where it last touched a player. All other players must remain at least 4.5 yds from the ball until it is in play’
The referee’s priority as soon as he spotted the potential head injury was to stop play and allow treatment. So even though the restart appears unusual and gave Rangers an attacking opportunity from the restart, this was the correct decision in law.
111th min. Sakala attempts an overhead kick which Cater-Vickers blocks
On field decision: Corner to Rangers
Verdict: Incorrect
Expected Outcome: Free kick to Celtic. I feel Sakala is attempting an overhead kick at a height and area that you would expect a defender to be heading the ball at. Even though there is no malice in Sakala’s attempt, I feel this is careless attempt to play the ball and given he appears to make contact with Carter-Vickers head this should have been awarded as a defensive free kick.
114th min. Kent plays though ball to Bassey who crosses the ball from a potentially offside position, and this results in a Rangers goal.
On field decision: Bassey not adjudged offside, goal allowed to stand
Verdict: Correct (probably)
Expected Outcome: No offside given. Such an incredibly tight decision where Bassey appears to be level at the point of contact on the ball by Kent as he makes the pass. No obvious error by the assistant referee here. Even looking at the incident numerous times I feel the video footage is inconclusive to judge if any part’s of Bassey’s body were offside at the point of ball contact. If VAR was being implemented the decision either way will have been decided by mere millimetres either way. For this we would have to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side and so the right decision was made.
Summary
In summary of the 21 incidents looked at, I feel 9 of them were incorrect to some extent either with the actual decision made at the time or the disciplinary action subsequently shown once a foul was awarded.
I would not go so far as to criticise the overall performance of the referee & can only imagine how difficult it is to maintain focus and concentration for this kind of highly charged and atmospheric fixture.
I certainly feel a factor in the referee’s reluctance to show any cautions in opening 30 minutes comes down to a common mindset amongst referees towards match day control. As a referee, if you can manage certain early tackles/challenges without brandishing yellow cards early on, it feels you are able to retain control of the game’s tempo and utilise the cautions as the game progress. If you are ‘waving’ yellow cards early doors, then you must maintain your consistency around sanctions of future tackles. The end result of this approach can then be multiple yellow/red cards and a perception that ‘the referee lost control of the game.’
It is a fine line between applying the laws of the game and maintaining the ‘spirit of the game’ so that these highly anticipated fixtures are a good spectacle and are not ‘spoilt by an overexuberant referee’ if that makes sense.
However, on reflection I think maybe the referee did allow a ‘little too much’ to go unpunished which resulted in numerous breaks in play and tactical fouls, which perhaps suited one side more than the other.
Heartfelt thanks for sitting through all that and then providing such rich and balanced summation. Chapeau!
My summary.
Of the 9 incorrect calls identified, 7 benefitted The Rangers and 2 Celtic.
Celtic
For Celtic, McGregor was fortunate not to be booked in the 6th minute. That would perhaps have influenced challenges he made later in the game.
Celtic were also incorrectly awarded a free kick on the edge of the area when Barisic handled in the 96th minute.
The Rangers
11th minute - A block on Hatate by Jack went unpunished.
14th minute – Lundstram should have been cautioned for foul on McGregor
35th minute – Bassey evades sanction for pull back
47th minute – a free kick to TRFC for Bassey should have been awarded to Rogic
54th minute – Bassey escapes caution for foul on Rogic
61st minute – Lundstram escapes Yellow for caution-able offence AND persistent fouling
11th minute – Sakala “wins” a corner despite head high foot on Carter-Vickers – should be free kick to Celtic
As usual that will satisfy nobody!
But, unlike elsewhere in the old and new media, I hope you appreciate this is a nonpartisan and expert take on events.