That all said I came away from this book feeling a little disappointed. It’s advertised as a story about the culture that created the Lanarkshire Referees Association (LRA) and the majority of it is but it also has chapters on other areas. Lengthy pieces on Jim Farry, Campbell Ogilvie, discussion about Celtic’s current CEO and who may take over from him in the future and how Fergus rebuilt Celtic after 1994. These had a feel of padding out the book a little and came across as more like blog pieces which may well have been Paul’s intention. They were interesting in their own ways but were only loosely connected to the main story and felt a bit out of place. There are also quite a number of references to Paul’s previous books which is ok in context but it started to feel a bit like subliminal advertising after a while. You are not “paying respect” or “honouring the Queen” if this entire period of “mourning” has simply, for you, been an opportunity to pour out bile and moralise and point your finger and whip up hatred against anyone with whom you disagree.

Then 1995 big Pierre rose to give us the Scottish Cup, we could have done a cup double that year tbh and should have. It is especially delicious when you consider that he’s saying this even as Celtic’s board finally gets off the fence on this and demands to meet with the SFA for an explanation into some of the decisions we’ve watched in the last few months. On the subject of the LRA the most interesting part is the connections between the different refs across the years and how some complete idiots have been allowed to referee football games in Scotland because of who they knew and no relation to how good a referee they were. Not exactly ground breaking stuff but to see the lines being drawn between them gives you an understanding of how easy it can be to manipulate the game. Some of the names will give you nightmares Don McVicar, Bobby Davidson George Cumming, Bobby Tait , Jim McCluskey, Hugh Dallas, Willie Collum and Euan Norris. All from Lanarkshire. Paul provides a history and explains the path refs take to get to the top and who they need to help them on their way. If your face fits you’re in if not you’d be as well giving up, regardless of ability. This is how the call opens, with Frank putting his feelings out there. At this stage Walker probably thinks he’s got just another ranting guy without a clear argument, but he is wrong.

As I’ve said on previous chats, if a club is genuinely blindsided by a manager departing, that’s on them. It’s a relative banality that a Head of Recruitment should be constantly prepared for.

This last part may take some time but if you wish to provide a few words on any of these releases feel free to let me know. This one focuses on the men in the middle, though as you read the book, you realise that they aren’t in the middle at all.

Next Match

Gordon, as reported in the Edinburgh Evening News admits to a final season with the Hoops that was far from enjoyable, as he played understudy to Fraser Forster, before eventually deciding first club Hearts was a better option than the possibility of playing second fiddle to Forster again the following season. Emerging from a trophyless season and forced to bring in free agents, suddenly, their prospects suddenly look brighter.

Whoever the new person is, there is unanimity that a decision MUST be made this week if at all possible. Walker: “Frank, I played for Motherwell and Hibs. We went to Celtic and Rangers, and there was steam coming out my ears with some of the decisions that went against us. When I played for Celtic, there were some decisions we got that I couldn’t believe we got them. We got them because of the crowd and I do believe there’s an element of human nature where you’ve got thousands screaming for whatever it is. There’s an element of being safe and there were some laughable decisions I got as a Celtic player. I played under Billy McNeill and played with Tommy Burns, I don’t think any of them believed there was anything untoward. I know there might be noises from people within the club that the SFA and referees have always been against Celtic. I don’t see it. Frank, I don’t believe our game is corrupt.” Michael Duffy: Bottom line we should be at Hampden as we are the holders, Peter Lawwell not allowed to sit in the vote, great shout for Paul Larkin and Fergus, maybe now the board will take our concerns seriously and confront the bodies who put obstacles in the way of our team, “operation stop 10 in a row! A storming section where the guy absolutely ran rings around Walker, assaulting him with actual examples of what he’s talking about. He could have listed many, many more. In this they have willing allies and co-conspirators in folk so depraved that they have weaponised child abuse in their own version of the culture war. These are the people we have “offended.”Its easy to read, and whilst it contains a few surprises, you, in turn, will be surprised at just how much power was concentrated in the hands of certain individuals, and why Scottish referees are not rated amongst the best in the world, and indeed, nor will they ever be. you then go onto 2015 and you seen the pictures of the handshake with MacLean and Muir, it was yet again sweeped under the carpet, once Falkirk won that semi on the Saturday the Treble was 100% on for Deila and ronny was cheated out a treble lets not sugar coat it, it was blatant cheating.

I’m told that Enzo Maresca made an impressive presentation and has a powerful advocate from within the existing football department. They’ve spent the last few years pulverising people and companies and institutions into grovelling apologies or other subservient behaviour. They have forced huge corporations and folk with sterling credentials to fawn and bow. After that discussion, the senior people at Celtic were convinced they had a manager for the long haul. Behind the scenes, I’m told several senior people in the Parkhead command structure are less than Zenlike about the Aussie icon.

Birthdays

There are complicated reasons why so many have acted this way in the last week, and we should not ignore that a perceived need to show compliance has been one of the driving forces of it. Others want to be part of history, or feel as if they are. That’s reflected not only in the crowds, but in the social media posts and other facets of “public expression.” why start the interview on a negative??? End of the day 3 points and a clean sheet job done. The players are human. Get on with it. So, the new manager will have a state of the art analysis suite at his disposal? All the better. Ridiculous that there wasn’t one before.