Over the season a Sheffield Wednesday supporting referee from South Yorkshire with no skin in the Scottish football game, has been providing expert assessment of big calls in Scottish Premier League matches. This exercise has focussed on matches involving the top two in the SPFL – Celtic and The Rangers. With a Champions League bounty … [continue reading]
Honest Mistakes – The Final Countdown
A delayed catch up on the big decisions affecting the final SPFL Premier games of the season. Thanks as always to the Yorkshire Whistler. BACKGROUND – I outlined a framework to assess the impact of Honest Mistakes in the SPFL. 07/05/22 Celtic vs Hearts Incident 1 Referee Don Robertson Game Minute 3rd Incident Simms scores … [continue reading]
Fridge Shaped Hole
Hope remains that Carter-Vickers will sign up for the long haul at Celtic. But we have been here before with Forster, Roberts and even Guidetti. “Never fall in love with a loan signing”. It’s on the wall above the laptop. The Fridge On transfer window day in the Summer, a fridge of a man, Carter-Vickers … [continue reading]
Economy of Outcome
The extent to which style of play versus player attributes influence the data each player generates is a theme I will return to many times over the Age of Ange. Nowhere is this starker than in the striking position. Celtic have been blessed with the abilities of Dembele and Edouard over recent seasons. Griffiths scored … [continue reading]
A Busy Summer Beckons
Building on yesterdays article on appearances during the season, let’s take a look at the implications of where we are. Last Season As mentioned yesterday, 19 players were the core contributors in a double winning season that, with European football progression, stretched to 60 games. The Ask No qualifiers will be a blessing in that … [continue reading]
The Backbone of Success
It is remarkable that Celtic called upon 40 players this season. A further 7 were unused substitutes. However, given the sheer volume of players used, it was a relatively small group that did the heavy lifting and saw Celtic progress past Group Stage European football and capture two trophies. I usually use 900 minutes as … [continue reading]
Honest Mistakes – Week 34
Week 34 of the SPFL Premier season saw comfortable wins for the top two from tough away assignments. Despite this, there were a few incidents of note for the Yorkshire Whistler to give the virtual VAR treatment to. BACKGROUND – I outlined a framework to assess the impact of Honest Mistakes in the SPFL. 23/04/22 … [continue reading]
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 … [continue reading]
Can We Fix It? Blimin’ Right , Mate
Step forward ma brickie! Juranovic became the latest victim of the current craze for hamstring strains in the Cup Semi Final at Hampden. (Is anyone monitoring these things?). It is doubtful he will be available for any of the remaining league matches. The pretendy award (concept borrowed from another club – credit where it is … [continue reading]
Paradise Lost to Tiny Margins
Semi-final defeats can be considered most cruel. At least defeat in a final is presaged with built up and excitement for the end of season finale. And let’s be honest, letting your main rival have a shot at a Cup is bound to sting. Notwithstanding the discomfort then, I always try and come back to … [continue reading]