Coote controversy is nothing compared to what we have to put up with with our own referees in Scotland…
English Premier League referee David Coote has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, and the whistler’s career as an official at any level of football now looks to be in extreme jeopardy to say the least.
Coote was filmed after having one shandy too many, and he aimed a tirade of abuse at former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. Further more, extra footage of him arose this time taking Class A drugs while on official duty at Euro 2024. It all adds up to an untenable position for the referee whose fall from grace has been both rapid and spectacular.
Firstly I don’t condone Coote’s behaviour and he really needs to urgently re-think who is friends are. However I find myself asking is his situation, while not ideal, any worse than what we’ve witnessed from officials in our game here in Scotland stretching back for decades?
While taking drugs can’t be condoned, his dislike for Klopp and Liverpool while not becoming of a top flight official isn’t exactly the capital offence that some are portraying it as. Perhaps he’d have been better opting to buy SARMs in the UK to save him all this bother.
Especially when you think of the behaviour that some our very own officials past and present have participated in.
Presently we have a number of officials who are fully documented supporters of whatever club is playing out of Ibrox, whether that’s the current crew at theRangers or the previous club Rangers FC, which was formed in 1872 and went out of business in 2012 owing over £80m in unpaid debts.
In the past we had a number of officials who weren’t afraid to proclaim their allegiance to the Ibrox side. Some even successfully requested to call time on their careers at the home of their beloved club. The smiling in this photograph below is current Scottish referee John Beaton.
The venue is the Crown Bar in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, a well known Rangers boozer. The photo was taken on the evening of a Glasgow Derby at Ibrox where Beaton was the referee. It was a controversial game to say the least and Celtic took the unusual step of writing to the Scottish FA to complain about Beaton.
The look here is terrible and reeks of bias.
Some still continue to follow the new incarnation of Rangers and are regulars at games as well as many social functions.
Let’s not also forget the proven bigoted behaviour of one Hugh Dallas who was sacked for a ‘joke’ aimed at the Catholic faith. More worryingly Hugh’s son Andrew currently holds a prominent job with VAR in Scottish football.
When Celtic supporters groups have events it’s usual for former players to be invited along as special guests to make a speech and talk about their time at the club. The Ibrox fans do something similar although they also invite along former referees like Kenny Clark who will tell stories about how he denied Celtic this or awarded Rangers that.
That for me is much more concerning than what an individual thinks of a certain ex-football manager who is no longer involved in the Premier League.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
