Who's wrong about DLP? I said he's failed everywhere he's been since being proclaimed as the next big thing at Barca...:eh:
MON is raging about today's news:
"Martin O’Neill has pleaded with the SFA to bring an end to the anomalies and inconsistencies which he believes are shaming and embarrassing our national game.
At the end of a day in which he learned that Didier Agathe has little hope of overturning the highly controversial red card he picked at Dens Park on Saturday and that Neil Lennon could be banned for making an offensive gesture to Dundee fans, the Celtic boss has spoken of his belief that the SFA is in danger of losing all credibility.
O’Neill considers that those in charge at Hampden have been shown to have displayed double standards in reacting very differently to the incidents involving Lennon and Chris Sutton and those involving two of Scotland’s player in the Westfalen Stadium last week.
Now he believes clarification on what is and is not acceptable – not to mention when TV evidence can and cannot be used to punish and exonerate - is essential if further embarrassment is to be avoided.
Speaking exclusively to the Celtic website, he said: “The SFA cannot play God on one hand, handing down bans and the likes, and then Pontius Pilate on the other, washing their hands when it suits them.
“It seems quite nonsensical to me that something as clear-cut as Didier Agathe’s red card cannot be overturned when others can be. But it’s even more infuriating because we’re seeing with the Neil Lennon thing what CAN be done by video evidence.
“On one hand, Didier Agathe can have an injustice visited upon him and TV evidence is not used while, on the other, Neil Lennon is being punished using the same means.
“There has to be some consistency on this issue otherwise the whole thing becomes a total nonsense and you lose credibility. For example, can someone tell me the difference between Neil Lennon making an alleged gesture to the crowd and Christian Dailly making a clear abusive gesture towards one of the German players last week.
“Now, no-one for one second wants Christian Dailly to be in any trouble, but there’s a clear inconsistency there. It’s the same with Chris Sutton being banned for what he said at Rugby Park and then both Dailly and James McFadden being allowed to call the German team ‘cheats’. I don’t see one blind bit of difference.
“Until someone comes up and explains these particular things to me properly, I’m at a loss. Does we then assume that it’s alright to say and do things when another country is involved, just not in your own back yard. We need clarification, and I’m willing to listen to anything the SFA have to say.”
O’Neill also admitted to being baffled at the anomaly surrounding the overturning of red cards, having learned that Agathe has no right appeal because he was sent off for ‘denying a clear goalscoring opportunity’ rather than ‘violent conduct’. And he called on referee Dougie McDonald to atone for his error by clearing the French wingback.
He said: “It’s been shown on television to be completely clear that the referee made a mistake. Now, anyone can make a mistake, but the referees get a lot more respect if they hold up their hands and make some form of amends. I think the referee would come out with a great deal of credit if that was the case.”
