Tuesday 9 August 2016 09:37, UK
I must say I enjoyed every minute of the drama, excitement and talking points that were thrown up in abundance in the first weekend of the Scottish Premiership season.
Sky Sports could not have shown two better games than Rangers opener against Hamilton Accies on Saturday in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd, before the full-blooded affair at Tynecastle where an impressive Hearts side just lost out to a Scott Sinclair-inspired Celtic.
No doubt the biggest talking point was the incident at Tynecastle when Hearts' Jamie Walker won a very dubious penalty that he converted himself to tie the game at 1-1 before he was immediately labelled a 'cheat' by Celtic and Scotland captain Scott Brown after the game.
Walker insisted there was contact from Kieran Tierney but, having watched the incident numerous times, I believe there was no contact at all and he was guilty of simulation. As a result, my guess is he will be served with a notice of complaint by the SFA's compliance officer Tony McGlennan and offered a two-game ban. It will then be up to Walker and his club to accept or appeal that judgement.
Bizarrely, an offence that the referee spots is worthy of a yellow card but if found guilty retrospectively, the player can be suspended for two games. That does not make sense.
I'm not asking anyone to agree with my stance on it but I believe cheating is a part of the game.
I accept it's very distasteful and unpleasant to declare but it's my experience as a former player with 16 years of full-time professional football in Scotland and England behind me that players will do anything they can to gain an advantage.
Most players I knew were not interested in making the game easy for officials and constantly pushed them to the limit. Like everyone else, I would claim for fouls, throw-ins and corners knowing they should have gone to the opposition. Remember, players are playing for pride, points, money, future contracts and bonuses. If they can gain an advantage by winning a dubious foul, believe me, they will do it.
Good referees can handle the pressure of big calls and I do wonder what referee John Beaton saw in the Walker/Tierney incident. His view was far from perfect and he clearly guessed at what happened. With a call as important as a penalty, that approach to refereeing is not good enough.
I can pretty much guarantee that Walker's manager and team-mates shook his hand at half time knowing that they were now in a level game. Equally, they will be horrified later in the season if they are on the wrong end of a dubious foul or penalty that results in lost points.
That's why Brown's comments were immature and thoughtless. Adopting the moral high ground is a dangerous stance to take on incidents like this. Will Brown label a Celtic or Scotland team-mate a cheat when one of them is guilty of a debatable foul/penalty later in the season?
It was left to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers to bring a more calm and measured response to the incident when he chose to praise the referee for admitting his mistake. Having previously worked with Luis Suarez, he will realise that footballers can get the benefit of certain decisions with clever play that others in the game find infuriating.
In certain countries, simulation and winning any sort of advantage from the referee is regarded as part of their culture.
Is Cristiano Ronaldo a cheat? England fans thought so when he was involved in an incident that led to Wayne Rooney being sent off in the 2006 World Cup.
Me? I prefer to regard Ronaldo an exceptional talent who did what it took to win a game of football.
No Scotland fan would dream of criticising or showing any disapproval of our own Joe Jordan when he deliberately punched the ball in a 1978 World Cup qualifier at Anfield against Wales that won us a penalty and took us to the finals in Argentina.
The truth is, every club has a player capable of winning a dubious foul.
