Kris Boyd and Walter Smith have given Ali Douglas plenty to chew over as discipline deserts the SPL...
Diving display a disappointment says Ali
We have had a week of headlines in the SPL and, as unwanted as those headlines may have been, you cannot argue that there is plenty of drama in Scottish football right now!
Wednesday night saw two high-profile dives in the Co-operative Insurance Cup, one of which dominated the back pages of just about every paper in Scotland on Thursday morning.
I think Kris Boyd knew that he made a mistake by dropping like a sack of spuds in the 2-1 win at Queen of the South, he put his hands up instantly after hitting the floor - he knew he had made a mistake.
The timing of it could not have been much worse after the Eduardo incident a couple of weeks ago, and it's no surprise at all that he has been splashed across the back pages.
It's hard to guess what is in a player's mind when he tries to 'win' a penalty, maybe it was just an instinctive thing with Kris that he obviously regretted instantly.
He'll know he's been a bit silly, his red face showed as much, but things happen so fast in a game that instinct can sometimes take over. Unfortunately for him, once he went down it was already too late and now he gets ridiculed in the press - rather than column inches being given to how well Queen of the South played.
People in glass houses...
What it maybe does show is that Scottish football needs to get its own garden in order before commenting on other people. Since the Eduardo situation, we've had Aiden McGeady, David Obua and Kris Boyd all involved in similar incidents.
Although on a smaller scale, you really cannot say Boyd's was any different to Eduardo's. I've spoken before about the importance of the Champions League money to Celtic, and in a similar way the Co-operative Insurance Cup means a lot financially to Queen of the South.
Thankfully we didn't see a penalty given on this occasion, but if it had led to a pivotal moment then we would have seen David pretty much robbed by Goliath. The penalty wasn't given, but the principle is the same: A dive doesn't just win a penalty; it robs clubs of serious amounts of money.
Kicking the habit
I know in some countries such as Argentina for instance, if a player dives to win a penalty he is generally deemed a clever player. It's almost like having an extra trick in his locker.
I don't want to see that culture arrive in Scotland. I don't want the day to come where we say to players: 'if you're big enough and clever enough to get away with diving, go for it'.
Scottish football needs to collectively stamp it out, and that needs to happen through a professional respect that is generated inside every football club.
Right now we are seeing headlines that we don't want in Scottish football, but I don't want those headlines to disappear if it is because we are accepting diving as a part of our game. Diving will always exist, but it is important that clubs, managers and the media alike never begin to accept it as 'part of the game'.
One thing is for sure, it'll be interesting to see the reaction Boyd gets from the Aberdeen fans in his next game. He may well find that it comes back to bite him in the backside a bit because he might not get one or two penalties that he does deserve - as happened later in Wednesday's cup game.
Managerial mayhem
On a separate note, we all saw Walter Smith lose his head during the Kilmarnock game and even he himself admits that he acted inappropriately. But can any football fan, player or manager in the world claim that they have never 'lost it' at one point or another during a game?
It must be so difficult for a manager, when so much is riding on every game, to keep his cool every minute of every game. When the blood is rushing and you're completely caught up in the game, it goes without saying that you're going to lose your head once in a while.
Walter now gets something like a four-game touchline ban, which perhaps seems a little unreasonable for a heat-of-the-moment act that is probably every bit as instinctive as Kris Boyd's dive.
Clearly no manager should walk away unpunished from such an incident, and I understand Walter's suspension is more severe due to the fact he is a repeat offender, but I just wonder if the SFA board needs an ex-manager or two on the panel who can understand the guilty party's actions.
Pressure-cooker
It is impossible to comprehend the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the dugout unless you've stood there yourself, and I believe managers would just be better represented if there was somebody on the board who could represent their side of the story.
Walter has apologised for the incident, I'm pretty sure he wishes he hadn't reacted in the manner that he did, and I think most incidents are regrettable in the aftermath of a game, which is why greater understanding is needed on behalf of the SFA.
I don't want to speak on behalf of Mr Smith, but I'm sure when he got in his car to drive home he probably wasn't sticking on some Kanye West and chilling out - he would have been regretting his actions.
You have to remember, Rangers were facing two draws on the trot, this was not the form of champions and Walter probably suffered a rush of blood to the head. Let's be honest, you don't associate that kind of behaviour with him or Tony Mowbray for that matter.
Four matches? It seems a touch harsh. I'm sure missing the Old Firm game will be all the punishment the Rangers boss needs...
