Scotland has poor refs but Euro Disnae

It's what Thursday nights will be for over the next few weeks as Celtic and Rangers combine the apparently manifold failings of the disciplinary system at home with the allegedly superior form of match officiating to be found on the continent.

I say allegedly because the first case of blatantly biased adjudication overseas has yet to come to the surface in this season's Europa League group stages.

But, mark my words, it will. You can rely on it in the current climate of mis-trust where match officials are concerned.

Steven Gerrard started it off when he said, following a draw at Aberdeen in his first competitive match as Rangers' manager, that referees had been giving the club a hard time of it for years.

Quite what Steven knew about this subject, given that he was busily carving out a stellar career as a player for Liverpool and England over the many years which preceded his move into management at Ibrox, is unclear.

But now appears to be the time to submerge any inconvenient truths in a torrent of abuse at match officials.

Do we have referees who are inconsistent and, on occasion, incompetent?

Without doubt.

Are there times when match officials can materially influence the outcome of a game as a consequence of dubious decision making?

Without question.

But are there times when a team's shortcomings can be camouflaged by hanging the match officials out to dry as a way of letting the errant players off the hook?

You bet.

Celtic went to play St. Mirren on Friday night, for example.

This was the Double Treble winners visiting the home of a club who had declared a state of emergency after four league games and sacked their manager, Alan Stubbs.

In his place was a Northern Irishman, Oran Kearney, who was having his first ever game in charge of a full-time team in a fully professional league.

Kearney had, on the day of the match, made his first signing in the form of a thirty-three year old defender, Anton Ferdinand, whose last known playing address was Southend United and whose last game of football prior to Friday night had been five months earlier.

Whenever Celtic take a sore one from a European aristocrat, such as Barcelona or P.S.G., the first thing mentioned in the loser's defence is the size of their miniscule annual budget as opposed to the untold riches possessed by the winning team.

In other words, the financial gap which separates Celtic from St. Mirren on a domestic level.

But when Celtic failed to score against the previously hapless Saints, and two totally unexpected points had been dropped against the newly promoted side, who got it in the neck?

The match officials for sending off Olivier N'tcham.

Even though, by Rodgers' own admission, Celtic had been even more dominant against St. Mirren with ten men than they had been with eleven on the park.

The same line had been used by Gerrard when Rangers drew with Aberdeen after playing the bulk of the match minus Alfredo Morelos, following a red card that was rescinded on appeal.

Presumably Celtic will now take their grievance over N'tcham to the SFA. They may have to wait in a queue since the backlog of cases for judicial review is now reaching a sizeable number. Epidemic proportions even.

Perhaps they'll be too busy focusing on the advent of a European competition which will inevitably have their performance levels carefully scrutinised in the wake of their failure to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

And also forensically analysed for the way in which they compare to those of their arch-rivals, Rangers, on their return to the European stage after an absence of many years.

It is a compelling phase of the season since the fluctuations in form in Europe will need to be juggled alongside the ongoing demands of domestic competition.

Keeping the Sabbath wholly free of mistakes will be a tall order for both clubs after a series of Thursday night trials with unavoidable tribulations thrown in for good measure.

But there's always room for gallows humour in the midst of the most trying circumstances.

My eye was drawn to the interview in which Celtic's manager was asked if he might consult with his predecessor, Ronny Deila, on the basis that the Norwegian's current employers, Valerenga , had played Rosenborg, the visitors to Glasgow this week, yesterday afternoon.

"He is a friend of the club and a friend of Celtic, but, to be fair, we have a lot of things covered," Rodgers replied.

That'll be a 'Not on your life' then.

Rangers' first opponents are Villreal, who are currently in nineteenth place in La Liga.

This lowly league placing has been seized upon by those eagerly looking to establish grounds for optimism concerning the trip to Spain.

Presumably there are those on the Iberian Peninsula who are looking at the Premiership table and wondering if Rangers being in fourth place, seven points behind leaders Hearts, might offer Javier Calleja and his players a crumb of comfort surrounding Thursday evening's game.

It is good for our game that Celtic and Rangers are involved simultaneously in Europe.

It'll be great entertainment while both their performances there are dissected with anything but impartiality by the Superscoreboard audience.

"Mon pere est plus grand que ton pere," will be a frequent theme of the coming weeks as we go continental.

But if any referee is ever held to account for allegedly having cost Celtic and/or Rangers points in their respective groups will this weaken the belief that Scottish match officials have an agenda where one, or other, is concerned?

Or will it offer incontrovertible proof of a global conspiracy against the Old Firm and forever weaken the case for bringing in foreign referees to replace suspect Scots on big occasions?

You can't have it both ways

• Hugh Keevins