JOHN HILLCOAT

TOP ref Stuart Dougal raised more than a few eyebrows with his comments after he sent off Celtic gaffer Gordon Strachan and Hearts No. 2 John McGlynn in the Tynecastle affair.

The raging ref branded some bosses and players clueless when it comes to the laws of the game and ordered players and gaffers all over the country to go back to soccer school.

And I agree with the guy. Some gaffers and players think they know every rule in the book.

But the harsh reality is there are fundamental laws we know hee-haw about.

Take the bizarre offside rule everyone has to adhere to.

I hear players and coaches arguing week in week out with refs and their assistants about when the first phase of offside is defunct and when the second comes into play.

The controversy this silly rule creates is ridiculous. I have stood with refs in the tea room after games and asked them to educate me on this matter and most whistlers try to explain it.

But the fact is I'm still none the wiser.

If refs were to ask random questions about the laws when they come in to check studs before matches it would help the players and bosses learn more about what should happen on the park.

Basic questions like what the "D" at the edge of the box was for would have players and managers alike scratching their heads in shame.

There are other basic rules I have heard gafferrs and players questioning during and after games.

I have witnessed bosses giving defenders dog's abuse because the gaffer thought they had left a striker on side from a throw in.

You can imagine the reaction of the boss in question after he found out a player CAN'T be offside from a throw in!

But it's not just the ignorance of managers and players that is to blame here.

I think officials have a duty to let bosses and players know WHEN they are carrying out the laws of the game.

Take a recent Brechin game for instance. Our assistant Gareth Evans appealed to the assistant ref to help out his colleague by raising his flag for a foul committed about 40 yards from our opponents' goal.

I thought my ears had fallen off after I heard the reply of the assistant whistler. "Sorry Gareth, I can't get involved in the action in that area because the play wasn't in my ZONE!"

What's that all about! I don't fancy going down into the trenches with that guy, eh!

I REGARD myself as a typical West of Scotland male with a typical West of Scotland mentality when it comes down to the bigotry that surrounds the Old Firm and the problems it causes on a day to day basis.

And to be honest I'm quite embarrassed to say that.

Don't get me wrong, I would hate to stay anywhere else. But a typical West of Scotland male with a normal mentality like mine can be seen by people who stay outwith this part of the world as a bigot.

That is where I draw the line because I ain't no bigot.

I was absolutely disgusted when I read that Celtic keeper Artur Boruc had been given a warning following a SIX MONTH investigation after it was claimed he crossed himself during an Old Firm match in February.

How dare he carry out such a despicable act, eh!

Do the small-minded people he upset with an "offensive" sign ever stop and look at the bigger picture?

If they took their selfish, paranoid hats off for one minute they might just come up with the genuine conclusion that Boruc grew up in a country that happens to be holier than a tramp's pocket - POLAND.

A country that's so devout they stop selling drink for weeks at a time just because the Pope happens to be on their soil.

So it's no wonder Boruc was totally astonished the investigation got so far. For me, it should have been the few mindless punters who complained about this innocent gesture who should have been dragged over the coals and not Boruc.

It's not as if Artur is from a part of Scotland where some people are brought up with the mentality that blessing yourself outwith a chapel could result in your head getting kicked in by some mindless clown.

A sad state of affairs but a true one just the same.

I must admit I sometimes have great difficulty in empathising with some of the small-minded Old Firm fans who relate their football totally with religion.

Don't get me wrong, I realise how they come to this conclusion - the Old Firm and religion have gone hand and hand for these people from childhood.

As far as I'm concerned, people with that kind of thinking are the reason why bigotry is so prominent.

And unfortunately it's guys like Boruc who suffer from a problem that will blight this country for many more years.

'It's guys like Boruc who have to suffer'

Taken from the Sunday Mail