Natural Justice dies in
Scottish Football
Laursen's suffers for the sake of
stupidity - EDITORS
NATURAL
JUSTICE is one of those oft-used
terms that few truly understand, after all natural justice is, like all
things, a matter of opinion. There are those who quite unbelievably
have spoken of the 'right' decision being taken by referee Mike McCurry at
Easter Road on Wednesday, both in awarding a penalty kick to Rangers and
in ordering off Ulrik Laursen.
The
penalty kick we can understand. While using his arms to prise
himself from the Easter Road turf, a natural enough movement that humans
tend to do when trying to raise themselves back onto their feet from such
a position, Ulrik Laursen quite probably DID prevent the ball from
hitting the back of the Hibs net, and in terms of natural justice that
accidental clash of ball and arm having halted a Rangers goal was
deserving of the resulting penalty kick to redress the balance. But
what 'balance' or indeed justice was served by the subsequent red card
brandished at Laursen? Nobody needed video evidence to see that the
man could do nothing to avoid the ball, like a startled rabbit caught in
the headlights of a speeding car, there was no possibility of Laursen
avoiding a collision let alone his having the speed of thought to actually
cause one to happen!
What
everyone would like to hear is the viewpoint of Referee Mike
McCurry. That of course is not going to happen, just another example
of how natural justice, or indeed justice of any kind, is missing from
football in Scotland so long as those who run the game continue to believe
that they know best and neither sense or plain old-fashioned logic will
convince them otherwise. There are those who react in predictable
fashion, saying that in some way highly-paid football players should
simply accept their lot and get on with it. You have to laugh don't
you? Would anyone saying such a thing be so keen to tolerate a
situation where one man can make a snap judgement they know to be wrong,
but will nevertheless effect their livelihood, and more - no right of
appeal, not even a hearing of your case, will be considered.
Before the mayhem - Laursen closes down Claudio Caniggia (sns)
Laursen
is one of the most amiable and inherently honest men in the game.
Arguing with the referee was pointless, the Dane decided quickly, so he
took the red card feeling that justice would prevail afterwards. So
it was a very surprised and disappointed Hibee yesterday when told that he
had no right to appeal. Laursen said: "That
is a blow and a real surprise to me because I thought I had a strong
case. I did not deliberately handle the ball, and it is sad that
I've no comeback on this at all. I was so sure right after the
decision I would be free to play against Hearts, even when the referee
held up the red card I thought at the time, don't argue, you can appeal
later, and as I walked off the park I knew people would see that I was
innocent and the ban would be quashed."
It will not be, this time, but surely it is a case that will be remembered
the next time referee's deliberate their role in the game at their annual
get-together in Stirling. Refereeing is not the easiest of jobs to
take on, but having accepted the responsibility the men in black must
consider their own performance and how it effects the livelihoods of so
many, and they must become answerable to more than a few faceless
individuals within the Scottish Football Association.
Hibs
meanwhile are in some serious trouble of their own, and of their own
making. Just eight points now separate Hibs from bottom club St
Johnstone, and fledgling manager Franck Sauzee has said the unthinkable,
that the club must now be looking over their shoulders and not up at the
dizzy heights of the SPL. Hearts fans at least are rather confident
that a depleted Hibs squad without much confidence in the ranks stand
little chance of escaping Tynecastle tomorrow with a point let alone
that elusive three, but those same fans should not forget that when it comes to any
derby match, the formbook is left in an untidy heap. The last time
Hibs went into a derby with heads so low was after a festive 7-0 hammering
from Rangers, and the reaction of the Hibees then was to put an
over-confident Hearts to the sword a few days later. The Easter Road
side might also do as Dundee United did around this time last season, the
Tannadice club leaving Easter Road with a similar sense of injustice, and
using that to turn their entire season around. That is the type of
message that Sauzee will no doubt be drumming into his squad in their
final full training session this morning.
Sauzee
is fast running out of selection options, and looks likely to recall
Mathias Jack to once again occupy a defensive slot, Jack looking favourite
to team up with Gary Smith in the centre of the Hibs defence for the visit
to Tynecastle. The other problem area up front will likely see David
Zitelli and Eduardo Hurtado forming a new strike partnership, although
Sauzee has the option of giving Gary O'Connor a baptism of fire, that
might be too much and too soon for the youngster however and a place on
the bench is the most likely option for the young striker. Perhaps
less of a problem will be the Hibs midfield, where Grant Brebner has shone
in spite of recent results, and Freddy Arpinon being given another chance
alongside John O'Neil and Ulises de la Cruz, who stunned the Tynecastle
side after just 36 seconds in the last Edinburgh derby. Sadly for
Hibs of course, that was their last recorded SPL victory and quite
possibly the last time the Ecuadorian performed at anything like the form
expected of a player of such stature.
John
Campbell will report this evening on the views from the Easter Road
management for the big day.
|
Odds
