Griffiths could be out for a Month! (2 Game Ban)

[Gala Foxes]

You would have to question whether he has the temperament to play at Tynecastle in March. The last thing we need nowadays is going down to 10 men because someone can't control themselves.

[Elephant Stone]

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When Gareth Bale scored for Spurs on Sunday, he made like a big 'O' sign to the crowd behind the goals with with his hands. How does anyone know he wasn't calling them a bunch of fannies. See what I mean??

Yeah, we'll tell the SFA that the corner taker putting his middle finger up to the fans is our tactical code for near post and while we're at it we can tell them the Skacel refugee song is just the fans' way of telling the team he's unmarked in a dangerous space. Any other embarrassing incidents we can try to re-write the meaning of language for?

[Sir David Gray]

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Now the precedent has been set, I'd expect we'll see a lot more of this as long as the beaks are going to be even handed about it.

For instance, I don't seem to remember Rudi Skacel getting a retrospective ban for his 'loser' gesture to the East Stand last season.

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It's ridiculous. Genuinely inflammatory gestures from Skacel and McGown are ignored whilst Griffiths has been punished twice for reacting to his own fans.

I'm not denying it was petulant and stupid of him, but it's also entirely unfair of the SFA.

This Lunny prick might be acting within the rules but he's apply them selectively.

There is no law banning an "inflammatory gesture".

The law which Griffiths has broken is relating to the use of "abusive, insulting or offensive words and/or gestures" and the punishment is a red card.

Whilst I would quite gladly hand out a red card to Rudi Skacel every time he enters a football pitch, giving a "loser" sign to the Hibs fans is really pushing it if you're trying to class it as offensive, insulting or abusive.

[Emerald]

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Yeah, we'll tell the SFA that the corner taker putting his middle finger up to the fans is our tactical code for near post and while we're at it we can tell them the Skacel refugee song is just the fans' way of telling the team he's unmarked in a dangerous space. Any other embarrassing incidents we can try to re-write the meaning of language for?

It WAS gross stupidity by LG and he should be punished for not learning what is and is not allowed. But it's a football match FFS, next thing they'll be having a wee auld wumin shining a torch in you face if you're caught talking. Yes LG needs to grow up or ship out but this is PC gone mad.

[Makaveli]

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There is no law banning an "inflammatory gesture".

The law which Griffiths has broken is relating to the use of "abusive, insulting or offensive words and/or gestures" and the punishment is a red card.

Whilst I would quite gladly hand out a red card to Rudi Skacel every time he enters a football pitch, giving a "loser" sign to the Hibs fans is really pushing it if you're trying to class it as offensive, insulting or abusive.

Players have been booked and sent off during games for inflammatory gestures to opposing fans in the past, as well as nailed retrospectively.

It's been a punishable offense a lot longer than this garbage.

[Barney McGrew]

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There is no law banning an "inflammatory gesture".

The law which Griffiths has broken is relating to the use of "abusive, insulting or offensive words and/or gestures" and the punishment is a red card.

Whilst I would quite gladly hand out a red card to Rudi Skacel every time he enters a football pitch, giving a "loser" sign to the Hibs fans is really pushing it if you're trying to class it as offensive, insulting or abusive.

Something like that would no doubt fall under the 'Ungentlemanly Conduct' banner.

I'm using Skacel as an example because it's the first one I could think of off the top of my head. The Compliance Officer's job seems to be to pick up things that have gone unpunished, and I bet you could watch every single game from the SPL last weekend and find something. As others have pointed out, Sandaza has got away scott free with his antics on Saturday so if said officer is doing his job properly (and the SPL/SFA are backing up their claim of trying to stamp out 'simulation') then he should have been pulled up too.

I'm all for punishing players for indiscretions, but it has to be done even handedly.

[greenginger]

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Sent an e:mail to SFA stating very same point,will let you know if and when i get a reply

You might want to ask why the Sandansa dive was not considered by the Compliance officer. ( Obviously it was because it was not on TV )

IF the answer is the ref saw it and thought a word was enough, then the same should apply to Griffith as the linesman saw what he did and no action was taken.

[basehibby]

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I really wouldn't be surprised if we have seen Griffiths' last game for Hibs.

He's just ruled himself out of about a quarter of the remaining fixtures after multiple warnings and entirely because of his own stupidity.

You really could not blame Fenlon if he decided to offload him in favour of someone that can actually play!!! Woud be a crying shame as Griffiths has been living the dream and has hit top form recently - but would be entirely his own doing.

[GreenCastle]

3 things annoy me about this -

1 - He has been playing well for Hibs last few games and scoring goals (including a winner!) - Dundee Utd, Yams game - up top on his own, Cowedenbeath, Pars and St J - we need need playing and not sitting in the stand not contributing.

2 - The SFA are trying to cut down on behaviour but there are so many things that go on at football games - including diving and bad tackles and they don't seem to get 2 game bans. So really the inconsistency.

3 - LG has talent and is not using it - learn from your mistakes and play football - otherwise you will be another wasted talent.

Fenlon sort it out please

[millarco]

Do you think Grant Brebner would get a ban nowadays? (2 mins in) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4X4E...eature=related

[PaulSmith]

It's frustrating in both parts, the SFA and Leigh. Firstly referee's have now basically been ordered to send off players for this offence, it'll happen soon enough but even more frustrating is the fact that Croft should've had a straight red for his tackle early doors, how this was a yellow ill never know but cause the ref saw it and booked him he gets no retrospective punishment. Hibs also don't get the benefit of playing against 10 men for 70 mins and to top it all off we now lose one of our main players for something that no-one would be offended at.

It's 'right' but morally it's not.

[BEEJ]

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You might want to ask why the Sandansa dive was not considered by the Compliance officer. ( Obviously it was because it was not on TV )

IF the answer is the ref saw it and thought a word was enough, then the same should apply to Griffith as the linesman saw what he did and no action was taken.

It was on TV. BBC Alba screened the whole match - twice. (Or did the cameras not catch it?)

But it takes someone to go and spot the infringement and point out to the Compliance Officer exactly where to find it on the videotape - mins, seconds etc. Can't expect Mr Lunny to work for his salary, can we?

[Sir David Gray]

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Players have been booked and sent off during games for inflammatory gestures to opposing fans in the past, as well as nailed retrospectively.

It's been a punishable offense a lot longer than this garbage.

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Something like that would no doubt fall under the 'Ungentlemanly Conduct' banner.

I'm using Skacel as an example because it's the first one I could think of off the top of my head. The Compliance Officer's job seems to be to pick up things that have gone unpunished, and I bet you could watch every single game from the SPL last weekend and find something. As others have pointed out, Sandaza has got away scott free with his antics on Saturday so if said officer is doing his job properly (and the SPL/SFA are backing up their claim of trying to stamp out 'simulation') then he should have been pulled up too.

I'm all for punishing players for indiscretions, but it has to be done even handedly.

Sorry, what I meant was that it's not classed as a red card offence, whereas the gestures that Griffiths has made are classed as such.

Of course, if you goad the opposition, in the way that Skacel did, then you are normally booked. However, if the referee chooses not to book the player, that would have nothing at all to do with the compliance officer as he can't issue retrospective bookings.

[Barney McGrew]

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Sorry, what I meant was that it's not classed as a red card offence, whereas the gestures that Griffiths has made are classed as such.

Of course, if you goad the opposition, in the way that Skacel did, then you are normally booked. However, if the referee chooses not to book the player, that would have nothing at all to do with the compliance officer as he can't issue retrospective bookings.

So why did they charge GOC after the St Johnstone game with 'simulation' - if it had been deemed to be that during the game would have been a yellow card? If Hibs had accepted it rather than challenging it, he would have had a ban - the equivalent of a red card.

[Sir David Gray]

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So why did they charge GOC after the St Johnstone game with 'simulation' - if it had been deemed to be that during the game would have been a yellow card? If Hibs had accepted it rather than challenging it, he would have had a ban - the equivalent of a red card.

Diving seems to be the exception to the rule, because it is cheating and when it results in a penalty, it is seen as being game-changing.

I don't agree with the rule, I think if they're going to ban players retrospectively for diving then players caught diving during a game should be sent off, rather than booked. I wouldn't actually have a problem with this, to be honest.

However, that's the rule and that's the only time that a player will be banned for committing an offence that would have seen them booked, had it been dealt with during a game.

We're not going to have players being handed suspensions, because they've tried to wind up the opposition fans after a goal's been scored unless, of course, they make insulting, abusive or offensive gestures.

[Tyler Durden]

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Diving seems to be the exception to the rule, because it is cheating and when it results in a penalty, it is seen as being game-changing.

I don't agree with the rule, I think if they're going to ban players retrospectively for diving then players caught diving during a game should be sent off, rather than booked. I wouldn't actually have a problem with this, to be honest.

However, that's the rule and that's the only time that a player will be banned for committing an offence that would have seen them booked, had it been dealt with during a game.

We're not going to have players being handed suspensions, because they've tried to wind up the opposition fans after a goal's been scored unless, of course, they make insulting, abusive or offensive gestures.

FH, fair play for trying to apply some logic to all this, but its misplaced, the SPLs approach is a total nonsense.

To address the Skacel comparison though, how else can making a loser sign to opposition fans be interpreted, if not insulting and offensive? What else was the intention?

And this is one of the key problems with Lunny's recent bans - its at his discretion what is considered offensive. Is there any real precedent for players being banned for gesturing to their own fans during a goal celebration? Only in Scotland could this happen. If we had the time I'm sure we could trawl through countless examples from earlier in the year that have been ignored, its a joke.

The compliance officer is doing nothing but justifying his own existence - there must be an average of 2 bans offered every week - is this improving the game?

[Westie1875]

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FH, fair play for trying to apply some logic to all this, but its misplaced, the SPLs approach is a total nonsense.

To address the Skacel comparison though, how else can making a loser sign to opposition fans be interpreted, if not insulting and offensive? What else was the intention?

And this is one of the key problems with Lunny's recent bans - its at his discretion what is considered offensive. Is there any real precedent for players being banned for gesturing to their own fans during a goal celebration? Only in Scotland could this happen. If we had the time I'm sure we could trawl through countless examples from earlier in the year that have been ignored, its a joke.

The compliance officer is doing nothing but justifying his own existence - there must be an average of 2 bans offered every week - is this improving the game?

Does it cost teams to challenge his decisions? If so it seems to be a money making vehicle as a lot of teams have challenged them so far, us Rangers, Motherwell & Aberdeen from memory. All SPL teams incidently, has a non-spl team been punished yet? Seems a bit odd that only SPL teams are commiting these apparent offences, or is it simply the case that some spl matches and all highlights are televised so it is more obvious, and the new rules aren't being enforced on teams in the first division and lower?

I see Higdon is contesting a ban for the same gesture Griffiths was banned for last time, Hibs appealed this and failed so presumably the Higdon ban has to be upheld? The SFA have put themselves in an awkward position with these new rules as they need to look like they're being fair so there will be a lot of bans to come, its not really helping anyone. The only thing wrong with the previous system was the length of time it took to get things sorted, proper issues such as horrendous tackles that the ref missed or punches thrown etc, not petty gestures from players to their own fans.

[Emerald]

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Does it cost teams to challenge his decisions? If so it seems to be a money making vehicle as a lot of teams have challenged them so far, us Rangers, Motherwell & Aberdeen from memory. All SPL teams incidently, has a non-spl team been punished yet? Seems a bit odd that only SPL teams are commiting these apparent offences, or is it simply the case that some spl matches and all highlights are televised so it is more obvious, and the new rules aren't being enforced on teams in the first division and lower?

I see Higdon is contesting a ban for the same gesture Griffiths was banned for last time, Hibs appealed this and failed so presumably the Higdon ban has to be upheld? The SFA have put themselves in an awkward position with these new rules as they need to look like they're being fair so there will be a lot of bans to come, its not really helping anyone. The only thing wrong with the previous system was the length of time it took to get things sorted, proper issues such as horrendous tackles that the ref missed or punches thrown etc, not petty gestures from players to their own fans.

And what constitutes an offensive gesture, is there a list? It may not be offensive on its own but maybe in the context its used may offend someone. Or it may be an offensive gesture but NOT in the context its used! I know his was but where do you draw a line. Its a total shamble of a rule especially when its down to TV editing.

[Sir David Gray]

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Does it cost teams to challenge his decisions? If so it seems to be a money making vehicle as a lot of teams have challenged them so far, us Rangers, Motherwell & Aberdeen from memory. All SPL teams incidently, has a non-spl team been punished yet? Seems a bit odd that only SPL teams are commiting these apparent offences, or is it simply the case that some spl matches and all highlights are televised so it is more obvious, and the new rules aren't being enforced on teams in the first division and lower?

I see Higdon is contesting a ban for the same gesture Griffiths was banned for last time, Hibs appealed this and failed so presumably the Higdon ban has to be upheld? The SFA have put themselves in an awkward position with these new rules as they need to look like they're being fair so there will be a lot of bans to come, its not really helping anyone. The only thing wrong with the previous system was the length of time it took to get things sorted, proper issues such as horrendous tackles that the ref missed or punches thrown etc, not petty gestures from players to their own fans.

I would assume that it would be the same procedure as it is when you're appealing against a red card.

I.E. you hand over £1000 if you want to contest the ban that is being offered and if your appeal is upheld, then you'll get that £1000 back.

[matty_f]

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FH, fair play for trying to apply some logic to all this, but its misplaced, the SPLs approach is a total nonsense.

To address the Skacel comparison though, how else can making a loser sign to opposition fans be interpreted, if not insulting and offensive? What else was the intention?

And this is one of the key problems with Lunny's recent bans - its at his discretion what is considered offensive. Is there any real precedent for players being banned for gesturing to their own fans during a goal celebration? Only in Scotland could this happen. If we had the time I'm sure we could trawl through countless examples from earlier in the year that have been ignored, its a joke.

The compliance officer is doing nothing but justifying his own existence - there must be an average of 2 bans offered every week - is this improving the game?

Good post.

[JimBHibees]

Is it worth appealling to try and get it back to one game? 2 games for that really is complete nonsense.

[silverhibee]

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FH, fair play for trying to apply some logic to all this, but its misplaced, the SPLs approach is a total nonsense.

To address the Skacel comparison though, how else can making a loser sign to opposition fans be interpreted, if not insulting and offensive? What else was the intention?

And this is one of the key problems with Lunny's recent bans - its at his discretion what is considered offensive. Is there any real precedent for players being banned for gesturing to their own fans during a goal celebration? Only in Scotland could this happen. If we had the time I'm sure we could trawl through countless examples from earlier in the year that have been ignored, its a joke.

The compliance officer is doing nothing but justifying his own existence - there must be an average of 2 bans offered every week - is this improving the game?

Yeah agree with you, i have mentioned Steven Naismith in this thread who was done by the compliance officer for an incident against the Pars, McCoist was fuming and had his say on a number of ocasions regarding it, a few games later and SN makes a horror tackle on a Dons player just before he gets injured that puts him out for the season, no action taken by the CO regarding that tackle, was the CO feared he may come under pressure from RFC for the incident if he acted on it after seeing it on TV, it was a red card every day of the week but because he got the injury making the challenge it seemed to be forgotten about because of SN serious injury, it seem Hibs have become a target from the BBC and pundits to highlight things in Hibs game's for the CO.

If Hibs except this two game ban, and i think they will, first they have to hammer LG for these gesture's that he is making, and he needs to appoligise to the Hibs support for doing it,(i know a few will say why should he) but he needs to do it.

Then our Chairman needs to make some kind of statement regarding these incidents with Griffiths regarding the Compliance Officer, he has to get it over that the CO has to be consistent with all incidents that are brought to his attention and get it over that Hibs are not a soft touch for the CO, he could maybe start with mentioning Sandazas dive at the weekend and also mention that it only comes to the CO attention after Sportscene on a Sunday or from pundits or journo's in the papers, wee never seem to complain about anything, time for our Chairman needs to stick up for this club every now and again.

I have always liked listening to Sportsound before and after games, but this season there seems to be an anti Hibs campaign just now against us, it has not helped with Yogi joining them either, it gives them the chance to have snidey digs at Hibs and then ask Yogi for his thoughts on things at ER, Yogi then normally talks keek and doesn't help things, wish he would just say no comment when they ask him about the problems at Hibs, then the Cowdenbeath game, never went to the game but listened to it on the radio on all mikes, see when Beath scored in the first few seconds you could hear them all s******ing behind there mikes, it was very unprofessional indeed, but it just shows you what they think of Hibs.

Wee need to lose this soft touch tag.

[JimBHibees]

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Yeah agree with you, i have mentioned Steven Naismith in this thread who was done by the compliance officer for an incident against the Pars, McCoist was fuming and had his say on a number of ocasions regarding it, a few games later and SN makes a horror tackle on a Dons player just before he gets injured that puts him out for the season, no action taken by the CO regarding that tackle, was the CO feared he may come under pressure from RFC for the incident if he acted on it after seeing it on TV, it was a red card every day of the week but because he got the injury making the challenge it seemed to be forgotten about because of SN serious injury, it seem Hibs have become a target from the BBC and pundits to highlight things in Hibs game's for the CO.

If Hibs except this two game ban, and i think they will, first they have to hammer LG for these gesture's that he is making, and he needs to appoligise to the Hibs support for doing it,(i know a few will say why should he) but he needs to do it.

Then our Chairman needs to make some kind of statement regarding these incidents with Griffiths regarding the Compliance Officer, he has to get it over that the CO has to be consistent with all incidents that are brought to his attention and get it over that Hibs are not a soft touch for the CO, he could maybe start with mentioning Sandazas dive at the weekend and also mention that it only comes to the CO attention after Sportscene on a Sunday or from pundits or journo's in the papers, wee never seem to complain about anything, time for our Chairman needs to stick up for this club every now and again.

I have always liked listening to Sportsound before and after games, but this season there seems to be an anti Hibs campaign just now against us, it has not helped with Yogi joining them either, it gives them the chance to have snidey digs at Hibs and then ask Yogi for his thoughts on things at ER, Yogi then normally talks keek and doesn't help things, wish he would just say no comment when they ask him about the problems at Hibs, then the Cowdenbeath game, never went to the game but listened to it on the radio on all mikes, see when Beath scored in the first few seconds you could hear them all s******ing behind there mikes, it was very unprofessional indeed, but it just shows you what they think of Hibs.

Wee need to lose this soft touch tag.

Brilliant post. Fenlon did make comment of the club needing to be more prepared to stick up for themselves. Your Naismith example is a good one as IMO was the Calum Davidson challenge on GOC at the weekend, and Sandaza's dives. We should as a club be more prepared to indicate that for example GOC seems to be getting picked on by refs in comparison with others. His bookings v Aberdeen and Pars were both jokes but because a yellow cant be challenged they stand.

Agree with you completely about Sportsound there does seem to be a very anti-Hibs stance taken though what would you expect with Preston and Yogi being regular contributors. There is no way on this earth that they would have someone supporting one of the Infirm who was so happy to slag off their main oppnent and take great pleasure in other teams scoring against them. It simply wouldnt be allowed to happen. Preston has almost done himself a mischief when commentating on goals against Hibs, the Ross County equaliser in the cup last year being an example. I think you also had fat Robbo in the background clearly saying 'Come on County', I mean how unprofessional can you get.