EVERYONE who follows football knows referees everywhere in the world do get it wrong sometimes, and often on more than just the odd occasion. All teams suffer from a referee who sees something nobody else has, or who rules the wrong way in a borderline case. After the initial rant and rave against the ref, all in the heat of battle, cooler heads prevail, and clubs and their fans accept that these things happen. Nobody fires off letters to the governing body demanding answers for everything that goes against them. Such was the case at Paisley when home town born boy, Craig Thomson, reckoned by the Scottish Football Association to be a top man, blundered badly... twice. Both of the decisions he made went against Rangers, at a time when, after having seen Celtic score nine 24 hours earlier, the supporters of the champions were looking for their team to not only win, but also eat into the goal difference advantage Celtic were able to build against a woeful and totally gutless looking Aberdeen. In point of fact they managed to reduce that goal difference by only two, when, had Thomson got the only two big calls he had to make in the match, correct it would have been four. Thomson blundered badly, denying Rangers a perfectly good goal on the stroke of half time, and then awarding a penalty for handball against Steve Davis, whose hand was low at his side, and who actually tried to move it. On ESPN, Craig Burley was adamant that neither Stevie Naismith or Kenny Miller had fouled St Mirren's Craig Samson when the keeper punched the ball in to his own net. Whatever Thomson thought it was he saw, it was not a foul by a Rangers player on the Saints keeper. Burley was less sure about the penalty award. He started by saying Davis' hand was in what he called a neutral position, then added he was far enough away to have gotten his hand out of the way. When he returned to review the incident again, the former Celtic and Scotland man sounded less sure. He repeated the same words, but his tone was far from firm and certain. But these are the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune which every team everywhere has to endure, and move on from. On Saturday at Parkhead, where I was on duty, Celtic used the 16 minutes when they held a man advantage over Aberdeen after their former player, Paul Hartley, needlessly conceded a penalty, to race to a three goal lead. Afterwards Mark McGhee was at a loss to explain the actions of his captain, who is such an experienced player, and who is so vital to a young Aberdeen side. Referee Alan Muir also helped the ehome team with the second of three penalties which he handed to Celtic. That came seconds before the interval and Dons keeper Jamie Langfield was convinced he made no contact when Shaun Maloney went flying. However, it does show how referees can impact on a game, even when when one team is clearly better than the other, as was the case with Celtic against Aberdeen and Rangers visit to St Mirren. No doubt Thomson will review his actions on DVD, and if he is honest with himself, will realise he made a howler in thinking there had been a foul on keeper Samson, and that Davis did not appear to be guilty of deliberate handball, and deserved the benefit of the doubt. But then again, human beings are are not machines. And refs, despite what Celtic supporters may say, are human, and therefore they make mistakes. Thomson certainly made two, and Rangers won 3-1 instead of 4-0. That's just how it goes. No dark plots, no politcal baggage and certainly no hidden agendas.
