One or two observations in response to recent games and comments/claims made by participants of this thread:
Cosgrove isn't a dirty player. If anything I feel he lacks strength for being such a big cunt. He hits the deck affa easily and it's one of the things about him that grinds me gears somewhat.
Within the first few seconds of the hun game he was being penalised for fuck all. Absolute nothing "challenges" then a couple of further "fouls" later he was getting warned for persistent fouling which he'd soon receive a booking for. 3 x fuck all is still fuck all but the ref set an early precedent that he was basically allowed no contact. Any reputation he got from this scenario for being a "red card waiting to happen" isn't fair IMO. Frustrating but no doubt some hun cunt will have been chirping in the ref's ear. Which brings me nicely to (the actual referee on Saturday); Scott Brown.
Had Scott Brown made that challenge there's no fucking danger whatsoever that he's getting a red card for it. Or even a yellow. It's not even a fucking foul. Ajer has bought that one. The ref couldn't fucking wait to whip out the card. Wthere it's on their by line or ours matters not. Many are suggesting he shouldn't have done it but if we can't go to the homes of the cheeks and compete then we might as well pack it in for good. The speed aspect of the challange came from Sam being mindful of the player punting the ball clear. He'd have anticipated having to try and block a punt by the time he got there but Ajer was caught in possession and had to feign injury to save face. We were growing into the game. We were far from amazing but we were much better after half time and Sam was trying to keep Celtic pinned in up the park. If we're not allowed to do that then why should anyone pay to watch there competitions? As someone else correctly pointed out I'd have been annoyed if Cosgrove had applied no pressure and given Ajer the freedom and time to calmly clear the danger. Fuck that. I want my players, my team and my manager to show commitment to the cause.
This isn't an issue with us - this is an issue with another dreadful refereeing decision not unlike the one that the Huns got against Hibs. Only difference there is that the game was over by that point. Sam's sending off effectively ended the game as a contest.
Having said all this.. It still infuriates me how Derek McInnes approaches these games nowadays.