The officials were a disgrace at the weekend. Celtic and Dundee should be raging.

Willie Collum’s hopes that he had “sorted out” Scotland’s refereeing problems were severely damaged by this week. Until he or someone else cleans up at Hampden, those problems won’t be resolved.

And when I say “clean house”, I mean gut the property almost entirely. Too many people with well-known biases and much more well-known incompetence are there. The ineptitude is evident every single week, and at least the bias isn’t stated openly in polite company.

Following the match at Ibrox, Steven Pressley made the decision to express his pride in his players and give them plaudits. I recognise that. He should have been incensed at being refused three points, but he was nearly denied even one.

His statement that one point could still result in relegation was the closest he got to expressing fury. But without the unexplained seven minutes of injury time and the penalty added for good measure, they would have received the three points they needed, the three points they entered the game for, and the three points they would have received regardless.

Nobody will be able to explain the origin of the seven minutes. That is a disgrace that no one can explain. Even worse is the penalty judgement, which shocked a few BBC hacks. The BBC is cheating.

It was that awful. According to Stephen Thompson, it is not a penalty. It’s hardly the point, is it, even though the former Ibrox supporters were gleefully pounding the drum and saying it was “no more than the home side deserved”?

The majority of people viewing are aware that the choice is absurd.

It will be reviewed by the VAR Review Panel. Amazing. Dundee will not be able to make up the two points they lost. It might be expensive for Dundee if the tribunal determines that it wasn’t a penalty, as most of us already know.

Pressley is correct in that regard. If Collum and his people tell us after the fact what should have been clear on the day, it won’t matter. Additionally, the Ibrox player who dove won’t face any consequences. Therefore, it is a farce to act as though it matters; it is not even retroactive justice.

It’s unbelievable that they didn’t. Or, more accurately, I can, as the SFA system as a whole is set up to shield its officials from any criticism or inspection. They would have been punished if Dundee had spoken out. As usual, the officials would have gotten away with it. That is only a portion of the issue. The other is repeatedly awarding the top games to the same dishonest people.

We nearly received another ruling at Pittodrie that would have raised significant concerns about John Beaton. However, they are not brand-new queries. We’ve already asked them. as well as earlier. as well as earlier. Why is he permitted to officiate Celtic matches? When he continues to make what we may charitably refer to as “mistakes”—and what some of us would describe much more bluntly—why does he keep getting major matches?

After an obvious Aberdeen handball, he waved play on.

One of those free kicks you can get any day of the week. That nearly resulted in a goal. VAR would have had to step in and overrule him if it had. Additionally, he would have needed to explain how VAR was necessary to make sense of something that occurred directly in front of him.

The true issue with Beaton’s failure is that Schmeichel’s save results in a corner being given away, which stops the so-called “phase of play” and allows VAR to step in.

A foul should have prevented the move that led to the corner, but it was already too late. And if, anyway, it results in a goal? As I will tell you, we must accept the consequences. The SFA never provides an explanation, and Beaton has never been pressed to explain it. These are the decisions that have a significant influence on games.

Dundee should have been upset about what had happened to them, but we should also be upset about that choice. as well as a lot more from that game.

How can we end up with three times as many cards as a home team that ejected us from the game from the beginning to the end? The argument that “we won, so what’s the problem?” is becoming old to me.

Are you serious? The issue is that this is permitted to continue. Will we hold off till it costs us a lot of money?

We seem to be. And it seems that the Celtic Park management is okay with that. We all witnessed the operation that aided the Ibrox club this weekend, but every time we enter a big game, we are gambling against the house rules.

The fact that we are capable of overcoming it is irrelevant; it is not the goal. Is it necessary for every game to be an uphill battle? Does each and every game require loaded dice and a tilting table?

Why not simply pass a rule change that docks us 10 points before the season begins if folks believe it’s reasonable to continuously handicap one team?

They might be satisfied by that. Perhaps then we would have proper refereeing.

To be honest, though, it always does when we say, “This can’t go on.”

We choose to overlook it when it occurs again.

Two instances of flagrant cheating were what we witnessed at Ibrox and Pittodrie. I’m more than delighted to call it that, regardless of whether it goes beyond than some would.

However, a blogger shouldn’t have to mention it. If the clubs themselves don’t stand up and grow up, it will continue until they do.

This will continue until it truly costs us money.