Yes, I change my user name occasionally. Although possibly not as often as you.

Otherwise, what's your point?

Well, if you go back and read my post it was a couple of questions not a point as such. I have regrettably little knowledge of Scottish football, you see.

I was just wondering what your previous moniker was and quite how much of the above is a wind-up.

You never take Gibraltar wrote:

QUOTE:
He stays on the list, so there's presumably some evidence (from his marks).

If his marks are that low, and a result he doesn't get any more games, fair enough. it's a results business, after all.

So what constitutes an acceptable mark?

Rangers will obviously award McCurry 10 out of 10 and Craig and Lorraine will give him 0.

10 out of 20 = 50%. In my O Grade days, that was a pass. Is there a system whereby the 2 Establishment Clubs have their votes weighted?

The first question was loaded, Harry.

If you really don't follow Scottish fitba (although didn't you have a spell working in nearby Carlisle?), why would you assume ANY of my contributions up-thread were winding up? I've answered points by others in some detail, I think.

As for the second question, if you show me yours etc.

Arab- in the leagues I've refereed in (more Ferguslie Park than Firhill), between 60% and 70% was typical. Of course sometimes I and others scored tending to zero, but if repeatedly then we'd be downgraded. You'll note that I mentioned my own game in Division 2- I was relegated in 2006 alas.

If McCurry regularly scored 50%, either he'd have been relgated or the overall average must be lower.

Here's a statement from that fine body The Rangers Supporters Trust:

In recent days, Dundee United have now heaped embarrassment twice on themselves and Scottish football.

By supporting the fixture scheduling demanded by the cowardly hand of hidden forces that permeates Scottish football their anti-Rangers agenda was exposed. Now their disgraceful attack on one the most respected referees in our game appears to have reinforced their bitterness against our club.

Today's laughable 'complaint' shows all the recklessness of a Willo Flood (!!!???) passback.

The RST calls for Rangers to decline any ticket allocation for Tannadice next season and urges all Rangers supporters to back this course of action.

Let's see whether the loss of at least £250,000 income is easier to swallow than their anti-Rangers bile.

Did Willo Flood play a reckless passback or is it just a coincidence that they singled out a Irish Dundee United player?

It was Mark Kerr who made the terrible passback in the League Cup Final.

United's Irish players (notably Noel Hunt) were subjected to lots of chanting about the potato famine on Saturday. I reckon we should complain about that as well. A couple of years ago, Rangers reported United to the SFA for "sectarian singing" by the away fans at Ibrox:

Hello, Hello how do you do?
We fuck the boys in royal blue
We fuck the boys in emerald green
We are the boys in tangerine

being the offending song. Now that United have 4 Irishman in the team we seem to be public enemy number 2. Which is great.

In the weekly email I get sent from Tannadice, there was a piece last week saying that United had been bombarded with abusive emails and phone calls over our refusal to agree to a postponement of Saturday's game so Rangers could prepare for the UEFA Cup Final. This is despite the fact no-one actually asked United for a postponement.

Rangers didn't object to United playing away to Celtic 4 days before the League Cup Final and I don't remember much assistance coming our way in 86/87 when we played 6 games in 18 days including 3 cup finals.

You never take Gibraltar wrote:

QUOTE:
The first question was loaded, Harry.

If you really don't follow Scottish fitba (although didn't you have a spell working in nearby Carlisle?), why would you assume ANY of my contributions up-thread were winding up? I've answered points by others in some detail, I think.

As for the second question, if you show me yours etc.

Fuck me, you're a bit touchy! I suppose dwelling in the internicine tribal hotbed of the Scottish Football threads can do that to a man.

I think that a fair amount of the style (if not necessarily the content) of all your posts I've seen is intent on winding up. Same with your screen name and profiles. It's not a crime, I am just interested.

My screen name always has "Harry" in it if you really need some help in identifying me.

Flood made an identical disastrous back pass to Kerr's during the game at Tannadice a couple of weeks ago.

This title race is producing alot of good games, and it is going to be fascinating to see if Rangers blow a gasket over the next 2 weeks.

Harry, one thing you should know about Scottish football is everyone loves talking about refs. Personally, I thought he bottled it, nothing more. He'd have had to give a penalty from 30 yards away , directly behind the players, without the confirmation of his linesman, and overrule a linesman on an offside.

One thing I couldn't believe over the weekend was how quiet Parkhead was, the ref at Ibrox seemed affected by the atmosphere, but the Celtic fans just didn't seem bothered at 0-0 against Hibs. It's like they want Strachan to fail.

The Rangers Supporters Trust like to present a veneer of respectability but this sort of outburst exposes them for the shower of meatheads that they really are.

It's representative of what seems to be an increased militancy about Rangers fans in recent months, however.

The outspoken (and completely wrong) comments by David Murray regarding the fixture rescheduling last week seems to have come about after he was stung into action by a mobilisation of fans looking for a more bullish attitude from the club.

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Fuck me, you're a bit touchy! I suppose dwelling in the internicine tribal hotbed of the Scottish Football threads can do that to a man

I only come in occasionally, usually when old firm self-pity gets out of hand. Otherwise, I'm no more touchy than a Porthcawler accused of Cardiff gloryhunting.

QUOTE:
I think that a fair amount of the style (if not necessarily the content) of all your posts I've seen is intent on winding up. Same with your screen name and profiles. It's not a crime, I am just interested

Guilty as charged, probably. I think it's partly down to the medium. Doesn't everyone on here do it? My profile refers a suypporters' chant in recent games against Spain, as part of the OTF tradition to associate with a finalist in the imminent fiesta de futbol.

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My screen name always has "Harry" in it if you really need some help in identifying me

I was thinking more of your real (sur)name. Unless I imagined the whole thing in a sunstruck haze, ain't you the poster who detailed his playing career at Carlisle United and Stockport County, inter alia?

I was previously known as (and will likely revert to) as a Belfast-based horticulturalist.

Posted on the SFA's Whistleblower site -

QUOTE:
Referee Michael McCurry has today moved to explain the reasoning behind two of the decisions he took during this weekend’s match between Rangers and Dundee United at Ibrox.

“In the 55th minute of the match Rangers were in possession of the ball and attempted to clear it from their defensive area. As is normal practice, I started to run towards the half way line, anticipating the ball being cleared from defence. The clearance, however, was not successful and the ball struck Noel Hunt of Dundee United, who then played a very quick “one-two” allowing him to chase the ball into the penalty area closely followed by David Weir of Rangers.

“At this point, given the very quick change of the direction of play, I was caught out of position and my line of sight was partially obstructed by another player.

“I saw Noel Hunt fall to the ground with David Weir in close proximity behind him. As my vantage point was extremely poor it was not possible for me to say what or, if any, infringement had occurred.

“Given this significant doubt in my mind it would have been improper for me to simply conclude that an infringement had occurred on the opposite side of the field of play from me. On this basis, I had no option but to allow play to continue amidst the appeal for a penalty kick.

“I have now had the benefit of seeing the incident again on television. I believe that were it not for the fact that I had been caught out of position by the quick transfer of play I would have awarded Dundee United a penalty and would have cautioned the Rangers player David Weir. In my opinion there was another defender in close proximity with the possible opportunity to make a defensive challenge on the attacker.

“In the 71st minute Dundee United were in possession of the ball and Danny Swanson shot towards the Rangers goal from approximately 30-35 yards. The ball appeared to me to be deflected off a Rangers player and entered the goal.

“As I turned to award a goal to Dundee United it was brought to my attention that the stand side Assistant Referee had his flag raised signalling that an offside infringement had occurred. I also noticed that a Dundee United player required medical treatment.

“Having made sure that the player received the required treatment, I then went across to the Assistant Referee and confirmed that he was signalling for an offside infringement. He confirmed this was the case and informed me that a Dundee United player had been in an offside position and that he had played the ball prior to it entering the goal.

“I informed the Assistant Referee that it appeared to me that the ball was deflected off a Rangers player. The Assistant Referee told me that he had not seen it touch a Rangers player but had definitely seen it played by the Dundee United player, David Robertson. Given that David Robertson was behind the Rangers player, my view was such that I could not tell if the ball had been played by Mr Robertson last before entering the goal. Consequently, I decided to accept the advice of my Assistant Referee.

“Again, having had the opportunity to review the incident on television, it is clear to me that the ball is not played by the Dundee United player Robertson who was, however, technically in an offside position and was in close proximity to the ball.

“I can understand the difficulty faced by my assistant referee in this incident and why, David Robertson may have been considered offside.

“Again, with the benefit of seeing the incident again numerous times on television, I consider it would have been more appropriate to conclude that the player, David Robertson, was not involved in active play and would have allowed the goal to stand.”

Scottish FA Chief Executive Gordon Smith said:

"Everyone at the Scottish FA is hugely disappointed in the accusations that have been levelled at one of our match officials following the match at Ibrox on Saturday. To impinge on a man's integrity in this way is extremely unfair and does nothing to encourage more people to take up refereeing.

"Michael McCurry has been a top class referee for a number of years and has handled many a high profile, high pressure game. He has shown his own strength of character by being willing to be up front with his explanation of why he made these crucial decisions during the game.

"To suggest that there was any kind of agenda behind the decisions made on the day does a massive disservice to the game and, quite frankly, is completely unfair.

"Football is a game played by people and people can make mistakes. It is always frustrating when decisions go against you - but this has been a part of football since the game started. We rely on our referees to make decisions in a split second and without the benefit of countless replays. I think that it is extremely sad that an honest, dedicated professional has been treated in this way."

My own take on it is that it's simply a referee giving the benefit of the doubt to the big team in an important match. It has happened in Scottish football for years and it will continue to happen for years to come. I'm sure I can recall Andy Walker, a few years, back talking about, when he started out at Motherwell, how surprised he was at the way Old Firm players got the benefit of doubt from referees, then he went to Celtic and that only confirmed his thoughts. Mind you, despite a bit of googling I haven't been able to find anything to confirm that I'm remembering this correctly.

You never take Gibraltar wrote:

QUOTE:
I only come in occasionally, usually when old firm self-pity gets out of hand. Otherwise, I'm no more touchy than a Porthcawler accused of Cardiff gloryhunting.

And that's pretty fucking touchy.

QUOTE:

QUOTE:
I think that a fair amount of the style (if not necessarily the content) of all your posts I've seen is intent on winding up. Same with your screen name and profiles. It's not a crime, I am just interested

Guilty as charged, probably. I think it's partly down to the medium. Doesn't everyone on here do it?

I certainly do.

QUOTE:
I was thinking more of your real (sur)name. Unless I imagined the whole thing in a sunstruck haze, ain't you the poster who detailed his playing career at Carlisle United and Stockport County, inter alia?

Well Harry isn't my real forename. It was actually me who imagined my former footballing career as it was a complete lie I had forgotten about.

QUOTE:

I was previously known as (and wil