FOR fervent fans of domestic football, the mid-season World Cup in Qatar may have seemed to have lasted an age. If you are among that group though, the tournament appearing to last longer than ever wasn’t entirely in your imagination, nor just a product of your longing for some good old fashioned Scottish fitba.
Strict new injury time guidelines meant that the average game at the 2022 World Cup had 11 minutes added on, up from just six minutes in 2018, a product in part of referees being ordered to clamp down on any suspected timewasting.
Given that Celtic’s opposition on the domestic scene may have more cause to indulge in such dark arts than most, given the disparity of resource between the sides as they attempt to get a result by hook or by crook, you may think that their manager would welcome the tougher guidelines being introduced in Scotland.
