Marvin Bartley was forced to bat away a ludicrous radio caller’s suggestion regarding an “unfair advantage” for Celtic this week.
The former Hibs and Livingston midfielder was on hand for Clyde Superscoreboard on punditry duties this week and he had a doozy to contend with on last night’s show.
One supporter of another club called in to discuss Celtic’s 5-1 hammering of Aberdeen earlier this week and he pointed out what must be the flimsiest of arguments we will hear this week.
The caller, Scott, bizarrely claimed Celtic have an advantage as they have the multi-ball system in place at Celtic Park.
But it was not so much about having the system in play, but more about the number of balls the team has dotted around the stadium which had Scott so up in arms.
Marvin Bartley shut down a ridiculous claim about Celtic’s ‘unfair advantage’
Rather than the apparent assigned 12 balls, Scott used his Hercule Poirot skills of deduction to reveal there were actually 18 balls around the ground for Celtic’s players to make good use of.
And Bartley – as well as a smirking Simon Donnelly on the panel – could see absolutely nothing wrong with it, considering both Celtic and the visiting Dons had the same chance to use them.
“I’m sure it’s 12 balls strategically placed around the pitch… last night Celtic had 18 balls around the park,” Scott began.
“They weren’t as strategically placed as they should be. Now it’s a new law the referee should be counting how many balls are around the park, the position of the ball boys…
“If Celtic get 50 percent more balls round about the pitches, is that not an unfair advantage?”
Bartley, straight-faced, replied: “Well it depends on who’s throwing it, if it’s the opposition throwing it it’s an advantage to them and a disadvantage to Celtic.
“It doesn’t make any real difference, does it? Celtic are the home team and decide to have it then so be it, you’ve got to deal with it.”
Celtic use the multi-ball system at home
Scott then chimed in again: “If it doesn’t make any difference then why have Celtic got 50 percent extra then?”
To which Bartley added: “What d’you mean? I’m saying it’s the same for both teams, it’s not like the ball goes out and they say, ‘Right Aberdeen you can only play with these 12 balls but we’re playing with these 18’.
“It’s the same for both teams so the ball goes out of play, both teams can go and grab one around the side and get the game going again.
“If Celtic choose to do that as the home team, that’s fine. If Aberdeen are the home team and want to play with 12 balls or whatever they can do, then it makes no difference.
“Celtic can’t then say at Pittodrie we want to play with 18 balls, it makes no difference at all.”
It really was a truly baffling discussion with other club fans looking for any excuse to dampen Celtic’s accomplishments.
The Hoops have a staggering 13 point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table and have lost just twice all season, home and away included.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 28 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 82 | 15 | 67 | 72 |
| 2 |  RangersRangers | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 58 | 24 | 34 | 59 |
| 3 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 36 | 44 | -8 | 41 |
| 4 |  HibernianHibernian | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 42 | 39 | 3 | 40 |
| 5 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 40 |
| 6 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 40 | 38 | 2 | 36 |
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