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The SFA scored a spectacular own goal when Tom Boyd was invited to talk up this weekend's Scottish Cup ties. Premier Sports will screen the matches involving the big two from Glasgow and want to drum up as much publicity as possible for their first sustained programme of Scottish fixtures.

Pound for pound Scottish football represents great value with one of the highest attendance rates in Europe and live football available at knock-down rates compared to over the border. A Scottish set of eyes is as valuable to an advertiser as English eyes, while the tenner-a-month subscription pleases shareholders as much as £10 from anywhere else.

The usual script is for a former player to come along early in the week, talk things up to provide easy headlines and exposure and everyone is a winner. Monday's media call certainly provided headlines but it shone a torch close to home as Boyd tore into the SFA as he sat inside Hampden Park.

The former Celtic skipper articulated the views of most Celtic supporters, after seeing a number of penalty claims denied against St. Johnstone at the weekend. Rangers, meanwhile, were awarded four penalties against St. Mirren with equal controversy.

'BLOWING IT- Tom Boyd claims Scottish referees should be replaced by foreign officials' was the headline in The Sun.

The Daily Record went for: 'Tom Boyd insists Celtic players need more protection from refs as he calls for foreign officials'.

This weekend the Premier Sports cameras will be all over the refereeing decisions at Kilmarnock and Celtic Park. With Boyd's message reaching far and wide, honest mistakes will be getting exposed more than ever. Ultimately, if the narrative of substandard refereeing continues, it's the SFA who will eventually have to provide the answers for it.