TIME TO BLOW THE WHISTLE ON STUPID CONSPIRACY

Livi gaffer Bartley rejects late-goal scandal theories and insists he never doubts officials' integrity

- BY HUGH KEEVINS

MARVIN BARTLEY wants to get stuck into the debate raging around the subject of goals scored in time added on by Celtic and Rangers in league and cup matches.

But only to say that the idea of favouritism being shown towards the Old Firm is a load of rubbish.

The Livi manager was still assistant to David Martindale at Livi last September when Max Aarons scored a 94th-minute goal for Rangers in the penultimate match of Russell Martin's time in charge at Ibrox.

But Bartley was the boss when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain snatched all three points for Celtic at home 11 days ago.

When Julian Araujo grabbed a time-added-on winner for Martin O'Neill's side against Kilmarnock last Sunday, Rugby Park manager Neil McCann publicly declared his belief that match officials simply made up how long the game should last beyond the regulation 90 minutes.

And social media exploded with allegations, accusations and anger concerning who gets unfair help and why they get it.

"I could never be that paranoid," Bartley told me.

"Time added on happens in every game and not for one second do I think there is anything untoward going on where the match officials are concerned.

"I've been in Scottish football for over 10 years, however, and I know there are plenty of people who do go in for the conspiracy theories.