Celtic and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish reckons Rangers have been unfair to the officials at the centre of the phantom penalty controversy at Celtic Park during the recent derby meeting.
VAR Willie Collum has come under severe criticism for his role in the incident after not recommending to referee Nick Walsh to review a potential handball by Alistair Johnston.
It has led to statements and counter-statements between the Ibrox side and the Scottish FA, with many observers noting that it would never have resulted in a penalty due to an offside offence in the build-up.
Regardless, Rangers have stirred up a hornets’ nest with reporting suggesting that they asked the governing body to take Collum off of all their matches in the future.
That’s an absurd request and Dalglish has questioned the Rangers reaction, asking if no one at their club has ever made a mistake in their life.
Kenny Dalglish on Celtic Park flashpoint
The footballing icon said [Sunday Post, 07/01 print edition]: “Rangers were far from happy with the performance of Willie Collum in last weekend’s Old Firm game. Willie was on VAR duty and didn’t call for match referee Nick Walsh to review a handball by Celtic’s Alistair Johnston.
“It looked like a penalty but it was null and void as Sima was offside in the build-up. However, Rangers want clarity as to how the decision was reached. They have met with the SFA and they would like the audio released of the conversations of the officials from the game at Parkhead. It’s also been suggested they have asked for Willie not to officiate in any more of their games.
“Willie may well have made a mistake. But it would have been an honest one. Does he deserve to be cast aside because of it? No, I don’t think he does.
“Referees are under enough pressure as it is. Has nobody at Rangers ever made a mistake? I’m all for transparency but that kind of thing would need to involve all clubs and all of the Hampden hierarchy.”
As former Celtic defender Mark Wilson has pointed out, all of this has smacked of deflection from Rangers.
Brendan Rodgers’ side again came out of a derby that the Ibrox side were expected to take points from victorious and they haven’t handled it well at all.
Rather than focus on their failings, they’ve tried to shift the blame. It’s worked within their own fanbase, who are furious, but many others have not been convinced by their toys out of the pram routine.
Ultimately, a failure to examine what goes wrong for them in these derbies against Celtic when it really matters is a good thing for the Bhoys.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers addresses Liel Abada’s happiness at Celtic right now.
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