Collum's Incompetence cost Celtic, not Rangers, a penalty

It’s clear that theRangers are trying to influence who officiates their games and not for the first time. It’s time other clubs spoke out…

So theRangers yesterday held a meeting with the SFA over a decision from Saturday’s Glasgow Derby that they still maintain was incorrect, despite it being clearly demonstrated that any error in the handball call was irrelevant anyway due to the offside that was clearly established.

They were granted a meeting with the governing body and both parties are at loggerheads over the explanation given. Both are known for spinning a yarn or two so it’s hard to believe who is telling the truth.

But that’s beside the point. Why were the Ibrox club allowed such a meeting with the powers that be? Are other clubs allowed such privileges? Of course they aren’t, and questions must be asked as to why theRangers are allowed such special treatment. They have also demanded that the official in question Willie Collum be barred from taking part in any of their fixtures for the foreseeable future.

That is a quite a demand, and one that they have requested before and been successful in doing so. The SFA are bending over backwards for the Ibrox side yet again and discrediting their own employees in the process.

No other club would be allowed to get away with such behaviour. So why the Ibrox club? Do you think Celtic, Aberdeen or Hibs would get away with demanding who officiates their games? Not a chance. Other clubs have got to start asking questions, including our own.

When it happened before it clearly influenced Collum on his return to officiating in games involving theRangers, as he was quite favourable towards them when it came to decisions. That is them clearly influencing the officials, there is no other word for it. They are picking and choosing who they want to officiate their games.

All because they can’t face up to the truth that they aren’t as good as they think they are. That’s the bottom line. They aren’t unsuccessful due to officials. They are unsuccessful because they aren’t good enough. From the coaching staff through to the players. They aren’t doing their job properly, not the officials. That’s a truth they refuse to admit.

They are looking outwith themselves for a scapegoat, and Willie Collum is yet again that scapegoat, and the SFA are allowing them and encouraging them to do so by throwing their own employee under the bus. It’s a dangerous precedent that shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

Should Celtic now demand the exact same thing regarding the David Turnbull penalty that was wrongly flagged for offside by asking why the assistant referee flagged immediately without a VAR check on incident? The offside would have also been checked after James Tavernier’s push on Turnbull was considered and the offence was there for all to see just like in the Johnston handball earlier in the game. The only difference was that there was no offside in this instance.

It’s not unreasonable to believe that the match officials knew that there was a problem with the Johnston handball at the break and as a result they released the VAR lines showing the offside and also that’s why that flag went up so quickly in Tavernier push – to give Celtic a penalty after not giving them one – THAT WAS CLEARLY OFFSIDE – was unthinkable.

So logically Willie Collum’s failure for the second year in a row in the New Year Glasgow Derby to fail to spot a clear hand ball – ended up costing CELTIC a penalty later in the match. For the second year in a row!

A point we’ve made on here previously amid all the fall-out from the Glasgow Derby on Saturday, is that the solution would be to swap our referees with officials from other European countries for these games.

It’s hard to see Willie Collum being able to do his job to the best of his ability (cough) and theRangers have demonstrated that the clubs can now effectively able to remove match officials by simply throwing the toys out the pram. If they are taking Collum down perhaps we should get in on the act? Aberdeen too? Hibs and Hearts are welcome to join the party as are the rest of the league.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy