Crawford Allan praises Clement after Willie Collum witch-hunt

Who are you trying to kid Crawford?…

Crawford Allan, the man in charge of the referee’s in this country yesterday gave his backing to under fire official Willie Collum. Crawford even went as far as saying that ‘William’ is one of the names in consideration as the main man in the middle for the next Glasgow Derby clash at Ibrox in just under two months time.

Really Crawford? He hasn’t got a chance of being the man tasked with such a big game. Not because of his sheer incompetence, but because it won’t be allowed such is the scrutiny on him because of that ‘incident’ in the last Glasgow Derby game. An ‘incident’ that proved to be the correct call may I add. IT WAS OFFSIDE.

Collum who was on VAR duties that day received such a backlash from the Ibrox club and their supporters all in the name of deflecting from their failings, that it’s more than extremely doubtful he will be handed a match as important as that one.

Crawford also said no club will dictate what official takes charge of games after the Ibrox clubs recent request that Collum be barred from handling any of their fixtures going forward, just like they successfully negotiated a few years ago.

🗣️ “We will appoint referees as we see fit. That will not change.”
✅ “The process works.”
🗣️ Some pressure put on refs “unfair”
✅ Johnston handball decision-making process “entirely accurate”

Hear from SFA head of refereeing Crawford Allan ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/vlYiYcBAru

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 15, 2024

While that’s good to hear, it’s just another false dawn. Yes Collum was handed theRangers recent cup tie against Ayr United where he was back to his compliant best, but that was a game they were overwhelming favourites to win, so that doesn’t prove anything.

I think we can all say with certainty that Collum won’t be handed a vital game involving the Ibrox side anytime soon, despite the protestations of Crawford Allan.

Incidentally while all the talk yesterday was about the handball that wasn’t checked (that was offside anyway so it was never going to be a penalty) there was hardly a mention of the penalty theRangers got at Livingston that was a dive.

Livingston, like every other club, have to accept being on the wrong side of these calls, and just move on. Not theRangers though, letters of complaint to the SFA have happened three times now – after Collum booked the wrong player against St Mirren a few years ago, after the penalty Aberdeen got again that led to a record breaking run of fixtures without them conceding and now the latest complaints about the latest Collum controversy which occurred in an offside passage of play so was completely irrelevant.

Incredibly Allan praised theRangers boss Philippe Clement, the guy who caused all the controversy by failing to acknowledge that it was offside and instead going after Collum, for later on, after achieving his objective (deflecting for the defeat at Celtic Park), backing down and speaking up for Collum. Listen to this…

🔊 LISTEN: “That was very helpful. I think that comment was very supportive”.

Scottish FA head of referees Crawford Allan is praising Philippe Clement for backing Willie Collum – and says officials will continue to be selected on merit. pic.twitter.com/LoWp1I7DRF

— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) February 15, 2024

🗣️ “Why would we want to get rid of something that factually improves decision making?”

The Scottish FA’s head of referee operations Crawford Allan says VAR is here to stay in Scottish football. pic.twitter.com/WL9tgFb6Sp

— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 15, 2024