‘The 20 yard penalty box? We’re going to get one at Tynecastle,’ Levein

HEARTS manager Craig Levein is the latest Premiership manager to pass comment of the scandalous awarding of FOUR penalties at Ibrox on Saturday.

Yesterday the Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke, focusing on the Jermain Defoe dive to con Rangers supporter Andrew Dallas into awarding one of the spot kicks.

Clarke pointed out that one of his players, ironically enough the Ibrox bound Jordan Jones, was given a two match ban earlier in the season for going down too easily in a match against Dundee. The Killie boss asking for consistency in the game, put the spotlight on the SFA’s Compliance Officer Clare Whyte to cite Defoe. Fat chance of that happening.

Whyte of course would have had to call together the panel of three former referees and all that it would require would for one of them to query whether Defoe dived or not. Think of what happened when one of these panels considered the Allan McGregor kick on Kris Ayer last September.

So Clare Whyte was on a hiding to nothing.

Now Levein has used humour to make his point. Referring to the two penalties awarded by Rangers supporter Andrew Dallas for infringements that were outside of the penalty area, Levein reckons Hearts could be doing with one of those extended penalty areas at Tynecastle.

“The 20-yard box? We’re going to get on of them down at Tynecastle. Brilliant, eh?

Levein of course knows all about the concept of Rangers supporting referees favouring the former Ibrox club in their time of need. Levein was manager of Dundee Utd and took his side to Ibrox, needing the points to ensure European qualification.

But Rangers were involved in an exciting title race with Celtic and the Rangers supporting, Simply the Best singing referee Mike McCurry was never going to allow any other result that day other than a Rangers win.

“We’d have been as well not turning up today,” Levein said. Watch the rest below…