Ex-SFA official rages at double whammy Rangers incident in Old Firm defeat v Celtic
Former referee Steve Conroy has accused the match officials of making a “double whammy” of errors in ruling out a Rangers goal in their defeat to Celtic.
Kemar Roofe thought he had fired the Gers ahead shortly before the half-hour mark on Sunday [3 September] when firing home after being picked out by Cyriel Dessers.
However, VAR official Alan Muir asked referee Don Robertson to check the pitchside monitor and review whether Dessers fouled Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke in the build-up.
Robertson decided to rule out the goal and Rangers went on to lose 1-0 at Ibrox through Kyogo Furuhashi’s strike in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.
Giving his view on the incident, ex-Scottish Football Association ref Conroy told ShareMarketCap, via the Daily Record [3 September]: “I don’t see where the foul is. Don was right with his first instinct, and it shouldn’t have been overturned.
“As we have said before, not all contact is a foul. This was not a clear and obvious error – a disputed situation yes, but no clear and obvious error – and that’s the criteria for asking a ref to look at an incident on the monitor.
“So, it’s a double whammy. Alan Muir should not have called for Don to look at it again and subsequently Don should not have overturned his original decision.”
Tough to take
Conroy is simply confirming what everyone inside Ibrox already knew. Dessers outmuscled Lagerbielke before playing in Roofe to do the rest.
The fact Robertson was called to the monitor seemed surprising as he was well positioned to see the incident in real time.
Celtic supporters will agree with the decision, of course, though even the most ardent of their fans will surely concede they got a slice of luck.
The fact Rangers had an earlier goal ruled out – albeit correctly on that occasion – and went on to lose the game just makes it all the tougher to take.
And the Gers now have two weeks to stew on this loss, as well as the heavy Champions League defeat to PSV, before returning to action.
It could be a long period for Michael Beale in particular as he now faces questions over his Ibrox future.
In other Rangers news, a home player scored a 2/10 rating with his performance against Celtic.