Willie Collum ‘bottled it’ over Fabio Silva in Rangers vs Ayr United – Michael Stewart
Willie Collum “bottled it” by not sending off Fabio Silva early in the second half of the Scottish Cup tie between Rangers and Ayr United, according to Michael Stewart.
The pundit reacted live on the Viaplay Sports coverage of the game at Ibrox on 10 February, after the Gers loanee made a late challenge within minutes of the restart, having been booked softly by the official in the opening 45 minutes.
Stewart claimed the first yellow had been “very harsh” but after it was given he accused the referee of showing no consistency in not producing a second, as he and Alan Hutton got into a dispute in the commentary box.
Stewart said (6.37pm): “Scott Brown’s not happy about it, you can tell he’s very not impressed with what’s happened there. I tell you what, that’s more of a yellow card than the first one, I thought the first one was very harsh.”
“Not for me,” said Hutton. “I understand what you’re saying, the other one he caught his foot, there I don’t think he catches him. But I think you have to be very careful if Willie Collum’s giving out yellow cards.”
An incredulous Stewart asked: “You don’t think he caught him?!”
After the pair squabbled over their interpretation of the challenge Stewart said: “I’ll be honest, Willie Collum’s bottled it there. The first one was very harsh. It wasn’t a yellow card for me, the first one, but that’s much more of [one]… the referee’s bottled it.”
Collum enrages Stewart in first Rangers game since Old Firm
Collum was already the centre of enough negative attention ahead of kick off with this his first involvement with the Light Blues since his controversial stint as the VAR as Rangers were beaten by Celtic on 30 November.
The first card shown to Silva looked a soft one but by showing it the official made a problem for himself, and Silva took a definite risk early in the second period.
Ayr United were hanging in the game despite Borna Barisic’s early opener, and the possibility of going down to 10 men with a half still to go would have made things distinctly uncomfortable.
No doubt it would have been another controversy had Collum produced a red card as soon as he returned to Rangers duty, but his erratic decision-making saw him avoid doing so.
Scott Brown was outraged on the touchline and his protests saw him booked instead, much to the delight of the Gers supporters in the stands.
It was a reasonable performance by Rangers but Philippe Clement would have surely liked his side to do more with their dominance instead of leave the game in the balance until late on.
But Collum’s role seemingly managed to infuriate all sides, with Silva unhappy with his booking in the first half, Brown furious over the lack of a second, and Stewart bemused by both.
In other Rangers news, a manager is sure one “excellent” Ibrox player won’t play for the club again.
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