Rangers fans will be furious at Willie Collum revelation as SFA chief speaks out – Ibrox News
Rangers have a longstanding history of not getting on with officials in Scottish football, with Willie Collum right at the top of the hatred pile at this moment in time.
The man in the middle has even caused some friction within the club, with Philippe Clement not seeing eye-to-eye with the powers that be over a recent incident at Ibrox.
As per Sky Sports (9 February), the man in the dugout revealed he has no issues with Collum, with that statement coming after the club requested that the Scottish FA do not involve Collum in their matches.
That request came after Rangers strongly felt that the official should have asked referee Nick Walsh to review a possible handball from Celtic defender Alistair Johnston during the most recent Old Firm in December.
SFA chief sends Rangers reminder
Joining the conversation, Scotland’s head of referees Crawford Allan has now sent a fierce warning to the Ibrox club, insisting that the SFA will point-blank any requests regarding referee appointments.
“At no point will a club influence a decision of a referee appointment in Scotland,” said Allan, as quoted by the Daily Record (15 February). “I can categorically state that the Scottish FA will appoint referees to the best of that person’s experience, ability and professionalism.
“We will be appointing referees as their experience and profile is appropriate for. We totally reject any request from any club that a referee would not be considered for their club appointments.
“We don’t want to make any massive headlines from one referee. It doesn’t matter if it’s one person’s name out there, it affects all the referees. We have to protect them all.
“Willie will be in the frame with every other referee for consideration for games, whether they be in the league, in the cup or whatever. We’ll make that decision nearer the time.”
There is, therefore, the very real possibility of Collum officiating in an Old Firm clash later this season. And given the tense ongoing title race, any decision he makes – either for or against Rangers – will be very heavily scrutinised.
The Ibrox faithful will still be annoyed at the handling of the last meeting between their club and their fierce rivals, and will now be raging that the man at the centre of it all could have a major say on their title hopes.
In other Rangers news, one Gers ace is now undroppable despite his 20% struggles against Ross County, which is bad news for one January signing.
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