‘Nick Walsh and Scottish FA were actually right on Rangers vs Celtic controversy – Don’t shoot the messenger’
Nick Walsh and the Scottish FA once again damaged their reputation as Rangers lost to Celtic.
Rangers crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Celtic in extra time of the Premier Sports Cup semi-final on Sunday, playing well over an hour with 10 men.
Thelo Aasgaard was rightly sent off for a high boot on Anthony Ralston, who himself avoided a second yellow card despite giving away a penalty for handball.
Auston Trusty also somehow avoided red for kicking Jack Butland in the head, prompting Rangers to demand a meeting with the Scottish FA and Willie Collum over both decisions.
Rangers were left unsatisfied with that meeting, but they may not have a leg to stand on in one of the cases.
Nick Walsh gets major controversy right against Rangers
Delivered with a warning, Calum Crowe has actually shared why Willie Collum and the Scottish FA were right with their explanation over Ralston.
Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail’s print edition on Wednesday (pg 60, 5 November), the journalist stuck his head out to actually defend the Scottish FA, saying the handball needs to be deliberate for another yellow card to be dished out.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” he wrote. “Those are merely the guidelines as laid out in the International Football Association Board’s laws of the game.
“Does a handball need to be intentional to award a penalty? No. Does it need to be intentional to award a penalty and a yellow card? Yes. That’s the difference.
“So, by the absolute letter of the law, the SFA’s explanation of the Ralston incident probably stacks up. It wasn’t deliberate and therefore wasn’t worthy of a second booking.”
Rangers have been here before – when is it too much?
This was less than a year after the 2024 Premier Sports Cup final, which was arguably worse somehow.
With the game finishing 3-3 after extra time, Rangers would go on to lose against Celtic, despite having a clear penalty denied by the officials.
Vaclav Cerny was fouled on the line of the box, which is a penalty by law, but VAR officials somehow gave a free-kick, prompting a swift apology.
It is all too little, too late, and these apologies and meetings do nothing to reverse the two defeats that Rangers have faced with silverware on the line.
Collum and the Scottish FA will never have full support due to their incompetent work; that is the brutal truth that will continue behind all of this.
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