When does a joke stop being funny? It’s an age old question that many a person has asked and usually it brings some self reflection with it. In most cases the person determines their answer and gets on with their life but it appears Scottish football isn’t capable of that same level of introspection.
The joke used to be “penalty to Rangers” and to be honest it used to be the more rabid element of our main rivals support who trotted it out. Over time it became a more accepted view there and with the advent of fan media their more demented bloggers started trotting it out regularly. It was often good for a chuckle and to be honest as Rangers fans we had more to worry about within our own club than the daft thoughts of others.
Previous seasons penalty image used on social media.
As much as I enjoyed a laugh at hearing it and the inevitable social media posts that followed, it started gaining traction with other teams managers and that is probably the moment it started getting a little more dangerous. My hope was the introduction of VAR would put this debate to bed with instant replays able to prove what the referee had warded a foul for but that didn’t stop it.
Looking back over recent seasons shows this for the myth it is with the 21/22 seeing Ross County top for penalties received and Rangers in joint third, with Celtic. Last year we were joint top with Hearts and this year we are second, behind Celtic. As more and more fans started pointing out that these “penalty for Rangers” stats were being cherry picked and didn’t reflect what was really going on there was a swift narrative shift.
Now the cry isn’t how many penalties Rangers get but how many in one game, what minute of the game they are given in or what the score is at the time. It’s extremely rare for anyone to discuss the actual validity of these penalties as that doesn’t fit the narrative, so instead they focus on all sorts of meaningless data to try and justify the wild conspiracy theory that the referees are helping Rangers.
I’m not going to sit here and say that every single Rangers penalty is a stonewaller. I was critical of young McCausland, prior to the international break, as he was already on the way down before making minimal contact with the keeper but I can sit here and say in the majority of cases they are correctly given, in line with the laws of the game.
McCausland’ penalty which was one of the few I remember thinking was wrong.
Recently there has been an escalation of the rhetoric when it comes to penalties with the Celtic AGM featuring comments about referees favouring Rangers and Aberdeen manager, Barry Robson, looking close to tears as he stated “another injury time VAR decision” for Rangers.
When it comes to Celtic it’s not really a surprise with that club having already caused a referees strike and also led to John Beaton requiring a police escort but with other clubs getting in on the game, Robson being the latest the pressure will continue to mount on them.
I was surprised at the time, how long it took for Walsh to point to the spot, after reviewing the latest penalty call vs Aberdeen. It was only when I thought afterwards, it’s most likely down to wondering if it’s worth the week of being called out on social media and news outlets, that he was probably wondering quite simply if it was worth the hassle. If that thought even goes through the referees head (and given he is a human being it would be hard for it not too) then he isn’t refereeing based on the laws of the game but on external pressures.
I now believe the time for humour and mocking our rivals is over because sooner or later this will end up putting too much pressure on the referee and we may ended up not getting perfectly valid decisions based on that fact. It’s no coincidence our card and penalty record in Europe doesn’t differ much from domestic games, whilst our rivals across the city suffer massively worse when European referees are managing their games. Their Captain even commented after one European game that they didn’t get the same “leniency” in Europe.
James Bisgrove needs to look for this to be addressed.
As a club I believe we need to begin fighting back, starting with the Aberdeen manager. His comments after the game were a disgrace as he blamed Walsh and VAR for his defender trying to undress Connor Goldson.Insinuating some conspiracy is questioning the impartiality of the match official and last I checked that was an offence under the SPFL rules. This is where we need our CEO to be getting in touch with the SPFL and asking them why such wild accusations can be thrown about by team managers or club CEOs? If it was just demented fan rambling on social media then I wouldn’t care but when it is officials at various clubs making accusations which are not backed by evidence then I do and so should everyone at Rangers.
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