Rangers put in a dominant display at Parkhead to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership but despite the euphoria, the 2-1 victory over Celtic was still met with anger in some quarters.
Kevin Clancy‘s “performance” as the man in the middle soured what was a triumphant day for the men in Light Blue, Steven Gerrard had been hoping there wouldn’t be a repeat of the Betfred Cup final where an officiating blunder cost his side.
The Gers had Allan McGregor to thank for keeping the score at 0-0 after Clancy awarded a penalty for Nikola Katic pulling Christopher Jullien’s shirt at a corner, not the only time this happened during the game but the only time that he “spotted” it.
He awarded free-kicks against Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Jack despite them being fouled, Jullien escaping a red card in the former incident.
Odsonne Edouard’s goal was also a wicked deflection off his hand, natural position it may have been but the law changed this season to include any handball goal being disallowed, it simply shouldn’t have stood.
Morelos also saw red after receiving a second yellow card, yes, it was simulation and the correct decision but again, Clancy ignored multiple fouls by Boli Bolingoli, Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor despite already being on yellow cards. The fact that it happened in the 96th minute when only 94 should have been played says it all.
Clancy should never have been given this fixture after failing to award Celtic two penalties earlier in the season against Hibernian, the criticism and attention he received after that game clearly affected his decision in the biggest league match so far.
Was Clancy's performance worse than John Beaton's against Hibs at Ibrox in 2017?
Yes
No
Rangers fans took to twitter raging at Clancy’s performance to highlight, even in victory, just how inept a display it really was.
Kevin Clancy is a cheat
— FollowFollowGru (@FollowFollowGru) December 29, 2019
Clancy gave this as a free kick to Celtic. Most Scottish refs are terrible. His performance today was a lot worse than incompetent. https://t.co/i0yY3DPhx9
— TheCoplandRoad.org (@CoplandRoadOrg) December 29, 2019
@ScottishFA Kevin Clancy, explain please?
The most biased display of refereeing I have seen in years, pen to Cel for shirt pulls yet @RangersFC don’t get them?
Julien foul on Morelos certain red, shirt tugged in box nothing, Aribo hauled to ground nothing, Cel handball goal?— j (@jim72855) December 29, 2019
@ScottishFA when you speak to Kevin Clancy you might want to ask why this isn’t a penalty?? Pulling in the box – Kevin really didn’t even try and hide the bias yesterday- should be sacked pic.twitter.com/7jbNIpkHLL
— s ferguson (@stephenf1976) December 29, 2019
How many games has kevin clancy refereed this year?
Was this the first shirt pull hes seen at a corner🤷♂️ and probably the last 🤦♂️
He even missed 2 in the second half but they had gers tops on 🤷♂️😜😂
I would never question refs integrity but today is as close as ill get 🤷♂️— malky (@malky0383) December 29, 2019
A pull of the shirt in the box? A foul? Welcome to a game refereed by Kevin Clancy who only deems it a foul when it’s committed by one wearing blue. #cheat #CallHimOut https://t.co/QnWqV19NW6
— The Cheesy One (@TheCheesyOneRFC) December 29, 2019
It may be some time before Clancy is given a game of this magnitude again, failing to apply the laws fairly to both teams is a sure fire way to spend some time in the lower leagues, VAR may have it’s faults in it’s current guise but with it’s help Rangers victory would’ve been a lot more comfortable.