Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has hit out at the state of refereeing in Scottish football, mirroring the feelings of many Ibrox supporters in recent years.
Gerrard was taking charge of his first Scottish Premiership match on Sunday, holding Aberdeen to a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie despite his side playing with 10 men for almost 80 minutes of the fixture.
He was left fuming with some of the decisions made by referee Kevin Clancy and his assistants, chiefly the lack of a red card given to Dominic Ball for taking out Josh Windass in the Aberdeen box as the player was advancing to score.
A penalty was awarded, but the Gers boss couldn’t understand why the Aberdeen man was not punished further since he did not try to play the ball.
As quoted by The Daily Mail, Gerrard lambasted the state of Scottish officiating, saying:
It’s not just today, it’s been happening for a while. It’s been happening for a good while. I believe it’s been happening for seasons. That’s my opinion, just my opinion.
I’ve watched footage, yeah. Look, I don’t think we ever get anything to go for us. Everything we have seen today is about Rangers So someone should give me answers on that.
Someone should give me the answers because if there’s anyone in his room thinks nothing should have happened after our penalty.
Pundits and oppositions supporters will sneer and say that Gerrard is stoking conspiracy theories, but he is right to highlight his distaste for the poor decisions yesterday. It likely won’t be the last time this season he has to.
He is representing Rangers supporters with his comments and many will agree that there have been far too many high-profile decisions that have gone against the Gers in recent years. That could simply be due to their ineptitude, but it’s no excuse.
At the very least, creating a siege mentality against that is clever from the manager, as it will galvanise the team and make them feel like they are fighting against something.
It hasn’t taken long for Gerrard to make headlines, but we’re glad he is with these comments.
What are your thoughts on what the manager had to say? Did he go over the top? Was he spot on? Let us know in the comments…