Daily Record journalist feels sorry for one Rangers player after defeat v Aberdeen

Scott McDermott felt “sorry” for John Souttar after his handball caused Rangers to concede a penalty against Aberdeen on Wednesday (30 October).

The Gers were already 1-0 down at Pittodrie before the penalty was awarded but the Daily Record journalist couldn’t help but feel sorry for Souttar as he evidently went to head the ball but unfortunately mistimed it, which then resulted in the cross deflecting off his hand.

Fortunately for the centre-back, Jamie McGrath’s penalty was saved by Jack Butland but once again that didn’t matter much as the Dons managed to beat their title rivals 2-1.

Speaking on the Daily Record’s Hotline Live (30 October), McDermott shared whether he thought the incident was worthy of a penalty.

“I think it was a bit harsh on John Souttar but I wasn’t surprised when VAR told John Beaton to go and look at it,” he said.

“Once he’s had a look at it, I wasn’t surprised that he gave it, it clearly hits his hand but I think the key thing in it is that the ball travelled a fair distance before it gets to his hand.

“It’s not intentional, John Souttar goes to head the ball but he gets his body in a bit of a tangle and kind of loses the flight of the ball and his hand is out.

“You felt a bit sorry for him at the time as I say it was a wee bit harsh but I wasn’t surprised when they gave it.

“If it had happened in close proximity, and he’s gone to head the ball where it’s only travelled a yard or two I think he might have got away with it.”

Rangers and Philippe Clement need to step things up a gear

If Philippe Clement wasn’t already under some major pressure, he certainly will be now.

Before the game even kicked off, many fans, pundits and journalists believed that if the Belgian lost the game against the Dons, it would mark the end of his Ibrox tenure.

While this is still a possibility, the fact nothing has been mentioned yet could be a sign that the Gers have chosen to give Clement some additional time to turn things around.

If this is the case, the will have to change things soon otherwise they might as well kiss their title hopes goodbye.

The fact John Gilligan backed him publically on Sky Sports (24 September) will no doubt be playing in Clement’s favour as well as the fact that he was given an extension to his tenure at the end of the summer window.

Indeed, it’s still early in the season and there’s plenty of time for things to turn around but unless something drastic happens soon, Clement will be on borrowed time sooner than he thinks.

In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton was left outraged by what James Tavernier did against Aberdeen.

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