'Pathetic' - PL club employee rages at 'Rubbish' Daily Record story on Rangers

Rangers controversy surrounding footage of referee Ross Hardie and Tom Lawrence from the Ross County game has been branded “pathetic” by Grant Russell.

The West Ham marketing lead and former Motherwell communications head reacted via X on 12 September to a Daily Record story covering outraged fan reactions to newly-released audio from the 6-0 victory on 24 August.

Referees chief Willie Collum covered the sequence on his VAR Review for the Scottish FA’s YouTube channel on 11 September, where he asserted Hardie missed a “clear foul” by Lawrence but Cyriel Dessers’ subsequent goal was rightly allowed.

However, fans took issue with the referee shouting to Lawrence to “don’t tackle there, Tom” before the foul, accusing Hardie of coaching Rangers during the game, but Russell slammed the “rubbish” framing of something that is standard practice.

He wrote: “What a pathetic angle to take. This sort of interaction from a referee happens all through the game. It is normal. And the show is a great addition.

“Spinning into this rubbish is the reason why it’s taken so long to get refs comfortable with this level of public communication.”

Willie Collum review sparks Rangers refereeing controversy

Referees trying to avoid players fouling each other is part of their job as a whole, and using first names doesn’t immediately mean they are biased mates with them.

Officials will become familiar with players that they see on a regular basis in games they take charge of, so outrage at hearing interaction that has likely been going on for years is no doubt misguided.

It would make more sense to be critical of the fact that once Lawrence had ignored Hardie and committed the exact foul he had been warned against the referee then deemed it a good tackle and argued incorrectly that the ball had been won.

Ross County can feel slightly aggrieved at that even if it didn’t directly lead to the goal, but greater transparency exposing mistakes should ultimately be a positive step.

Philippe Clement’s side have had a miserable start to the campaign so far, but that hasn’t stopped plenty of refereeing outrage following them all the same.

Motherwell’s Richard Foster has just been banned for six games for accusing the SFA of “lies” in reaction to Dessers’ goal against St Johnstone last month [STV, 13 September], for which he later apologised.

Collum was also critical of Matthew MacDermid on that occasion while backing the VAR decision as correct.

In other Rangers news, a confirmed Ianis Hagi update has been issued after his agents categorically refused an exit.

For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.

The post 'Pathetic' - PL club employee rages at 'Rubbish' Daily Record story on Rangers appeared first on Ibrox News.