Kevin Clancy has made a very selective confession about one of his many sub-standard refereeing performances this season.
With football in Lockdown the SFA have stepped up a charm offensive to showcase how referees are really such nice guys.
Bobby Madden recently took part in an extended interview with Si Ferry on Open Goal, yesterday Andrew Dallas was on Sportsound to give an insight into how Lockdown effects a referee.
On the road Madden wasn’t asked about which team his younger self actively supported growing up in East Kilbride, 10 miles from Ibrox, while the ambitious Dallas didn’t explain why he stepped down from the lucrative FIFA list last summer.
Out of all his errors this season Clancy spoke to The Sun about how VAR would have disallowed a ‘goal’ from Odsonne Edouard.
In the Old Firm game before the turn of the year a shot was rifled in, it deflected off Edouard and went into the net.
From the speed at which it happened and with the angle I had, it looked to me as though the deflection was off Edouard’s hip or that area of his body.
In the cold light of day, and it did take television pundits a couple of replays to work out which part of the anatomy it actually did strike, it looked to have struck Edouard’s hand on the way into the net.
The laws of the game do not allow that. A goal can’t be scored having struck somebody’s hand. That tweak to the law happened at the start of the season.
If decent camera angles had been available and it had been possible to quickly identify the ball touched Edouard’s hand before going into the Rangers net, I think VAR would have been in a good position to quickly identify what had happened.
I expect the protocol would have been a communication from the VAR to me asking what I thought happened. I would have replied and been told the TV replays perhaps showed something different so that I would have to come across and have a look at it.
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There was a much stranger incident from that match that Clancy seems less keen to explain.
In stoppage time Alfredo Morelos made a cut-throat gesture to the Celtic support as he was sent off- with his back to Clancy.
Nineteen days after the match The Sun reported that the Colombian was given a third yellow card in the dressing room after the final whistle- avoiding SFA action which could have resulted in a two match suspension.
After the match Ryan Christie was given a two match suspension for an act of ‘brutality’ which was apparently missed by Clancy.
A free kick was given against the midfielder, the referee seemed to have a clear view of whatever happened but since he ‘missed’ the act of brutality Christie picked up a two match ban.
Celtic have dropped points in four SPFL Premiership matches this season with Clancy refereeing 50% of those games- the 1-1 draw with Hibs in September and the December Glasgow derby.
