The Sun has broken one of the great taboos of Scottish football by revealing the length of time it has been since a penalty was awarded against the Ibrox Tribute Act in the SPFL.
All sorts of VAR controversies have been aired, claims from managers, video comparisons highlighted but a simple check on penalty kicks has been elusive until now.
Since VAR was introduced in mid-October seven penalties have been awarded against Celtic, strangely the team in second place has yet to have a single penalty awarded against them.
That run stretches further back than the 29 matches played this season- it goes all the way back to January 2022 to a total of 46 SPFL matches.
The Sun reports:
Celtic and Hibs each had one awarded for and against them at Parkhead on Saturday – much to Lee Johnson’s annoyance.
There could have been another one for Liel Abada’s tumble too, before Steven McLean corrected himself from the VAR check.
The Hoops hadn’t conceded a single one before the cameras came, but now they’ve faced seven – and lost a goal from each.
But as the whistles ring out across the country and spots are pointed to, there is still one record standing 29 games into the season.
Rangers have STILL – incredibly – not conceded a spot-kick in the SPFL campaign. That’s despite all the video controversies and VAR in focus last weekend over several incidents.
The last time the Gers were penalised in the league came away at Aberdeen – last JANUARY.
With the international break guaranteeing there won’t be any more SPFL action until April 1, that record will run until at least 438 days.
Dundee United are at Ibrox on April 1, only a fool would put a bet on them being awarded a penalty.
The other, arguably bigger, taboo is how many penalties they’ve been given.
Then compare that with other teams in top leagues such as German, Spanish, English, and French Leagues over the last five years. Those figures are astounding.
Incompetence has no pattern as it occurs randomly and affects everyone.
What every fan in the country is being asked to accept is that there hasn’t even been one poor decision to award a penalty at Ibrox in over a year never mind a correct call.
This isn’t Incompetence.