BBC presenter breaks the great Scottish football taboo

Richard Gordon has broken the great taboo of the Scottish media by counting back the number of SPFL matches since a penalty was awarded against the Ibrox Tribute Act.

Just under 23 months ago Kevin Clancy was the culprit at Pittodrie, pointing to the penalty spot with Scott Brown among the first to congratulate Lewis Ferguson for scoring past Allan McGregor.

Only Clancy remains on the Scottish football scene but the stat grows every week with several Twitter accounts keeping a live count.

Clancy and colleagues like Don Robertson, John Beaton, Steven McLean, David Dickinson, Willie Collum and Alan Muir have refused to buckle, even with more than a year of VAR being in operation.

James Tavernier and his penalty record gets some attention but no-one dares to looks at the run under three managers where no referee has pointed to the penalty spot in the SPFL.

Writing for the Press & Journal Gordon explains:

Not for the first time, an Aberdeen v Rangers encounter ended in chaos and controversy last weekend, as the visitors were awarded a stoppage time penalty, and the Dons were left fuming.

I have on occasion this season been somewhat perplexed by Barry Robson’s post-match comments, but last Sunday I could understand his frustration when he said: “It doesn’t look good” for the game that Rangers benefited from “another” late VAR call.

Taken in isolation, it was the correct decision. Stefan Gartenmann clearly pulled back Connor Goldson and the award was justified.

The argument, of course, is that similar offences are perpetrated at every corner, and go unnoticed and unpunished.

On this occasion, and with time very much running out for Rangers, the VAR official, Andrew Dallas, chose to get involved.

He also decided not to intervene soon after when Goldson flattened Dante Polvara with a flailing arm. That was a clear red card.

It was, however, the penalty which sparked most debate, and the award, the Ibrox side’s tenth of the season, caused more uproar and much angst among football fans generally.

Having gone back through my own stats for the past few seasons, the issue is not the number of spot-kicks Rangers are awarded.

Since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, they have been given 26 in the Premiership while Celtic have had 23.

You would expect the Glasgow sides to get more penalties, given how they dominate most games, and the pair have similar results. For comparison’s sake, the Dons have been awarded 18.

It is the decisions at the other end of the pitch which produce incomprehensible statistics.

In that same period, Aberdeen have conceded 23 and Celtic ten. Only three penalties have been awarded to teams playing Rangers. Jordan White scored for Ross County in August 2021 and Dundee’s Jason Cummings had his effort saved the following month.

When Lewis Ferguson stepped up to net from the spot on January 18 2022 for Aberdeen, that was the last time Rangers faced a top-flight penalty. They have now played a staggering 68 matches without conceding one in the Premiership.

Newcomer Matthew MacDermid will referee today’s match against St Mirren with John Beaton on VAR duty to ensure that no mistakes are made by the rookie to take the tally to 69 before Willie Collum takes change of Wednesday’s match at Tynecastle.

Sharing Sportsound duties with true blue Kenny Macintyre, it is unlikely that Gordon would raise the issue with the state broadcaster.