BBC Scotland was informed that no penalty was awarded against Alistair Johnston for handball during the half-time break in the Glasgow Derby.
For reasons best known to themselves Sky Sports decided to mention that inconvenient truth to their viewers about 10 minutes into the second half, then later on shared an image with the infamous SFA VAR lines showing Abdallah Sima to be offside when John Lundstram played the ball.
Play was held up for a VAR check but Nick Walsh wasn’t required to check the monitor, play restarted with Ian Crocker and Kenny Miller furious at the decision not to award a penalty.
As Andy Walker revealed earlier this year the Sky Sports commentary team have access to the conversation between the match referee and the VAR official but never quote exactly what they have heard.
Collum decided that it wasn’t a penalty, play continued with the decision that Walsh had viewed which was a bye-kick to Celtic.
Having been prompted by their commentary team there was only one issue to discuss in the Sky Sports Studio at half-time with Boydy, Faddy and Lenny trying to outdo each other with their outrage that no penalty had been awarded.
Meanwhile, on BBC Scotland, covering the match on radio and online they were aware that the decision from VAR was that Sima was offside in the build up.
CLICK HERE for BBC Scotland, live matchday blog with penalty claim timeline.
Yeah, I totally agree..Can you get the Turnbull Penalty decision/ offside that wasn’t an offside audio recording too.
Thanks— ThePort (@PortBhoy11) December 30, 2023
Prompted by Sky Sports there was some dark suggestions from Philippe Clement after the match, they reported:
When Clement was told by Sky Sports reporter Luke Shanley that there was an offside in the build-up to the Johnston ‘handball’ incident, the Rangers manager responded: “The decision was not made about an offside, the decision of no penalty was made about the handball. That was the decision. So that was a strange decision for me.”
It may, or may not be the case that Clement was informed by someone from Sky that the decision was based on handball, not an offside call.
A few hours after the match the Ibrox media messengers were informed of the demand to the SFA to release the audio, it seems that transparency is vital almost a year after Collum and John Beaton denied Celtic a penalty at Ibrox when Connor Goldson handled a shot from Carl Starfelt.
Not content with their post match demand to release the audio there was a further statement from Ibrox on the Sunday complaining that their request wouldn’t be granted until Wednesday.
With attention on Collum, Walsh and VAR, Clement is getting a free pass over selecting Cyriel Dessers, expecting Todd Cantwell to mark Callum McGregor and losing to a club that had been beaten by Kilmarnock and Hearts earlier this month.
The first Ibrox statement seemed very heavily based on Sky Sports coverage with the Daily Record reporting:
Rangers have asked the SFA to make the VAR audio available to the club to understand why no penalty was awarded despite a clear handball by Celtic’s Alistair Johnston.
The club is keen to understand the process that led to that decision being made, as it was not made public at the time nor communicated to our team. We also understand Sky as the league’s official broadcaster is deeply unhappy and confused with the situation.
“Their panel spent half-time in agreement that Rangers should have been awarded a penalty unaware of any offside check. Again, this only surfaced in the second half. Rangers remains advocates of VAR but there must be significantly more transparency for it to be successful in Scotland.
Yes. Let’s have complete transparency, including referees declaring club allegiances or conflicts of interest, and immediate access to audio regarding all decisions made by VAR officials, and also photo evidence of all offside decisions.
Tony, if the refs had to state their favourite team St Mirren’s fan base would rise by 20 or 30.
You can just picture the zombie boardroom now saying ” eh ah dont think we thought that wan aw the way threw (sic) tbfh “
Let’s not forget that the biggest noise about VAR being introduced was coming from that bitter fat Hun fuck boyd when analysing every goal we scored in the build up to a goal.
Kyogo against the mini huns had the bitter fuck in tears?
So it remains as choice viewing from a scum perspective within SKY and that should be called out moreso imo?
Any huge decision made by VAR involves the build up play first, especially when SKY covers enough EPL games where this process has been in play for long enough now?
Yet on Saturday these scum cheerleaders conveniently forgot to look at the build up process?
From a broadcaster with the rights for the Scottish game is a disgraceful and disgusting act in trying to cover up just how much the scum actually benefit from VAR by trying to protray such a shower of shit as victims to a worldwide audience?
Nothing more than a scam from SKY and these scum cheerleaders need to be called out being so also imo?
I find it interesting how sky sports handle these so called controversial decisions, when it involves us, its literally brushed over or not even worthy of comment. The David Turnbull incident being an example. When it involved Rangers it’s poured over, they even asked an English ref during broadcast for his opinion.
This has become normal from Sky sports, we have cheerleader Boyd taking shots at our club every week without any consequences making his own rules up unchallenged.
We have dubious decisions for Rangers near in weekly basis without the indepth investigation. Something isn’t right over at Sky Scotalnd and I suspect someone there has substantial leanings towards Ibrox. The whole broadcast seems to be one step away from Rangers tv. On a side note Neil Lennon was a disgrace, he must be looking a full time job there and tried his best to sound neutral and even at some points fawning over Clement. He wasn’t there to be neutral he was there to fight our corner, be a Celtic voice in an organisation that has a long history of being boas against us.
He should have been highlighting on the absolute hypocrisy that Sky sports were pushing, pointing out Rangers late penalty awards of late and no penalties against in over 2 years…instead he decided to be a lickspittle, playing to his new employers. He’s a charlatan and joins a ling list of those that join Sky and have a sudden urge to criticise us or vecome a ‘neutral’.
Maybe big fake Kris Boyd threatened a serious hissy fit and storm out of paradise if the SS reported the offside decision earlier ? Sky would then realise if that happened , there would be 2 Celtic fans against 1 left in it’s state of the art ,no expense spared wee box and could not allow such a situation . I have no proof of this conjecture of course ,as I have not seen any ‘ according to a report ‘ exclusives from any SMSM scoops which would finalise the deal ..how sad …too bad !
Be careful what you wish for. HH
Lenny is fast becoming a total a@@hole. He is trying hard to fit in with the anti Celtic brigade. I used to love him but 10iar season and his punditry now has me hating the sight of him.
Andrew Dickson Sky Sports producer who used to work for a certain club
Was he not up to his balls in SFA cover ups on behalf of Rangers (as they were known before they died c.2012) and also when their bastard child Sevco was born…
Thank Fcuk that I don’t subscribe to any Scottish Football Media outlet of any sort –
Extra holidays with that cash is a far far better option for sure that I enjoy…
A shame that the only one I do listen to and only for a big dollop of Sevco misery Schadenfreude on Clyde Superscoreboard is not on tonight –
Hopefully tomorrow night but by that time Beaton will have Kilmarnock beaten at Liebrox and they’ll be back to their cocky and arrogant worst once again !
Lol transparency funny how that word has been missing these last 73 games they have gone without conceding a penalty,and the first time they don’t get the penalty decision they demand the men in white suits are sent out in force to investigate it.
Lol they even have their tea-boys in the media be that at Sky,the BBC Scotland or the written press shouting the odds for them.
Don’t be surprised to see Walsh and Willie on VAR duty being binned for future sevco games,the BIGOTS son will be back duty for the sevco games,now that is a prick that would have given sevco that penalty especially if the other BIGOT Beaton cheaton was the ref.
The above 2 names will be in charge of the game at ibrox when Celtic come calling,watch the cheating that goes on that day,we can only hope we are out of sight in the league so the dodgy decisions don’t affect the result of the league.
collum is no friend of celtic , youtube hia 2 penalties against by aberdeen trying to take 3 points from us , last year they gave him the cup final to cheat celtic and set him up as a patsy , a Mr Tom soup taker , who they banished from ipox when he failed to do their dirt , he wisely took a dive from that fixture , the same was expected from him on saturday , sevco are going to go after him again , and this time i believe he will give up refereeing and a major investigation must now begin with scottish football and the corruption that is endemic , a referee forced out by bigots is unheard of in europe , and world football authorities must intervene in this nest of rats and finish them forever
Armageddon beckons….
If they force ‘Gollum’ out from the gates of Mordor then expect a backlash from the non-aligned Match Officials. Because it puts added pressure on them.
We all know Willie C hasn’t the guile to be corrupt, he is just an exceptionally poor referee.
But he’s useful to the MIBs & SFA as a scapegoat because of his presumed religious background. Doesn’t stand a chance in Proddy Scotland. The best wee bigoted Kuntry inra world.. The Scottish Media will eviscerate him and throw him to the hun wolves and the ‘wee arra peepel’ will lap it up thus keeping the complicit SMSM going in shekels for another month.
There’s a storm brewing behind VAR and with the Debtdome’s hierarchy now calling for transparency all the teams that have suffered from the lack of Match Official’s impartiality during Sevco’s soon to be World Record of not conceding a Penalty, only in the Domestic football arena curiously enough, then there should be an almighty upswell of anger and calls for a radical overhaul of the refereeing Mafia ‘Ludge’ aka The Lanarkshire Refereeing Association (Lodge no 1690). Followed hopefully by the Liquidation of the Scottish Football Association.
If it becomes known that a Scottish Referee was hounded out of the game because of his presumed religious background, bear in mind that all that is known Publicly is that he teaches in a Catholic School, a case of guilt by association surely, but that seems to be sufficient cause for the entitled establishment bigots, if this comes to pass just watch for the reaction. Civil Rights group here and abroad will be right in UEFA’s face. Sectarian bigotry may be the ‘norm’ in Scotland but a more enlightened Europe treats it as the disgrace that it is.
21st Century and Scotland is still held back by a faux historical Cultural obscenity that is an anathema to all civilised people.
Scotland will never prosper to its full potential untill it neutralises this Societal poison.
Tom English, BBC Sports Chief Reporter said of the Johnson handball incident, in real time
“He Doesn’t Mean To Do It, But His Hand Makes Contact With The Ball. For Me, It’s A Penalty.”
Whereas Leanne Crichton, again on real time states
“Not A Penalty”!
” I Don’t think It Was Deliberate, I Don’t Think He Has Made His Body Unnaturally Bigger.”
Seems as if Tom is still going with his version of the Rules of the Game!