Former Celtic star and current SSB pundit Mark Wilson has criticised Rangers for what he perceives as a tactic of deflection in the wake of their recent Premiership fixture against Celtic.
Speaking on Clyde One’s Superscoreboard, Wilson did not mince words regarding the controversy surrounding the statement issued by the Rangers regarding the match’s officiating.
“What Rangers are doing are deflecting. And I’ll tell you what everybody is doing now; they’re talking about the decision,” Wilson stated, highlighting the shift in focus from the match’s outcome to the refereeing. He continued, “They’re not talking about Rangers being beaten after being on the ascendancy, and Celtic apparently stuttering and Brendan Rodgers being under pressure. Nobody is talking about that.”
Wilson’s comments come after the Scottish FA expressed disappointment in the Rangers’ statement, which followed a private briefing with the Head of Referee Operations to discuss a handball incident during the match. The meeting was described as constructive, a sentiment not reflected in the subsequent public statement by the Rangers.
“Nobody is talking about the manager’s team selection. Nobody is talking about Dessers, nobody is talking about the manager’s substitutions. It’s about the statement put out about Willie Collum, and the rest has all been forgotten about,” Wilson added, emphasising that the Rangers’ statement had effectively redirected the narrative away from their loss and the decisions leading up to it.
Wilson likened the situation to previous instances, saying, “It was the same after the game at Ibrox. Everybody spoke about that decision rather than the actual defeat. It’s deflection.”
It’s taken days for anybody in the Scottish mainstream media to call this out for what it is. How can a club be upset they weren’t awarded a penalty that would have been swiftly chopped off when the offside infraction was flagged.
The whole thing stinks, but for the Ibrox club, its mission accomplished because nobody is having a go at the manager, players and the board, the supporters anger is wrongly sitting with the SFA.
I would not say it’s ‘deflecting ‘ as to what the Rangers are doing presently! More like ‘ defecating ‘ …what’s that smell ? Euughh!