Hugh Keevins, a reporter, has jokingly claimed that he “witnessed the death of the conspiracy theory” last Saturday when Rangers lost to Celtic without scoring twice.
On September 3, Rangers suffered a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox thanks to a Kyogo Furuhashi goal just before halftime, putting them four points behind their Old Firm opponents with four games remaining.
Nobody much argued when Rabbi Matondo’s early goal was called off for offside, but Kemar Roofe’s celebrations were cut short when his own goal was controversially disallowed.
“I honestly believed I had witnessed the death of the conspiracy theory at Ibrox,” Keevins wrote in a piece that appeared on page 59 of the print edition of the Sunday Mail on September 10. The denial of two “goals” by Rangers in an Old Firm game must put an end to historical allegations of institutionalized unfairness.
“Then Rangers went to the SFA requesting for “clarification” on the goal that Kemar Roofe had due of an earlier infraction. Are they hinting at a secret agenda?
Amped up
After ‘that’ incident happened a week ago, the discussion is still going strong.
Whether you think Roofe’s goal should have stood or not actually depends on whose side of the Old Firm division you support, as Keevins points out.
“In this nation, disallowed goals are not open to individual interpretation. They are an issue of brainwashing on a personal level. If you support the Rangers, what transpired was unfair. If Celtic is your team, there is nothing to see here.
Just in case you forgot, Cyriel Dessers was charged with fouling Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke before setting up Roofe for a goal past Joe Hart.
In the seven days since that game, it has become clear that many neutrals are supporting Rangers when they query the precise rationale for the VAR request that referee Don Robertson review the pitchside monitor.
The loss couldn’t have come at a worse moment for Rangers because we have had two weeks to think about it.
When Scottish Premiership competition resumes on Saturday, September 16, hopefully the players will return motivated for the trip to St Johnstone.
