Chris Sutton has made suggestions that Rangers manager Philippe Clement and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers are not being treated equally by the SPFL.
For his remarks about a referee, Aaron Rodgers received a one-match suspension; yet, Sutton claims that the Belgian player gets away with it all.
There has been a growing distrust in officials given their glaring errors this season.
Sutton wrote in the Daily Record on 30 March: “Pretty much all of them have been critical of VAR or referees. I’ve seen strong stuff from Derek McInnes, Steven Naismith, Stuart Kettlewell has recently gone to town and Philippe Clement has taken the odd pop. Neil Warnock was only here a few weeks and moaned about it after most games. None of those guys ended up in the dock. It seems it’s okay to infer officials are incompetent – but you can’t actually say it.
“Rodgers just said what they are all thinking – what most of us are thinking. In courts you can’t get done for defamation if what you say is true. But it doesn’t seem to work that way in the SFA legal system. Even if the officials were incompetent you’re not allowed to say it. Rodgers will take his slap on the wrists but for everyone’s sake I hope the people in charge take note and raise their game.”
Fans of the Rangers may concur with Chris Sutton in this case.
Sutton’s comments are frequently seen by Gers supporters as being biased against their team because of his propensity to closely examine choices and actions while maybe ignoring comparable circumstances involving other teams, which feeds the notion that Sutton is favoring Celtic.
The former Hoops forward’s remarks, according to the Ibrox faithful, add to a larger story about alleged injustices or prejudices in the media and in footballing institutions.
The SPFL officiating this season has been terrible, and most, if not all, club supporters will agree.
It’s time for things to change. If players aren’t allowed to criticize officials, then maybe no one can, and that’s not how it should be.
Officials ought to be held accountable for their conduct, just like managers and players are.
In other Rangers news, there has been a personal update indicating that a prominent first-team player may be leaving Ibrox this summer.
