The fallout from Rangers draw with Celtic continues after what was an eventful but ultimately well refereed encounter – John Beaton must be wondering what he needs to do to get a bit of credit.
The narrative from one or two in the media (and Brendan Rodgers) was that the ref was wrong to penalise Alistair Johnston for clattering Fabio Silva.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement was in the majority that agreed with Beaton but one of those who has taken it too far has been slammed by Heart and Hand’s David Edgar.
Rangers narrative set as David Edgar slams Chris Sutton verdict
The inability of some pundits in Scottish football to put their allegiances to one side when giving their opinion is embarrassing.
Even Kris Boyd, occasionally, manages to keep the laws of the game in mind when reflecting on controversial moments.
The usual suspects have been at it this week though, with Michael Stewart and Chris Sutton in particular being even more controversial than usual.
Stewart’s commentary on Sportscene was akin to something you would hear on Celtic TV whereas Sutton must’ve forgotten that he was on national television and being paid for his “expert” insight.
Edgar, speaking on yesterday’s Daily Update was quick to give him both barrels.
“Allowing for the fact that I know he’s biased and I’m waiting for him to do his performing Celtic trick, I was still going ‘that’s a bit out of order’.
“Sky hired Chris Sutton in the summer to do this, they didn’t hire him because they wanted the Five Live version of him who is a lot more sensible.
“They wanted the trolling, playing to the Celtic galleries Chris Sutton to argue with Kris Boyd and they want Kris Boyd to play the Rangers role.”
Sutton ignores laws of the game to fuel referee conspiracy
The Heart and Hand founder is right, the Sutton we hear on BBC Five Live is totally different to the one that we see and hear in Scotland for Sky Sports.
There is a way to get your point across and Sutton just seems incapable of doing it in a professional manner when it comes to Rangers.
We could all see Johnston hit Silva above his knee before he hit the deck in a theatrical manner.
Silva had every right to go to the ground even though he probably could have stayed on his feet.
The irony is, Sutton was one of the best at buying his team free-kicks and penalties, you would think he’d appreciate how Silva managed to tempt Johnston into committing the foul.
You can guarantee that if it was Kyogo at the other end of Ibrox he’d be telling a different story or if Harry Kane does similar in the summer.
