No, it isn’t April Fools’ Day, the SFA really did appoint Willie Collum as their new head of refereeing in a move that has brought widespread criticism from fans and the media.
The decision sees the 45-year old hang up his whistle so, at least Philippe Clement won’t have to put up with some of his bewildering decisions as the man in the middle or VAR offical anymore.
The problem is, the SFA know that one of their member clubs – Rangers – have serious concerns about an individual’s competence and they have ignored this and given him a promotion, needless to say, the fans aren’t happy.
Willie Collum appointment has Rangers fans fuming
Looking back, the SFA’s statement about Willie Collum’s mistake as the VAR referee for Rangers clash with Celtic at Parkhead in December, it’s almost like they already knew he was getting the job:
“During the meeting, it was pointed out that the incident in question was a subjective handball and that the VAR did not deem it a sufficiently clear and obvious error to refer to On Field Review.
“Furthermore, the offside would not have been mentioned at the time as it was not part of the VAR’s decision-making on the handball.”
There was nothing subjective about it, Alistair Johnston clearly punched the ball out of play and on-field referee Nick Walsh didn’t see it.
In 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 Rangers questioned the competency of Willie Collum to the SFA.
The governing body even went as far as to charge Rangers in retaliation for having the temerity to raise doubts about Collum’s ability to be impartial.
Once for sending off Daniel Candeias for blowing a kiss, once for sending off John Lundstram for an identical foul for which a Hibernian player only received a yellow card earlier in the game and for his involvement in the December Old Firm fiasco – three times, at least, he’s made bizarre calls.
No wonder the fans are bemused.
His recent display, at Parkhead, when he sent off Lundstram won’t have gone down well either.
SFA miss golden opportunity to clean up Scottish refereeing
The SFA are always going to back their man, but they had a real chance to remove any doubts about conspiracy or favouritism and make a fresh start – appoint someone completely neutral.
Put it another way, how accommodating is Collum going to be if Rangers have cause to phone him about any issues?
It’s an incredible appointment, for all the wrong reasons.
