Vaclav Cerny and the Rangers players have been told they should have went “berserk” in a bid to win a penalty in the cup final defeat to Celtic.
Hoops defender Liam Scales hauled down the Czech international with the clock ticking down in injury time with referee John Beaton awarding a free-kick to the Light Blues. Alan Muir in the VAR room would back up the man in the middle – but Rangers boss Philippe Clement would be incensed by the decision after watching Celtic lift the Premier Sports Cup after a penalty shoot-out victory.
The Belgian insisted that the match officials had got the big call wrong with former referees Bobby Madden and Des Roache uniting to point out the effort from the refereeing team. Asked about if the views of the former whistlers were correct, McCann told Sportscene: “Totally agree. We said it at the time. If you are on the line you are inside the box. Watch Cerny’s foot – Scales has taken a horrible touch from Scales and look at the jersey pull.
“Cerny’s right foot is on the line. He (Scales) absolutely panics. The foot is on the line and he is tugging him down – that is what brings him down. His foot is on the line and he is in the box and therefore it should be a penalty. I’m amazed that the Rangers players are not going berserk there and putting pressure on VAR to take a look at that. Maybe they have and they have just said to John Beaton there is ‘nothing to see here’ – there is plenty to see here.”
Scott Allan then put the blame on the wide man for the snub – noting he didn’t make “much noise” about the decsion: “It’s a huge talking point and for me it’s a penalty. We have touched on the foot on the line and the pull. For me the big thing is, if I was a player on the side there – it’s the reaction of the Rangers players. They didn’t really put any pressure on the referee to look at it. Cerny himself wasn’t making much noise about it but for me it’s a stick on penalty.”
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