Neil Lennon insists Willie Collum should return to the VAR room for the upcoming clash between Rangers and Celtic amid skyrocketing SFA “scrutiny”.
It has been a nightmare week for the Head of Refereeing Operations at the SFA as he watched the team in Clydesdale House make a howler during the Premier Sports Cup final after failing to award an injury-time penalty to Philippe Clement’s side after Vaclav Cerny was hauled down by Liam Scales in the box. The Hoops would go on to win the trophy in a dramatic penalty shoot-out and Collum didn’t hold back on VAR duo Alan Muir and Frank Connor following the flashpoint – branding the mistake “unacceptable.”
The Key Match Incident panel have also slammed the call made by the duo grading it “a simple decision that all officials should get correct”. And after a week of controversy, Celtic hero Lennon reckons that Collum should be on hand in the VAR room for the Old Firm clash at Ibrox on January 2.
Collum hung up his whistle at the end of the Premiership campaign last term to step into the senior role at Hampden. But Lennon reckons the only way to ease pressure on the man in the middle in Govan for the next derby showdown is to have the boss back in the officiating team.
He told PLZ: “If Willie is the head of referees, for me, should he not be there? For a big game especially? Either Willie or someone of a senior standing in the SFA. Willie has come out and castigated the guys who made that decision.
“If it came down to understanding of the game it would be number one in that aspect. You would like someone of that stature making those decisions.
“He (the referee for the upcoming game) is under a lot of scrutiny. They are going to have to pick the best one. I thought the referee overall had a good game. But it will be up to Willie. I think Willie should be there, in the VAR department to make sure they get all the calls correct.”
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