Philippe Clement said the “only downside” to Rangers beating Kilmarnock on Tuesday (2 January) is that he can no longer explain the handball rule to his side.
The Gers ran out 3-1 winners but Clement was left frustrated when John Souttar was penalised for handball after a VAR intervention, a decision that came just days after Celtic’s Alistair Johnston escaped punishment in a contentious decision during Rangers’ Old Firm defeat at Celtic Park (30 December).
“We can laugh afterwards and it’s not a big difference between 3-0 and 3-1 but for the future it needs to be clear for everyone what is handball and what is not because these two situations are a little bit bizarre.”
He added in quotes reported by the Daily Record’s print edition (3 January, page 46): “The only downside for me is that I cannot explain to my players anymore what is handball and what is not after this game.
Baffling
There is a lot of sympathy to be hand with Clement’s comments here, even if they come at a time when Rangers got immediately back on track with an impressive response to their Old Firm woe.
The thing is, the one versus Celtic likely would have been overturned in the end anyway as Abdallah Sima was offside in the build-up but the original decision should have been given.
The issue is that the communication around the VAR process has been so poor and Rangers are being made to play a waiting game to find out why the VAR did not give the decision in the first place.
Then, just a few days later, to see another contentious handball given against them it just rankles a little bit, even among the relief of a swift return to winning ways that means Rangers keep well in the hunt for the title. It’s all just a bit baffling.
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