Philippe Clement claims his phone blew up after Rangers’ penalty kicks Premier Sports Cup Final defeat to Celtic over the extra time penalty that never was.
The Rangers manager was left incensed at the decision not awarding the Ibrox side a free kick outside the box when Liam Scales pulled Vaclav Cerny’s jersey in the first half of extra time.
Replays show the Czech attacker is clearly inside the box when the foul is committed and whilst John Beaton gave a free-kick on the park, the VAR failed to give the whistler a chance to correct the decision.
Philippe Clement has asked journalists to get to the bottom of what happened, with Rangers fans growing fed up of VAR acting as a buffer only to protect decisions going against Celtic.
Now, two former Scottish referees have taken aim at the call and added yet more fuel to the fire as the Old Firm fall-out continues.
Referee pair on Rangers v Celtic penalty storm
Former Scottish referee Bobby Madden caused a storm when he insisted on the final whistle that Rangers should’ve had a penalty against Celtic.
Now, the ex-SPFL referee has been backed up by another two former whistlers from north of the border in a damning indictment of the refereeing performance on the day.
The Ref’s View is a new podcast launched by former grade one officials Des Roache and Steve Conroy.
Using the platform’s official X account, the Ref’s View took aim at the call and insists that the refereeing team got this crucial decision in the match wrong.
”This is what VAR is for,” reads a post alongside a still image of the incident on X.
”The foul is on the 18-yard line, therefore in the penalty area, therefore it is a penalty.
”The officials had a fairly decent game undiluted this point but it is a clear and obvious error that went unnoticed.”
Rangers manager left furious at Old Firm penalty call
The decision drew the ire of Philippe Clement come full time with the Rangers manager furious his side weren’t awarded a penalty against Celtic.
On such decisions are these matches won and lost and the Rangers boss has demanded an inquest into the decision-making process and how they got the call so wrong.
The call has marred an enthralling 3-3 draw between the two sides at Hampden which eventually went all the way to penalty kicks.
”This was a really cruel one I think,” said Clement. “I think my team deserved more today.
”Creating more chances than the opponent, coming back in a good way and then losing with penalties in the end.
“But also I don’t know if you saw the images back but my phone is overloaded with the penalty situation with Cerny.
”So I get hundreds of messages now about that. That’s also a really decisive moment in the game.
“Yes of course he cannot see that that moment but he didn’t get the communication from the VAR to come to watch the screen.
”What’s for me is a really weird situation, that at least there’s no look about that kind of situation in this kind of game.
”About the situation that the referee can make a decision.”
