Clement Calls on Rangers to Disregard League Cup Penalty Decision

Philippe Clement, manager of Rangers, stated that “all of Europe” has been discussing the penalty incident from the League Cup final. He encouraged his team to put the decision behind them, emphasizing that Rangers “don’t need motivation out of negativity.” Willie Collum, who heads referee operations at the Scottish FA, previously commented that video assistant refereeing officials made a ”really, really poor” and “unacceptable” choice by not awarding Rangers a penalty against Celtic. The Ibrox team, which ultimately lost the match on penalties following a 3-3 draw, received a free-kick for a foul on Vaclav Cerny. This foul originated outside the Celtic penalty area but extended inside it; however, the VAR system did not intervene. Nevertheless, Clement asserted that Rangers must “put that to bed in our heads and stop thinking about it” as their focus shifts to their upcoming Premiership match against Dundee on Saturday. “You cannot keep on thinking about that. We need to focus now and take the three points. And not look back,” stated the Belgian manager, whose squad trails league leaders Celtic by 11 points. “This moment, what happened, will stay for the rest of our lives, in the back of our head. But we need to focus now on what’s now.” “We don’t need motivation out of negativity. We want to win games and win trophies. “We were the team who created the most chances in the game and we were the team who should have had a penalty. That’s a lot in a cup final – normally you win at the end.” Clement affirmed that the incident presented “no grey area” and was “very clear.” He also expressed backing for Collum’s endeavors to improve refereeing standards in Scotland and commended his honesty in acknowledging the mistake. Collum had indicated that VAR officials Alan Muir and assistant Frank Connor conducted their analysis of the event “far too quickly” and were “not forensic enough.” Clement further stated, “It’s been good there was transparency from Willie Collum – it doesn’t help the result but we appreciate the honesty for sure.” “Everybody in the club hopes that Willie is not alone in his fight to get standards better, but that everybody at the top of the SFA also have the same ambition to make things better.” “These things cannot happen, because it’s not only for Rangers or for any team losing a game like that, but it’s also for Scottish football.” “It was a really bad advertisement for Scottish football – all of Europe have been talking about what happened in this final. That’s a pity for Scottish football.”