We have known for many years that there is an inherent bias against Rangers within the Broadcast and Print media in Scotland. We could speculate on reasons for that all day, but we are now in a situation where the BBC, and the tabloids are largely written by and edited by Rangers haters.
Even during Saturday’s match, as the penalties were racking up, I was expecting manufactured controversy and so it transpired, with a full on metaphorical assault on refereeing standards, despite 3 of the 4 penalties given being legitimate, with another legitimate claim turned down.
It seems that in Scotland, there should be a cap on penalties, even if defenders spend 90 minutes kicking attackers in the air. Of course, this only applies to Rangers.
Having sat through 90 minutes of the match on Saturday, I’m more than aware that Andrew Dallas had a shocker on Saturday. Frankly, the penalty decisions were about the only ones he got right, and he can thank his linesmen for being able to interpret the rules properly.
What became clear in the aftermath is that professional commentators on our game, are so unprofessional that they can’t keep up to speed with the rules, not to mention their lack of professionalism when it comes to anything Rangers related.
Last night, after an innocuous tussle between Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna let to McKenna kicking Alfredo Morelos in the face, both got red carded.
Personally, I felt there is enough distinction between their actions to yellow card Morelos and red card McKenna, but the atmosphere surrounding referees in the lead up to the game nudged Bobby Madden towards reds for both.
Rangers would be within their rights to appeal, however, I suspect they may just let this one go.
On my twitter timeline, I noticed last night the BBC laid out all the tabloid back pages, and without exception, the newspapers and media have once again decided to focus their attentions on Morelos’ discipline, where McKenna’s kick in the face is not deemed newsworthy.
The focus on this incident, aside from its ignorance of McKenna’s part, is a distraction from a first half performance from Rangers that blew Aberdeen away.
Frankly, Morelos gave the back line such a torrid time, I wouldn’t have been surprised if McKenna got himself sent off just to give himself a breather and stop him being schooled by Alfredo.
While we can be critical of Tavernier’s defending at both Aberdeen goals, some of the first half play from Rangers was exceptional, and a display of this sort at Pittodrie is something better Rangers sides haven’t managed. Morelos 2nd goal was an absolute wonder team goal. While the highlights focused on a sublime finish, the move started with McGregor and finished with the ball resting in Aberdeen’s net.
That Rangers managed some great football, while being roughed up by McKenna, Cosgrove, Shinnie and Ferguson and co was an achievement.
Some post-match attention has been moved Allan McGregor’s way for a non-tackle on Lewis Ferguson whose own studs up challenge on McGregor minutes later has been buried under the bad news.
The spectacle of a current SPFL player acting as a pundit asking that our player get suspended days before we play his own team is ridiculous, and I can only imagine that he will be called out on it shortly.
The message here is that the media are not going to change of their own volition. They will need to be forced to change, and it won’t be by positive discrimination in the workplace addressing the imbalance in their organisations, but by commercial means.
Rangers can do some of this stuff, but the rest will need to be down to us.
We all need to think before we click, and most definitely need to let newspaper and media editors know of our concerns, and not by tweeting at some Social Media Officer on Twitter, but by contacting editors, their bosses and shareholders and their advertisers.
It’s just not on that our team, and our matches are subject to minute scrutiny with the objective of having bans for key players.
We need to make a stand, and the time is now.