Celtic v Rangers: Rodgers concerned about Willie Collum bias – Hutton
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers must ignore concerns about referee Willie Collum ahead of the Old Firm clash against Rangers.
Collum is set to referee the upcoming Old Firm clash and Alan Hutton, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, revealed that plenty of people share the boss’ concerns.
The former Rangers defender, however, stated “mistakes” will be made as the referee is “only human”, and doesn’t buy into any suggestions of bias.
It was explained that the conversation around refereeing bias “always comes up”, but managers must respect the officials.
This comes after Frank McAvennie told Football Insider that Collum and Rogers “have a problem with each other”.
McAvennie later urged the official to write headlines “for the right reasons”.
Willie Collum controversy assessed ahead of Celtic v Rangers
Collum has been at the centre of Old Firm controversy previously this season, with the Ibrox club going as far as to call for him to be removed from officiating their games.
That call was never accepted and now Hutton insists both sides must let the referee do his job.
“I’ve been speaking to a few people about this and it always comes up – I don’t buy into it,” he told Football Insider.
“See all this stuff with the ref and who’s appointed and what’s happened in the past, he’s only human. He’s going to make mistakes. VAR is there to try and help clear that up.
“I don’t buy into the fact where he’s on one side more than the other or he’s given more penalties to one side or the other. I don’t get into it.
“I think the managers will respect who’s refereeing the game and they’ll allow him to do that.
“Whatever happens, happens. He’s there to referee both sides and he’ll do it to the best of his ability, so I don’t look too far into it.“
In other news, Rangers’ Fabio Silva may have been involved in a dressing room bust-up.
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