COLLUM'S HOWLER

ROOKIE referee Willie Collum made a terrible mistake in the Old Firm game at Parkhead which Rangers, the better side, deserved to win.

Instead of merely booking Anthony Stokes for his disgraceful lunge which caught Sasa Papac, and led to the influential Rangers man having to be replaced, Collum should have reacted more strongly

The tackle, had it smashed into Papac later than 90 seconds from the start, would surely have resulted in Stokes being handed his marching orders.

Watch it. Watch it again, and again and again. Over and over and over again.

That is to say if you get the chance to do so on television. Do NOT expect BBC Television to give licence payers the chance to do so.

Certainly Aberdeen supporting Richard Gordon seemed to be concentrating on more pro-Celtic aspects on BBC Radio Scotland in the immediate aftermath.

According to the Rangers hating Beeb, the Rangers win was all down to an own goal, a bad kick from the Celtic goalie and a dodgy penalty.

Well, there is no doubt the penalty was dodgy. Anyone who has watched Sky's replays could see Kirk Broadfoot appearing to go down before the contact - of which there was plenty - from Daniel Majstorovic.

Collum, who had turned away as the ball came off him, also seemed to only turn back to where the action was, in time to see Broadfoot hit the deck.

Of course he could have consulted his assistant, but after the meal Celtic made out of it when Dougie McDonald did just that over a penalty award a week ago, who can blame the 31-year-old for sticking with his decision?

But had the referee sent off Stokes - as he should have - within 90 seconds of the kick off, Rangers may very well have been more than a goal ahead by that stage of the match.

It was telling that when interviewed on Sky Sports by a sympathetic Peter Martin Maguire , Neil Lennon,  rather that wanting to talk too much about the spot kick award, chose to reveal  he had told his Celtic players that on the day they were not good enough.

For me, that was an honest assessment, as Rangers started the better team before Celtic edged back into things and an even half hour was contested after the opening 15 minutes.

During that spell Rangers were restricted by the injury inflicted on Papac by Stokes, with the left back finally forced off.

If that Stokes over the top tackle and the contact he made was worth only a booking, then the one which led to a yellow card for Lee McCulloch, while a foul, was hardly in the same class. He got the ball and made no contact with  his opponent.

Another mistake by Collum.

The trouble in the Rangers six yard area prior to the Celtic corner which led to their goal, was another instance of the referee failing to do his duty.

Georgios Samaras actually put Allen McGregor on the deck and was spoken to by Collum. The decision should have been a booking for the Greek.

More about the referee later, but back to the actual game, and Samaras caused Rangers problems in the first half with his movement, but Walter Smith clearly dealt with that in his half time team talk.

Samaras in the first half apart, Celtic did not have any really eye catching performer, although scorer Gary Hooper showed he is a chance taker supreme.

Against that, Rangers had the best player on the park, Steven Naismith. He is the most fouled player in the Champions League, and was once again the player victimised.

The number of times he was fouled by a succession of Celtic players, must have been close to - or even into - double figures.

Failing to protect him was another dereliction of duty by the young referee who fell below the standards he showed in the recent Rangers victory at Aberdeen.

However, for a remarkable fifth time this season Rangers fell behind and then rallied and went on to win. Even given their recent track record, there are few who would have backed them to do that against Celtic. At Parkhead too.

It was only the second time in 67 Old Firm encounters that the team which lost the opening goal went on to triumph.

Kenny Miller's strike to put the champions in front, was superb and, after his two terrible misses against Valencia, showed the sort of character he has. To go back in time, he is someone of whom Jock Wallace would have approved.

Wallace would have also nodded in approval at Walter Smith's post match interview, when he made the point that, after their Champions League extertions against Valencia, Rangers were understandably not at their sharpest.

Of course there are those who harp on about Smith getting an easy ride in the press because he is, in the modern idiom "media friendly."

Therefore, those who think this is poppycock, should be indebted to Charlie Nicholas on Sky. He said what it is about, is that Rangers are playing well.

On a personal level I know Lennon too is media friendly and is easy for reporters to deal with.

Also, watching the action on Sky, I was struck by how David Tanner is growing into his role as an anchor, and with Nicholas added to the mix, Sky once again showed it is head and shoulders above any other broadcaster.

Davie Provan has a great store of knowledge and never pulls a punch, while Ian Crocker commentates with a sure authority and a host of facts. One of them was that Collum is a teacher of religious studies.

Just the sort if unusual for a referee job which I thought the newspapers may have highlighted in the build up to the game.

After all, the papers were always quick to mention that Mike McCurry was a Baptist minister. Over and over and over. Again, and again and again.