Sunday, February 28, 2010

Smith hits back in Celtic ref row

Rangers manager Walter Smith and Celtic manager Tony Mowbray
Smith (left) claimed his 26th Old Firm victory as Rangers manager at Ibrox

Rangers manager Walter Smith has criticised the unnamed source who leaked a story to the media about Celtic's concerns about refereeing.

BBC Scotland reported in the build-up to Sunday's Old Firm game that Celtic had expressed concern about referee standards to the Scottish FA.

And the derby, which Rangers won, saw Celtic's Scott Brown sent off.

"There was enough pressure on the referee without anybody else bringing it up," said Smith after the 1-0 win.

"It was always going to be an awkward situation - it was a totally unfair circumstance he was placed in this week.

"The Old Firm games are always awkward, everybody comes under scrutiny. You always argue with the refereeing decisions, it doesn't matter what anybody says.

"It would be nice if they were going to criticise the referee then they come out of the closet and do it, rather than do it in an anonymous manner. The referee's under enough pressure as it is.

"I thought the referee handled the game very well."

Brown's 66th-minute dismissal for an off-the-ball clash with Rangers' Kyle Lafferty was the main flashpoint in an absorbing contest that featured an injury-time winner by the Ibrox side's Maurice Edu.

Edu had earlier had a goal disallowed after his team-mate Kenny Miller had handled the ball.

"Strangely enough, the two incidents, the goal that we had in the first half and the Scott Brown sending off, I was making my way from my seat in the stand downstairs and missed both of them so I really can't comment on what happened," Smith said.

"Obviously when a team goes down to 10 men, it gives an advantage to the other. We had been playing well prior to that. We started the second half far better than we did at any time in the first half when Celtic had 11 men on the pitch.

"Credit to Celtic, although they've been criticised defensively, I felt they defended very well in the second half when we played better. They restricted us to few opportunities.

"We were obviously delighted when we got that goal at the end."

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor
McGregor ended an eventful week by playing an important part in the derby

Allan McGregor made two important saves to deny Celtic's Robbie Keane at the end of an eventful week for the Rangers goalkeeper.

The 28-year-old received minor injuries during a night out last weekend and was interviewed by police on Friday for apparent inconsistencies in his claim to have been assaulted.

"I felt both goalkeepers played very well today and did what they were asked to do," said Smith.

"Allan McGregor had a couple of good saves but Artur Boruc had, for me, three or four really good saves in the second half of the game there.

"Allan's been doing that regularly. He's also been having the week that he's had on a regular basis as well so it doesn't seem to affect him.

"Both have shared the headlines in the last period of time, although Artur seems to have calmed down a bit in comparison to our own goalie."

The win takes Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers 10 points clear of Celtic with the reigning champions also having a game in hand but Smith insists the title race is far from over.

"Nobody can say that (it's over)," added Smith.

"It shows a total disrespect for the rest of the teams that we have to play. We have a lot of games to play, the games are difficult games and while it's up to the commentators to make their own opinion, it's not an opinion that's shared by myself.

"In Scotland, we don't respect how difficult it is for the Old Firm teams to go and win matches. I think that's one problem that a lot of people have. I certainly don't have it.

"I have a great respect for all the boys in Scotland. They work extremely hard to make it difficult for the Old Firm to win their games and that's the way it will be from now until the end of the season."

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