Walter Smith launched a scathing attack on referee Jonas Eriksson, accusing him of "opting out" of awarding Rangers a crucial penalty in their Champions League 4-1 defeat to Sevilla.
The Ibrox boss insists Steven Naismith should have won a spot-kick late in the first half but the match official chose to ignore the claims in order to avoid showing Abdoulay Konko a red card.
"He has opted out of the decision and for a referee at this level that is disappointing.," said Smith of the penalty claim.
"You could say it was a turning point. Certainly when we play against teams of the level of Sevilla in the Champions League, you need a set of circumstances to go with you and they didn't.
"It was a vital decision for us in the first half. I felt for an hour of the game we played well and during that period we needed that little bit of a break and we didn't get it.
"From where I was sitting it was clearly a penalty. But one of the problems that all referees have just now is that they have two decisions to make, because they obviously have to send the player off.
"That makes it awkward for the referee. He opted out of what was a very clear-cut decision. At Champions League level, you would expect a better decision from what was a fairly clear-cut circumstance.
"He was perfectly positioned. Referees have to make strong decisions at this level. You can say that anyone can make an error but that was a fairly clear-cut one and he was up with play and he did see it.
The incident proved to be pivotal in the clash, as Konko went on to set the ball rolling before saw Adriano, Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute also help themselves to a goal a apiece.
Nacho Novo did find the net late on for the Scottish champions but the goal was scant consolation for a side reeling from a sense of injustice at the hands of the Swedish official.
Comment 10 - 29 of 29
They are so bad Walter the team has been sold from under you by the stupid board and nolegs ex chairman seems hes got no money either
it wouldnt have mattered rangers were rank rotten and they were lucky it was only 4
over to dignity fc for a comment from the chairman re sevilla humping- umm ummm err err umm err in terms of getting beat,with regard to losing,I um err umm err err um err I um err. What was the question again? err umm.
celtic?,watch out Sunday,we are going to HUMBLE them same as they will get from Europe?,a RAPID exit,and it's "Goodnight Vienna" for celtic too.C'mon the teddy bears............
Swedish referees?,not a chance,they haven't a CLUE,bring back common sense and courage referee's,stand up and be counted!!!.....
after the game this sunday the huns are holding a car boot sale at ibrox boyd 50p antique weir 2 quid pleas come along and support your local huns i n l a
good decisions by the ref shut up smith ya loser
alex m is the m for MUPPET by the way muppet i pay my taxes never had a giro in my life oh by the way my parents are italian and from ROME and they paid taxes as well probably a lot more than you over the years and they didn't ever see a giro as well
well said james the silence was deafning that afternoon
ok, but there is a diff between spl and Champions League, and the penalty claim was in the early stages in the match and that would have made a great diff on the result. Doesn't matter anyway there is only 1 point diff and its only just started, i wish Rangers all the best, they won't win but i don't think any Scottish club at the moment stand a technical chance of winning, its the best league in the world ;-))
why all the huns complaining about the penalty they never got? didnt hear them mention the "penalty" they got on the 89th minute against (correct me if im wrong) Hearts few weeks ago wen score was 1-1, the foul on Naismith was outside the box and he landed inside but they got a penalty which they scored 2 win the game. What goes around and aw that
Oh eah and in what european competition are the tims in, the mini mini cup you mug :-)))
you know i used to support the h u n s in europe even though im a celtic man, but after reading all the h u n s postings from now on im going to hope the get f k ed mind you you dont need to hope for much as they are always getting f k d it makes me laugh when they say the mini cup cos thats where they belong at least we put up a good show in the champs league albeit at home, but heres hopin the h u ns get really f kd next time, hahaha hail hail
Rangers were never gonna win, so whats the issue really? Scottish football is weak and Rangers and Celtic are showing that they too are weakening in the face of the rest of Europe.
Point 8! We are UK tax payers, UK tax payers with an Irish heratige. We are very much home, so was my family who fought in both World Wars, u thick, ignorant James Hunt.
Dry ur eyes Wattie, the strain is showing...more excuses in the last 3 weeks have come from him than in the last 3 years.
Point 10! Not as poor as auld Wattie's decisions or the teams performance!!!
Bet the decision he hated most was Seville deciding to move up a little gear in the second half!!! What about the new chairman, telling the media that the bank is'nt running Rangers per se?????
I have never seen Ipoke empty as quick But hats off to the real Rangers fans that stayed and cheered their team to the end. If the other 45,000 would do that, maybe the players would play for the jersey. Tough luck but you were well beaten.
could of been worse 5-1 tae the spanish lol
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