Does Rangers war of words point to SFA transparency issue?

Seldom does a television drama elicit a sense of not just a common sense of unfairness but also of a lack of a concrete target to direct frustrations at against a faceless, bureaucratic entity that ultimately hides the numerous shortcomings monitored by the people in charge of the show. However, following days of political frenzy, demands for honors to be restored, sentences to be revoked, compensation to be paid, and new legislation introduced in Westminster almost overnight, it’s likely that things will return to normal on College Green as the laborious and tedious process of the ongoing public inquiry is completed.

Recall, back in the Scottish football world, the days of loud cheering, declarations, conferences, and demands that this referee be barred from certain games following Rangers’ 2-1 derby loss to Celtic on December 30? Now that the Ibrox club’s request for a meeting with SFA authorities was approved a little more than a week ago, things have become rather quiet once more.
You wonder if Willie Collum’s match schedule and audio clips from VAR control rooms are still occupying Clement’s thoughts as he puts his players through their paces in their warm-weather training camp in Spain while trying to move some on and bring other fresh faces in during the January transfer window.

Similar to the HAL computer system in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Horizon computer system in Gwyneth Hughes’ Post Office miniseries is portrayed as a kind of evil force that lurks in the background and is the cause of inconsistencies in the sub-postmasters’ records. That would be VAR in the Rangers version, of course, and Clement would be Mr. Bates played by Toby Jones, fighting the Scottish FA at every turn.

Collum became the victim of criticism after Celtic’s devastating derby loss at the beginning of the year because of an alleged handball incident involving the team’s full-back, Alistair Johnston. Even though it would never have reached the match official when the first review surely showed Abdallah Sima’s offside in the build-up, Collum’s refusal to at least give match official Nick Walsh an opportunity to assess the situation definitely stayed in Clement’s craw at full time.

The club held an inquest into the authorities’ handling of the incident with the SFA in the breathless aftermath.
As the first half of the season comes to an end, it seems that the Ibrox club’s complaints following their second-to-last game before the Christmas break had more to do with the procedure as a whole than with the result of a particular incident. Transparency within SFA became something of a catchphrase in the comments around the uproar.

Eventually, Rangers and the other 11 clubs will receive the audio from the VAR control room during this event; hence, the question was more of one of haste than of openness. Perhaps it was necessary to adjust the mood dial sooner rather than later, given that the winter break is quickly approaching and Celtic is once again eight points clear at the top of the league.

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