The fallout over Celtic defender Auston Trusty on Rangers’ Jack Butland in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final continues as SFA Head of Referees Willie Collum attempts to put a lid on the incident.
The eyes of Scottish football have been on Collum ever since the incident, as the hyperbolic nature of coverage of the incident, which happened in Celtic’s win over Rangers, continues.
Trusty appeared to challenge for a loose ball, and as Butland scooped it up, the Celtic defender’s foot made slight contact with the Rangers goalkeeper’s face.
Hysterical reaction from pundits like former Rangers striker Billy Dodds has only fanned the flames of the controversy and now, it appears that Willie Collum is about to enrage the Ibrox club even more as he attempts to end the Celtic controversy once and for all.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesWillie Collum backs decision not to red card Celtic’s Auston Trusty vs Rangers
The vast majority of pundits and ex-players believe that Celtic defender Trusty should have been ordered off.
But it appears that Collum has a different view.
The Daily Record reports, “Referee chief Willie Collum has given his personal approval to the decision not to send Celtic’s Auston Trusty off in the Old Firm’s Premier Sports Cup semi final.
“Record Sport understands Collum believes ref Nick Walsh and his VAR team made the correct call when they punished the American defender with a yellow card despite seeing him aim a kick at the head of Rangers keeper Jack Butland.”
If this is accurate, then this will not placate Rangers who have written to the SFA complaining about the lack of a red card being issued after the tackle.
What Auston Trusty said about the Celtic vs Rangers Butland challenge
Trusty was outspoken on the incident as the Celtic defender shut down the nonsense being spouted about him since the Premier Sports Cup semi-final win last Sunday.
The big American said, “I was just trying to get the ball really. The ref called for yellow, and then VAR checked it and it was a yellow.
“And then just get on with it. There’s not really, I haven’t really thought much about it, really.”
When asked if the challenge has been blown out of proportion, Trusty continued, “Probably, you know, I think at the end of the day, we were the better side from the first half and to the second half, so that’s really all that matters.”