Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CELTIC BOSS’ REF EMPATHY WITH PEDRO
BRENDAN RODGERS has pleaded with Scottish referees to get a grip after he was left stunned by Steven Mclean’s Betfred Cup shocker on Sunday.
Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has an unlikely ally after his Old Firm rival claimed Gers defender Fabio Cardoso (below) left the pitch looking like he’d been shot.
Rodgers accused the officials of losing control of the Ibrox’s side’s bitter clash with Motherwell where Ryan Bowman escaped punishment despite leaving the Gers defender with a sickening shattered nose.
The Hoops boss is demanding whistlers do their duty – as they are “risking players’ lives” by refusing to make the right calls. Rodgers said: “It’s either officials who unfortunately don’t have an eye for the game, don’t have a feel for the real details of the game, or who are frightened to make a decision.
“The centre-half came off the pitch on Sunday – Christ, if he’d been shot, he wouldn’t have looked worse. It was unbelievable.
“With Sunday’s game, what you are looking at is authority. They may not always get decisions right but don’t just let the game go and hope players officiate it.
“That was a dangerous game on
Sunday. You are endangering players’ lives and careers with some of the challenges we saw. That’s not the first time. It’s been ongoing. You need officials with authority, the game got out of control on Sunday.”