Gerrard has no problem with Collum

Clarke vows to keep an eye on how SFA react to Ibrox ref gripe

STEVEN GERRARD insists he still rates Willie Collum as a referee — despite Rangers making a strongly-worded attack on the match official. Collum, who pulled out of last night’s Aberdeen-Hibs game after picking up a groin injury while on Champions League duty earlier this week, was the subject of a statement released by the Ibrox club on Thursday, which revealed they would make a formal complaint to the SFA following his controversial dismissal of Daniel Candeias in last weekend’s win over St Mirren. Candeias collected a second yellow card after an exchange with Anton Ferdinand in which the Saints centre-back appeared to be the aggressor. The SFA then rejected an appeal against that caution, with Rangers having claimed mistaken identity. Gerrard was also unhappy with

Collum when he failed to blow for a foul on Ryan Jack in the build-up to Olivier Ntcham scoring the only goal of September’s Old Firm derby at Celtic Park. The Rangers statement concluded by inferring Collum had endured a poor season, saying: ‘This is by no means the first time errors of judgment have been made in matches involving this official and clearly there is an underlying issue which requires to be addressed.’ However, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Premiership meeting with Motherwell — which Candeias will miss through suspension — the Ibrox manager said: ‘They are not my words. I don’t want to speak about any individual referee. ‘There was a situation at Celtic we have spoken about being unhappy about. There is a situation at St Mirren we are not happy about. ‘Do we think he’s a good referee? Yes. Is it my responsibility to support referees in this country? Yes, it is. ‘But I am human as well and I have to give my opinion if we feel hard done by. I have to let the powers-that-be decide the outcome of this.’ Gerrard added: ‘I think he (Collum) is a good referee in general. He has been picked by UEFA to be a referee. It is not a personal issue at all. We all make mistakes, we are all human.’ Even so, the Rangers boss remains bemused by the call to show Candeias a second yellow card — as he pointed towards Ferdinand’s part in the incident. ‘I went to see the referee after the game,’ continued Gerrard (right). ‘He said he (Candeias) provoked someone. I can’t see it. I’ve looked back at the pictures and seen it live. ‘I saw him having a normal conversation with the goalkeeper. There was no problem there. ‘I saw Anton Ferdinand putting his hands round his neck and jabbing him on the chin. ‘I’m not sure Daniel Candeias provoked anyone. ‘Did he incite the crowd? Yes. Did he deserve a yellow card? Yes. ‘Did he deserve two? In my opinion, no. Should common sense prevail? Yes. Will it? I doubt it. ‘I don’t knock on a referee’s door unless I think I’ve got a valid conversation to have. I’m not going to be emotional or try to intimidate a referee. ‘He gave his explanation and I told him I disagreed with it. We shook hands and I left.’ Gerrard admits he is still getting to grips with the vagaries of Scotland’s disciplinary system, but backed the club’s call to allow wider appeals against dismissals for two yellow cards. Currently, cautions can only be contested in cases of mistaken identity or simulation. ‘It is what it is — it’s life up here,’ said the former England captain. ‘Can it improve? Yes.’

KILMARNOCK boss Steve Clarke has turned up the heat on the SFA after revealing his club will be closely monitoring their response to Rangers’ criticism of referee Willie Collum.

Rangers released a hardhitting statement earlier this week, slamming the official and calling for a review of the governing body’s disciplinary procedures after their appeal against Collum’s ‘inexplicable’ dismissal of Daniel Candeias in last Saturday’s 2-0 victory over St Mirren was rejected.

It concluded by saying: ‘This is by no means the first time errors of judgment have been made in matches involving this official and clearly there is an underlying issue which requires to be addressed.’

Now Clarke says he wants to see how Hampden chiefs deal with Rangers’ complaints after he was handed a two-match touchline ban and his club fined £1,000 — with both penalties suspended until the end of the season — for comments he made about Collum and the appeals process earlier this season.

Clarke (above) claimed Collum was wrong to show midfielder Gary Dicker a straight red card for an innocuous-looking tackle on Hearts’ Callumn Morrison in a 1-0 home defeat in August.

He then insisted Killie’s appeal was pre-judged because the same official had been appointed to take charge of the first Old Firm game of the season on the weekend of the hearing.

Clarke also says the SFA have yet to respond to a complaint he made about John Fleming after the head of refereeing entered into correspondence with Dundee fans, telling them Kilmarnock had accepted that winger Jordan Jones had deliberately dived in order to win a penalty in a 2-1 victory for the Ayrshire club last month

With Clarke’s side heading to Tynecastle today for a rematch with Premiership leaders Hearts, the manager said: ‘Losing the game against them in August was disappointing because I didn’t think we deserved to lose but I’ve already spoken about the circumstances surrounding that.

‘It may be better to move on, although other clubs don’t seem willing to let things lie.’

Killie will be seeking to bounce back from last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to Aberdeen.

‘It will be a difficult game against Hearts,’ he said.

‘You get a volatile atmosphere there, the crowd shouts for every decision. But we will have a good referee (Don Robertson), so there’s no problems with that one.

‘Our recent away performances have been okay, so we look forward to what should be a decent game between two teams in the top four.

‘At the start of the season, I don’t think too many people would have been expecting that to be the situation in the middle of November.’

Clarke, meanwhile, was delighted to see that 32-year-old Killie goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald has been drafted into the Scotland squad for the Nations League matches against Albania and Israel following the withdrawal of Sunderland’s Jon McLaughlin.

‘It’s a measure of the consistency Jamie has shown since I came here,’ said Clarke.

‘Over the years, Scotland have had Allan McGregor, Craig Gordon and David Marshall, so we’ve always had a strong core in that position. It’s difficult to break in there but Jamie has his chance now.’