Willie Collum; good guy? complete dick? corrupt? / ..and should (Old Firm) clubs "have the power to ban him"?

[Ric]

According to the Daily Record (yes, I know..) Rangers have apparently called for Willie Collum to be banned from refereeing games.

This, to me, is classic entitlement. A refereeing decision goes against you and suddenly the pram is empty and the toys are everywhere. Before anyone decides to throw all this at VAR, you need to remember that Collum is no newcomer when it comes to "questionable" refereeing decisions. Long, long before VAR existed he has officiated the game with his own "personal take on the rules of the game". What might strike some as surprising about this little rant from Rangers (oooh, they do love a press release, with each and every one a humiliation), is that I could probably list 10 or 12 bizarre refereeing decisions Collum has made that very specifically benefited the Old Firm. In fact, I am trying to think of a single time my team has benefitted from a "Collum appraisal".

However, perhaps my memory is playing tricks with me, so in this thread I want people to give their opinion of Collum decisions that he has made against their team when playing the Old Firm. Let us, once and for all, list everything in one place, rather than it being piecemeal in separate game threads.

 

I have added in a poll too, but ideally I want people to reply with instances of Collum decision making that seemed really fucking odd at the time (and I trust there will be enough replies for several pages with that topic!). What would be nice is if you mention any follow up; was there any appeal? If so, how did it go?

[bennett]

 

 

[Ric]

Let me get the ball running (ha! pun!) with a Collum decision that is long remembered by St Mirren fans. If I showed you this picture what do you think is happening?

The full video (although on 480p) is available here with the incident being about 1:30 into the video.

 

It was 0-0, and Boruc rushes miles out of his box, makes no attempt to tackle the ball, instead tackles the man. You can see this is pretty much an open goal, and Boruc completely wiped him out.

Collum's decision? Yellow card.

Now to be fair, the rules regarding this are different now to then (it was in 2008), but the rules also stated at the time that was a red card offence.

Strachan himself admitted Boruc was lucky to stay on the pitch at the time, and as far as I am aware Collum has pointedly refused to explain his decision making.

Edited January 4 by Ric

[Ric]

4 minutes ago, bennett said:

 

 

To be fair, that is an accurate visual representation of the Rangers BoD when the slightest thing doesn't go their way.

Edited January 4 by Ric

[gannonball]

I have seen Collum give a penalty against us whilst facing the wrong way ffs. The guy is an atrocious referee but he isn't biased imo. He is just utterly clueless.

[lindz105]

Rangers vs St Johnstone at Ibrox last season. 
 

Colum awarded them a penalty for a handball against James Brown - one of those what is he supposed to do handballs but by the letter of the law it’s a penalty. 
 

Colum gave a yellow I think initially but upgraded to a red card to Nicky Clark for a high tackle on Ryan Jack. Red card rescinded on appeal as turns out zero contact made but we had to play with ten men for a lot of the game. 
 

Not long after that Colum gave a yellow for a reckless tackle on Adam Montgomery by Ryan Jack and VAR sent him to the screen to review the decision. Colum stuck with the yellow. 
 

Three poor decisions in one game. Can’t remember St Johnstone demanding meetings with the SFA and refusing for him to officiate though! 
 

On the other hand, seen Colum have perfectly decent games. 

[Ludo*1]

He's a dreadful referee. He has a tendency to make it all about him rather than the game and he consistently makes poor decisions.

He's far from being near the worst in Scotland though to the point it's not even close which is by far a bigger problem. I know we all like to moan about referees being terrible but we seem to have a notably poor crop at the moment IMO.

[oneteaminglasgow]

I think he’s a biased, incompetent wee dick when decisions go against Thistle, but that he’s doing a stellar job when they don’t. 

[Jacksgranda]

F*** me, the thread's only opened 9 minutes and he's posted 3 times already!

[Ric]

1 minute ago, Jacksgranda said:

F*** me, the thread's only opened 9 minutes and he's posted 3 times already!

Here's a 4th.

That 3-0 loss has really done a number on you?

Now.. do you have a relevant post or are you just in here to whine?

 

[lennyzer0]

Never mind Collum - get David Munro back to officiating in the public parks.

[Jacksgranda]

2 minutes ago, Ric said:

Here's a 4th.

That 3-0 loss has really done a number on you?

Now.. do you have a relevant post or are you just in here to whine?

 

Keep them coming, but don't give up your day job.

[Ric]

Just now, Jacksgranda said:

Keep them coming, but don't give up your day job.

You: 22 posts in 2024 / Me: 4 posts in 2024

[Derry Alli]

He's an attention seeking walloper of a man.

As for Collum, he's shite and teaches religion to children. Sign of a no righter.

[Rugster]

Willie Collum once gave us a penalty against Rangers (SHOCKEROONIE I KNOW) that was about two yards outside the box. For that I thank him, but also point it he is an utterly atrocious official and I have no idea why he is championed as our most elite.

[TheScarf]

Have Rangers not realised Sima was offside so they wouldn't have got a penalty under any circumstance?

[gannonball]

Just now, TheScarf said:

Have Rangers not realised Sima was offside so they wouldn't have got a penalty under any circumstance?

Reality and facts aren't their strong points to be fair.

[Dons_1988]

Willie collum definitely needs a thread of his own due to one screaming bairn of a football clubs tantrums. 

[2426255]

I think Rangers are being a bit shortsighted in the sense that they get a lot of questionable decisions so I expect this little episode will be used against their fans on this website for years to come. You can't have it both ways, so next time Rangers get a dodgy decision in their favour this example will be cited. 

I'm fine with refereeing becoming transparent, but the self-interest element from Rangers while claiming to be acting in the interest of Scottish football as a whole is setting off my Spidey sense. If it were the case they were commited to refereeing standards and transparency they would point out erroneous decisions they benefit from with equal outrage.

Edited January 4 by 2426255

[KingRocketman II]

he is inept but bizarrely highly thought of within refereeing circles. 

Rangers fan thinks he is biased against them. Celtic fans think he is biased against them. The other 10 teams thinks he is biased in favour of the Old Firm. He is consistent in that regard.