Celtic icon Kenny Dalglish has come out swinging in support of Michael Beale after his call to allow Partick Thistle to score against Rangers.
The Englishman sparked fierce debate within Ibrox and beyond over his call to allow the Jags to make it 2-2 in the Scottish Cup last 16 clash moments after Malik Tillman's goal had left the visitors apoplectic. Beale shielded his Bayern Munich loanee from flak after it but some punters within Ibrox and watching at home were left unsure by the decision. But Dalglish is firmly in Beale's corner and it comes after the 42-year-old's "standards" claim in the wake of the incident was the basis of a banner unveiled at Livingston which underlined only two trophies won since 2011.
Beale – who had feisty exchanges with Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton this week – has the full backing of Scottish footballing royalty. Speaking in his Sunday Post column, Dalglish said: "Personally, I thought it was the right thing to do. Given the circumstances of the situation in the Scottish Cup tie, he was left with no option. Michael, his players and Rangers, would have been vilified had they not taken that action to allow the score to go to 2-2. Some of the Ibrox supporters inside the stadium weren’t happy with the decision and they are entitled to their opinion.
"But anything else would have shone a poor light on Rangers and left young Malik Tillman in an unwanted degree of negativity. It was good sportsmanship from Michael and he should be applauded for it. If anyone wants to criticise him then they are free to do so. But I don’t think it reflects well on anyone who says it was the wrong action to take."
And Dalglish reckons the furore surrounding the incident and the subsequent fallout distracted from a the match officials at Ibrox and overall during a season where VAR has become the biggest talking point.
He added: "It has deflected away from another poor round of calls from the match referee and VAR in that game. Partick Thistle got a penalty for handball against Antonio Colak. It was never a penalty. This handball rule really has to go. It’s ruining the game.
"Rangers were also awarded a spot-kick when Tillman was fouled. The offence was outside the box. Again, a poor decision by all. It is alarming the amount of calls our officials are getting wrong on a regular basis. But this is not exclusive to Scotland. The English Premier League had their own howlers last weekend."
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