Historically there has always been a feeling that Celtic don’t get as many big decisions as Rangers and the proof is in the pudding in many cases.

Have a look through the archives and it’s there for everyone to see. I don’t like going over old ground and I do think that officials have a really tough job – not for the life of me would I want to be a referee – but at the same time some of the decisions from this weekend are just beyond baffling.

And that is why people get upset.

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There is no consistency.

If you look at the history between Celtic and Rangers even lately, there have been a catalogue of very poor decisions. I am thinking even back to the first game between the clubs this season when Allan McGregor quite clearly kicks Kristoffer Ajer but escapes any punishment for it.

Then at Ibrox in December Alfredo Morelos got away with doing what he liked on the pitch, with a particularly cowardly stamp on Anthony Ralston allowed to stand, even in the aftermath when the referee got a chance to look at it.

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From my own time, and I’ve spoken about this a million times which I don’t like doing, I had a perfectly good goal chopped off in the 2003 League Cup final which leaves you seething. It really does.

It’s infuriating.

And over the years I think Celtic have had a strong case to suggest that any grievances have been justifiable.

But from own point of view as a player and during my time at Celtic I never thought anything other than that I wanted to go out and win a game. I didn’t think referees were more in favour of Rangers than us but I did think at times that they made mistakes.

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But I think the errors are worse now. The mistakes that have been made this weekend are always going to cause a furore. You see some decisions and you just think ‘wow’. How on earth did you come to that one?

There are some shocking calls but I am going to say that it comes down to the standard of refereeing – and it is not exclusive to Scotland either. I think there have been some pretty rotten decisions made in England this season too.

You look at every weekend and on average you could point to at least two or three shockers.

Which is why I think there has to be a case for getting VAR into the game as quickly as possibly.

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I don’t think it will solve all of the problems. I have been in a studio before with three or four of us and we can watch the same incident 50 times and still argue over what is the right decision.

The incident with Oliver Burke in the first half at McDiarmid Park would be a perfect case in point – you can see both sides of why it would or would not be given. So it won’t solve all of the problems.

But what it might do is correct some of the more blatant mistakes and that might be a road back to bringing some trust in officials again.

There is also a strong argument for the implementation of common sense. If you are a referee involved in high profile games between Celtic and Rangers is it wise to head out for a drink into a pub where you are being patted on the back by a ton of Rangers fans?

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It doesn’t come across as the most professional way to act and nor does it do anything to encourage a feeling of security in officials. I also think that when there are acts in a game that are clearly illegal – back to Morelos again – you have to be seen to act.

It is the only way for people to gain the trust and respect of officials.

I don’t think I have ever been involved in a game where four penalties were given. It is highly unusual and the fact that it happened in a Rangers meant there was always going to be a huge spotlight on what happened with Celtic on Sunday.

If anything, it makes Steven Gerrard’s comments earlier this season about decisions going against Rangers for years sound a little bit silly. I think there would be a lot of people willing to sit down and offer evidence to the contrary but for now the only thing that can be done is to get as much confidence back in the system and you need to have transparency for that to work.

So, let’s see who makes the decisions that either punish or free people from retrospective action. Let’s see the reasoning behind why they get to their decision and let’s give referees as much technical help as they can get so that they can get it right. At least most of the time.