Derek McInnes insists Rangers are right to contest the four-match touchline ban he has received for describing as “disgusting” the decision to award Celtic a late penalty at Motherwell in May.
The comments, made at the end of last season when McInnes was in charge of Hearts, related to a stoppage-time spot-kick for handball that was converted by Kelechi Iheanacho.
Celtic’s 3-2 victory at Fir Park on 13 May kept them one point behind Hearts, who they beat to the title a few days later in a final-day decider.
Responding to the Scottish FA penalty, which is an immediate three-game ban with one suspended until the end of the season, Rangers say the remarks were “directed at the decision, rather than representing any broader criticism of officials”.
And, following a friendly victory over over St Etienne at Ibrox, McInnes added: “I don’t agree with it and the club don’t agree with it. I’m glad that we’re going to appeal against that.
“I’ve been a manager for 19 years and you know you’re going to be asked about contentious decisions and all the rest of it.
“I’ve never wanted to make it personal. For me, the decision was wrong. I feel as though I made my points at the hearing.
“Broadcasters pay a lot of money to hear managers’ reactions. We’ve got to be careful that we don’t have managers and players who have to be really sure of themselves and check themselves before answering a question.
“At no point was I wanting to inflame a situation.
“The situation was already being discussed before I did my press. It was quite a big moment in the season and there was a lot of emotion, but I felt as though what I said was controlled.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after a win against Falkirk at Tynecastle on the same night as Celtic’s win at Fir Park, McInnes said: “When you heard Celtic got a 96th-minute penalty that was going to VAR and they were checking it, you just assume what’s happened is they get the penalty.
“Having seen it again, it’s disgusting. It is. I don’t think it’s a penalty kick.
“But we’re up against it. We’re up against everybody.”
If the ban is upheld, McInnes will be in the stands as Rangers open the Scottish Premiership away to Dundee United on 31 July, the following league game at home to Hibernian and for a League Cup tie on the weekend of 15/16 August.
Rangers add that McInnes’s “concerns were widely shared by other commentators across the UK” and say “similar language has previously been used in Scottish football by others with lesser disciplinary action or without any action at all.”