Following United’s 3-1 defeat, he incurred the wrath of boss Craig Levein, chairman Eddie Thompson and every United supporter for a catalogue of errors as he failed to award a penalty, a perfectly good goal and send off as many as three Rangers men.

It was, though, only the latest controversy involving one of the Scottish game’s most experienced officials.

Back in January, he overturned an assistant referee’s offside flag and awarded a goal for a Barry Ferguson header as Rangers ran out 2-0 winners.

Regarding Saturday’s events, the Tannadice gaffer revealed that, even early on, his team were concerned by McCurry’s handling of the game.

“When Nacho Novo got his second goal, Mike McCurry said to him “good goal” and that just says it all,” blasted Craig. “I did not see him do the same when Mark de Vries got our goal with a great header. Why’s that?”

By today he’d had 48 hours to calm down, but Craig let rip with another salvo at a ref. whose bungling saw United drop out of the race for a UEFA Cup place.

“I have lost all respect for Mike McCurry. I thought he was one of the referees who could make the difficult decision, but he has shown I was wrong.

“He should have given us a penalty, he should have sent off Davie Weir, he should have awarded us a goal, he saw Daniel Cousin head butt Lee Wilkie and he missed an elbow (by Kirk Broadfoot) on Noel Hunt.

“By those actions he has shown a lack of respect for me, the Dundee United directors, our players and every Dundee United fan.”

Craig is well aware such comments could land him a fine from the SFA, but he believes enough is enough and the time has come for the rest of Scottish football to get fair treatment in games against the Old Firm. “It’s been going on for years. We all know that when we play the Old Firm in a big match for them we are not going to get any decisions.

“Ask Jimmy Calderwood. Aberdeen were robbed in a game at Celtic a few weeks ago and we’ve all suffered like this. It used to be accepted, but now there is too much money involved and too much pressure on managers to get things right in a short space of time for it to be allowed to continue.

“If saying that gets me a fine so be it, but it does not change the fact what I am saying is 100% right. The SFA will probably close ranks and do nothing, but what they should be doing is addressing this and bringing us into the 21st century.”

United are determined not to let the matter lie and an official complaint has been made to the SFA, the body responsible for refereeing. Chairman Eddie Thompson may even call Gordon Smith personally and the SFA chief executive was also on the end of a volley from the manager.

“Gordon Smith has launched a campaign to cut out diving, but if there is any league in the world where that is not a problem it has to be ours. Instead of needless moves like that, he should be putting his own house in order and sorting out referees because this has gone on long enough. Something has to be done.”

United will take their complaints straight to SFA chief executive Gordon Smith and raise a number of points.

“We will be looking for a detailed explanation of the decisions in several controversial incidents during the game,” said director Derek Robertson.

“We will also be seeking answers from the authorities on how so many such incidents, all in favour of one side, and the inevitable and understandable contention this causes, can be avoided in the future.

“It is widely thought there is a bias shown against ‘provincial’ clubs when visiting Glasgow, with Saturday’s game being highlighted as a prime example of this and reinforcing this view.

“This is damaging to the game as a whole and Dundee United believes this situation should not be allowed to continue without careful examination and constructive proposals and dialogue between the clubs and the authorities.

“For the record, the club will be backing the manager on all the important issues raised by him following the match in question and hope his honestly-held views can be used as a catalyst for constructive change.”

The striker was docked two weeks’ wages after leaving the dugout without permission and applauding the fans of future employers Hamilton during the 1-1 draw between the teams at Dens last month. He believes he did nothing wrong and is, therefore, set to challenge the fine at the ruling body.

For their part, Dundee are confident that, should an appeal take place, their actions will be upheld by the SFA.

It remains, however, a subject the manager is not prepared to discuss. “I said at the time any action we took against Derek would be in-house and that remains my position, so it is not something I am going to talk about,” said Alex.

He said, “This really is a massive signing for us and a big step forward for the club.

“All the credit has to go to the manager for getting Jody here on a short-term deal initially.

“Since then, Jody has been impressed by the club and we couldn’t fail to be impressed by him.

“I know he hasn’t taken this decision lightly and it shows his commitment that he has signed for two years and is moving his family north.

“We know we’re getting a player in the top bracket and it may be a strange thing to say about a guy who has played in the Premiership at the highest level, but he’s still got his best years ahead of him.

“All the players at the club will benefit from his experience and Jody is a big part of the jigsaw we are putting together.

“The manager is on his holidays, but was still phoning at 5 am because he is so excited about this deal.”

For his part, Morris didn’t want his last kick as a Saints player to be his penalty miss against Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat.

He said, “This felt like the right thing to do. I want to repay the club for the faith they’ve shown in me and the fans for welcoming me so much.

“I’d already decided before the cup semi-final I wanted to stay. The penalty is something that will never leave me but, hopefully, we can make up for that with success next season and get promotion.

“I’ve really enjoyed working under manager Derek McInnes and the players have been great to me. I didn’t play as many games as I would have liked last season, but there’s a lot more to come because I know I’ll be a lot fitter after getting a pre-season.

“There were a couple of other offers, but I didn’t want to go any further with them because I knew I wanted to come here. I feel the club can push on for promotion and that we’ve got a really great chance of getting to the Premier League.”