Scottish Premiership clubs including Rangers and Celtic will be consulted regarding red cards for denying obvious goalscoring opportunities in the summer, SFA head of referees Willie Collum has confirmed.
Collum supported referee John Beaton for the red card he ultimately showed to Motherwell defender Liam Gordon at Aberdeen and claimed Livingston’s Cammy Kerr should have been sent off for bringing down Rangers winger Mikey Moore.
Motherwell captain Paul McGinn called the situation ‘madness’ after Gordon was shown a red card for bringing down Toyosi Olusanya just two yards inside his own half, with two defenders rushing back from out wide.
Collum supported his officials after the VAR review, but he did admit there was some uncertainty about Olusanya’s speed, especially since he wasn’t fully engaged after winning the ball.
The red card came after similar situations with Celtic defender Auston Trusty, Falkirk centre-back Liam Henderson and Dundee United’s Iurie Iovu, all happening in quick succession.
Speaking about the Pittodrie incident on the VAR Review Show, Collum said: ‘We agree with this decision in principle because we’ve been consistent and people ask us for consistency in refereeing.
‘We want to remain consistent between now and the end of the season because if we don’t then clubs will question that.
‘We would like to review the dogso (denial of a goalscoring opportunity) situation with clubs.’
Collum admitted it was unfair that Rangers didn’t get a free-kick for Kerr’s foul on Moore. Most of the VAR check focused on whether it was a penalty, and Collum stated it was ‘100 per cent clear’ that the foul took place outside the box.
But he added that the VAR officials were ‘probably so focused on the penalty that they don’t look in enough detail about the dogso’.
Collum supported his officials in the face of another VAR-assisted red card for Trusty, who was shown a card for striking Jamie McGrath’s arm with his hand while trying to shake off the Hibernian midfielder at a corner.
‘It’s pretty clear to us that this was excessive force, and we simply cannot allow such behaviour on the pitch,’ he explained.
However, Collum did suggest that Celtic should have been awarded a penalty moments later when Liam Scales was pulled down.
The VAR officials decided that there was ‘not enough’ in the holding, but Collum disagreed, pointing out that there was ‘too much holding, too much impact’ and that it was ‘prolonged’.
He added, ‘Not enough, we need to stop using that because what does not enough mean? We need to use criteria.’
Collum felt that the right decision had been made not to order a review of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s foul on Motherwell midfielder Elijah Just at Celtic Park last weekend.
Boss Jens Berthel Askou mentioned that Just looked like he had been through a bit of a ‘war’ after seeing several marks on his shin.
At first, the VAR officials thought the contact was ‘boot on boot’. But then referee John Beaton checked to see if they were sure, noticing a ‘wee mark on his shin’. They told him it was just a ‘glancing blow’.
Collum said he could understand why some referees might give a red card, but he thought it was more like a ‘high end yellow/orange card’.
Rangers legend McCoist rages at Moore decision
Ally McCoist was really upset with the decision in the last part of Rangers’ draw against Livingston, calling it ‘embarrassing’.
Let’s put aside any bias or nonsense that might come up. It is important to have people who are knowledgeable about the game, either through playing or having played at a high level, and who can use common sense to make informed decisions. It is honestly quite embarrassing when this does not happen.
Rangers are excited to welcome Aberdeen to Ibrox this Saturday, and they are keen to avoid any more points slipping away in the title race. Meanwhile, Celtic will have to wait until Sunday to contribute to their weekend’s play as they head to Dundee United.