In their match against Rangers, Dermot Gallagher acknowledges that VAR had a “dilemma” when it came to dismissing Lennon Miller of Motherwell.
After Robin Propper’s clumsy header cannoned off the Australia cap, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos sent the ball past Jack Butland, allowing the Steelmen to work the ball forward and open the goal on Sunday. It was an exciting afternoon in Lanarkshire. Tawanda Maswanhise’s goal before halftime made things worse for Philippe Clement’s team, but Hamza Igamane’s double saved a point for the Light Blues. There were several complaints from the Ibrox camp as referee Kevin Clancy and Steven McLean in the VAR room chose not to penalize the Rangers, who now trail Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic by 14 points.
“It’s really intriguing,” Gallagher said to Sky Sports when asked about Rangers manager Philippe Clement’s allegations over a handball. His arm is struck by the ball, but it is tucked in. ‘Is it deliberate?’ must be the question there, given he failed to score from it. It all comes down to the jump; when it hits him, the VAR declares it was not intentional, therefore play continues.
‘That’s not handball,’ said panelist Stephen Warnock. Where do you want him to go, even though I’m not saying it doesn’t touch his arm? He has attempted to minimize his size, but that isn’t handball. “It hits his body if it doesn’t hit his arm,” Gallagher rounded off. He is unable to escape it.
Before Igamane scored his first goal of the afternoon at Fir Park, the former Premier League referee also absolved him of any wrongdoing. Before the ball hit the post, the Moroccan seemed to be offside, but it was determined that he was out of goalkeeper Aston Oxborough’s field of vision.
“A player is in the offside position when the ball hits the post,” Gallagher stated. He separates. Does he affect the move and is offside? That is the question. However, he has no effect on the goalie’s vision. He is not a ball player. The fact that he is in the goalkeeper’s line of sight is irrelevant because by the time the shot is taken, he is onside.
Butland smashed the ball into his own net after failing to deliver a powerful punch to the cross due to pressure from Tony Watt at a corner. “The only thing is his arm is in the air, does he think he catches him because he blows early?” asked Gallagher after Whistler Clancy spared the Rangers No. 1’s blushes by blowing his whistle for a free-kick against Watt.
In a forceful statement, Warnock said: “Lucky boy. That ought to have remained in place. Fair enough if they are dragging you down while your arms are up, but that isn’t the case. More specifically, it’s contact from behind. Butland re-emerges in him.
In the second half, Miller also seemed to grab Oscar Cortes by the ankle, but he was simply given a booking. “I looked at this and think he gets the ball after the man,” Gallagher said, indicating that he believes the match referees made a crucial error. The tackle isn’t nice. The referee is too close and doesn’t see it as well as we do, which is the only thing that saves him.
“It’s all about the threshold, isn’t it?” he continued when asked why VAR didn’t step in. The problem is this. Is it an egregious mistake? They responded no, and the referee there issued a yellow card.
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