Neil McCann and Billy Dodds have told Philippe Clement that he was right to be aggrieved that Mohamed Diomande saw red against Dundee United.
But the Rangers boss has been warned by former match officials that the club are unlikely to win an appeal after the Belgian boss pledged to take the row to the SFA. The Light Blues victory ended on a sour note for the Belgian boss with Diomande being shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh after the Rangers midfielder was involved in a tangle with Holt.
The United man would shove the Ivorian before Diomande raised his hands. The man in the middle judged that the Ivorian had attempted to raise an arm to the face of the Tannadice star – and dished out a sending off. Don Robertson in the VAR room sent whistler Walsh to the pitchside monitor to review the incident.
Clement was baffled after the full-time whistle, and Dodds told BBC Sportscene: “I don’t think there is much going on. A little shove, is he trying to have a little claw at him? It’s harsh. There is a little shove from Holt and I think he is trying to grab at him and react. You can see why Nick Walsh thinks he has thrown out a hand, but from the other angle you can see that it’s his balance he’s trying to get.
Ex Ibrox star McCann added: “It’s not a red card. There is not even any conclusive proof that it makes contact at all. I don’t think it’s a haymaker by any stretch of the imagination. There is a little, kind of, flick out. If anything a yellow card – maybe – at worst, but certainly not a red. They are going to appeal it and I think they should appeal it.”
Former referees Des Roache and Steve Conroy felt that the an appeal by the Light Blues would be wasted – posting to The Ref’s View X account: “While we don’t consider this to be worthy of a red card, we believe Nick will be supported by the SFA for violent Conduct and the use of the wording ‘Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent’.” Pressed on the SFA’s viewpoint, the duo commented on X: “The SFA will back this decision by being pedantic.”