Rangers say they will appeal Mohamed Diomande’s Tayside red – and the Hotline jury reckon they’ve got a strong case.
The Ibrox midfielder was sent off after a stoppage-time bust-up with Dundee United defender Kevin Holt. Referee Nick Walsh stuck by his decision to order off the Ivorian midfielder even after being sent to the screen for a second look.
Willie Mercer, Dumfries, said: “The VAR team did the correct thing in asking Walsh to review the red card decision and then undid this by showing him the same view over and over again as that from which he based his decision, instead of giving him the numerous other angles which clearly show there was no contact.
“Another game where VAR has failed to be used to its full in assisting the referee properly reassess his onfield decision. I will be astounded if this is not overturned on appeal. If it is upheld after this the third review, the conspiracy theorists will gain a whole raft of new members.”
Craig Wilson, Kirkintilloch, added: “Yet again, Rangers refereed to a different level to anyone else in Scotland. The game is totally corrupt. Had Diomande been wearing a green and white hooped shirt, there’s no way he receives a yellow card nevermind a red. An absolute farce. It’s time for Rangers to go to war with the SFA and take legal action.”
Dave Clark said: “Only the most gullible would watch everything going against Rangers each weekend and suggest it is bad luck or a poor standard. If the media actually wrote about it then it might help to clean the game up and change the view that refereeing is all about assisting Celtic and causing Rangers problems.”
Gordon Ashley, Ayr, reckons it’s time for action too – but the Celtic fan believes it’s the Ibrox faithful who should be in the dock.
He said: “It’s time for all the clubs in Scotland to get together and demand the SFA take action against Rangers and their supporters. Their paranoia has now turned into intimidation of our referees in every game they play, and the real reason is nothing more than utter despair at Celtic overtaking their claimed trophy count and leaving them behind. Enough is enough.”
Sean McGarvey, Abronhill, added: “When will Scotland stand up as a society and say this isn’t ok? How many times do we have to hear this hatred before someone says enough is enough? Not a word said on the broadcast. If you tolerate this you are complicit. Replace a certain word and think about it. It’s not on in the year 2025.”
We’re into the last week of the transfer window and Celtic and still hoping to welcome in a couple of familiar faces.
But Alan Flett said: “So Celtic fans are getting excited about the return of Jota and Kieran Tierney. This is what Celtic do! They sell their best players for big money and then buy them back on the cheap when they flop at at a higher level. Tierney is made of glass and nobody else wants Jota for obvious reasons.”
Hibs’ recent resurgence suffered a set-back as Ronan Vale’s late penalty saw Ross County snatch a point in Dingwall.
Neil Renton, Leith, said: “We can go on about the performance of the ref against Ross County but the truth of the matter is Hibs need to be more clinical when it comes to seeing off teams. I’ve lost count of the times we’ve failed to win after leading. In such a tight league it could come back to haunt us.”