Astonished Ally McCoist reckons under-fire whistler Nick Walsh was culpable of one of the worst decisions he’s ever witnessed when he sent Mohamed Diomande off.
The Ivorian was given his marching orders in the dying seconds for raising his hands at Kevin Holt. Rangers players and management were incensed and Walsh was advised to take a second look by VAR official Don Robertson. But the referee stuck to his guns and upheld his initial call to send Diomande off.
Philippe Clement will appeal the decision and McCoist reckons that is the correct course of action as he was left stunned by the incident. Speaking to talkSPORT, the 61-year-old said: “It is probably one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in my life – the boy Diomande, it’s a shocking decision. The referee went over to VAR and got it unbelievably wrong twice.”
McCoist wouldn’t let it go and doubled down as he aired a list of grievances directly relating to Walsh’s decision making and his inability to heed VAR’s call for a second look. He added: “Jeff, you haven’t seen the Rangers sending off, have you? Oh my goodness, it is the worst decision, it is absolutely unbelievable how the referee thinks it is a red. Here is one for you, I actually think it is worse than the Arsenal one. The Arsenal one was a howler.
“It baffles me, you are sitting watching it as a football fan, and you’re thinking ‘what is going through the referee’s mind there?’ When VAR has basically said ‘you’ve made a wee mistake here, effectively’. You know that is what they are telling you, ‘come over and have a look at this’. He goes over and doubles down on it, I just think it is inexcusable. I really do.”