‘Extremely unfair’ – Craig Levein questions pair of ‘worrying’ moments in Rangers win v M’well
Craig Levein has claimed that the handball rule change that led to Rangers winning two penalties against Motherwell on Sunday is “extremely unfair” on defenders.
The Gers ran out 5-1 winners in a comfortable victory at Fir Park, and were helped on their way by a brace of spot-kicks from skipper James Tavernier.
And while the former Hearts chief has not questioned the validity of the decisions on the basis of the new IFAB guidelines, he has raised doubts over the guidelines themselves.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, when asked whether referee Bobby Madden was right to award the penalties to Rangers, he said: “Yeah probably, and that’s the worrying thing.
“As a player myself and given the situation the two Motherwell players were in – in the penalty box where the player in front of them has ducked and at the very last second they get sight of the ball and it’s almost struck them before they get a chance to do anything – I think that’s extremely unfair on the defensive players.
“This one doesn’t sit right with me. Some of the other rule changes, once you get to understand them you think ‘well it’s not too bad at all’, but this one I think is unfair for defensive-minded players.
“Neither of those crosses were going to lead to a goal-scoring chance, that’s the other thing.”
Is Levein right about this one?
If we’re being honest, we think he is.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not complaining about being handed two penalties in the slightest, and even taking those incidents out of the equation, we still would have had too much for Motherwell on Sunday.
As Levein points out too, the referee did get the decisions right.
By the letter of the law, if the ball strikes a hand and it is outstretched then it is a penalty.
But equally, it does make things incredibly difficult for defenders, and unless the new rules are changed to allow for some modicum of common sense, we’re going to see an awful lot of contentious decisions this term.
We saw a similar controversy in the 1-1 draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United on Sunday, and when you have Toon manager Steve Bruce criticising the law, even though it was his side who benefitted from it, that should tell you all you need to know about how badly misjudged this rule change is.
In other Rangers news, fans have blasted this BBC pundit for his “desperate” claim.