Gordon Smith slams Glen Kamara over one moment in Rangers win v St Johnstone
Gordon Smith slammed Glen Kamara for losing the ball on the edge of Rangers’ box ahead of Liam Craig’s dive for St Johnstone on Wednesday night.
While the Gers were cruising towards their 2-0 victory at Ibrox, Kamara had a heart-in-mouth moment when he was dispossessed by Craig in a dangerous area.
Luckily for the Finnish midfielder, Craig then threw himself to the ground to try and win a penalty but was booked by referee Euan Anderson for diving.
But Smith wasn’t impressed with Kamara’s failure to retain possession and also changed his mind about Anderson’s refereeing after watching a replay.
“I think that it was the wrong thing for [Anderson] to do but it looks like, when I see the replay now, it was simulation. Watch this, he goes down here before he’s touched,” said Smith on RangersTV on Wednesday night.
Commentator Tom Miller then said: “Yes. He knows he can’t get the shot away, tries to cross the body of Kamara and Callum Davidson’s not happy about it, debating it with the fourth official. But the referee was right.”
Smith added: “When Callum Davidson sees the replay of that, I’m pretty sure he’ll telling the same.
“It was poor play from Kamara losing possession.”
Just one blip
Kamara’s performance was really impressive in that 2-0 victory.
He’s had a poor season by his standards this term but since Steven Gerrard went and was replaced by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, it’s fair to say that the former Dundee midfielder has returned to his best.
It’s now clear that Kamara sits deep in the midfield and sometimes even drops into the defence he sits so far back.
That allows him to dictate the tempo from deep while also protecting the defence even more and allowing Joe Aribo and Scott Arfield to push forward.
Aribo and Arfield have been superb for van Bronckhorst too and their advanced roles helps them combine with the likes of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos in the attack.
There’s a very good balance about this team right now and that’s something Gerrard struggled to get out of his midfield as he chopped and changed between Steven Davis, John Lundstram and Juninho Bacuna.
It’s been so far so good for Gio at Ibrox and that win over the Saints was an impressive one.
Let’s see if Rangers can take that momentum into their next game, which is against Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday.
In other Rangers news, Sky Sports have shared what the club has told van Brockhorst about their financial situation ahead of January.