Keith Hackett defends Bobby Madden despite missing two Rangers penalties v Dundee United
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive Rangers columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Keith Hackett has defended Bobby Madden despite admitting that Rangers deserved two penalties against Dundee United.
The Bears drew 1-1 at Tannadice, with Ross Graham getting away with a clear tug on Fashion Sakala, as well as a handball shout.
Hackett insisted that VAR would have solved these issues, and proves that the technology is desperately needed in Scotland.
“Looking at Bobby Madden, he’s looking through a crowd so he needs help from his assistant,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.
“The problem is they’ve not got VAR, so it’s just underlined here, no VAR, these will happen.
“This is the vulnerability of the referee, he’s looking through a crowd and his assistant referee may have been part covered. That’s why Scotland need VAR.”
Hackett was also quizzed on the potential handball from the same player in the first half and agreed it should also have been awarded.
“This was a hard one, what we have to understand is that the referee is running at pace. The referee, he can’t guess, he’s got to see it clearly, sometimes the game goes away with players blocking the view. He can’t guess.
“It’s a clear and obvious error, VAR would come in and the referee has a second look.”
Clear.
We can defend officials for certain incidents, such as the handball moment which happened so quickly in the box.
If that one wasn’t clear, the tug on Sakala couldn’t have been more clear as his shirt was nearly ripped off his back in the six-yard box.
In the middle of a goalmouth scramble, Madden had more than enough time to get in the right position, and if he wasn’t, he has to be questioned.
As for assistant referees, they are becoming more useless with each passing week, and hopefully, they can stand up and make a decision, otherwise what is the point?
In other Rangers news, this BBC pundit was left ‘screaming’ after major transfer development at Ibrox