Sky Sports ex-ref rules on Rangers v Ross County James Sands decision that enraged Malky Makay
Rangers escaped a definite red card in the 4-0 victory over Ross County at the weekend according to former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher.
James Sands tangled with Jordy Iwula at Ibrox on Saturday (27 August) as they chased a long ball over the top before the pair fell to the turf, with the Gers centre-back the last man and already on a booking, but Don Robertson waved appeals away.
Ross County boss Malky Makay went “absolutely ballistic” at the time according to Neil McCann on the BBC Sportsound commentary, and has been furious since, which Gallagher’s view suggests is justified.
On Sky Sports Ref Watch on Monday (29 August) he said of the incident: “The referee didn’t think it was a foul, but if he does, it’s a straight red card. At worst, it’d be a second yellow but he plays on, so the referee doesn’t think it’s a foul.
“I do think it’s a foul and a red card.”
Escape
It’s hard to deny that it looked like a foul and it was a surprise for the referee to allow play to continue, and since it happened with the scores at 0-0 it has to go down as a lucky escape for Sands.
The Light Blues were good value for the win on the day but playing a man down is never easy and could have sent things another way.
On the other hand Gers fans may rightly point to the fact that it was only a week earlier that the first points of the SPFL campaign were dropped with the side hanging on against Hibernian with only nine men.
Alfredo Morelos’ red may have been expected, and prompted him to be dropped from the squad to travel to PSV, but Willie Collum’s decision to send John Lundstram from the field despite only producing a yellow for an identical foul on the former Sheffield United man earlier in the game was inexplicable.
It is often claimed that refereeing decisions even themselves out over the course of the season and it looks like that process was completed in double quick time on this occasion.
That won’t make Makay or Ross County feel any better, but it helped the Ibrox faithful enjoy their side getting back to winning ways in the league just a week after the controversial 2-2 draw.
In other Rangers news, one of the club’s transfer targets has been surprisingly released from his contract and is available immediately, but they have to be careful before proceeding.