James Sands ‘distressed’ by controversial incident in Rangers first half v Hearts as BT Sport pundit notices aggression
James Sands was left “distressed” on the ground after Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland stuck an arm in the side of the Rangers midfielder at Ibrox on Wednesday night.
In the first half of the Gers’ Scottish Premiership clash with the Jam Tarts, player continued as Sands went down clutching his side.
Referee John Beaton eventually stopped the game so the USA international could receive treatment before replays showed Shankland clashing with him.
Commentator Tom Miller said on RangersTV (9 November, 08:07pm) that Sands “looks certainly distressed” as he was left on the deck after the contact from Shankland, adding: “Sands still in trouble… And now the referee brings proceedings to an end.
“I don’t know if there was any contact, Kevin. He just seemed to twist and go down.”
As the replay showed Shankland sticking his arm in Sands’ back, Thomson said: “It looks like he’s holding his side. There’s a wee coming together with Shankland, he sticks his arm in the side of Sands there.
“I’m not sure it’s too aggressive but he certainly makes his presence felt.”
Definite foul
It’s hard to believe that Beaton didn’t notice that and award Rangers a foul.
It didn’t look like a strong coming together but Shankland definitely stuck his arm into the soft area of Sands’ back so it’s clear to see why that would hurt.
There’s no doubt it was a show of aggression but was it worth VAR intervening?
In all honesty, it probably wasn’t a red card incident because Shankland was very clever with what he did when he collided with Sands by disguising his arm’s movement.
As it wasn’t a clear red-card incident, therefore VAR isn’t going to get involved.
We’d be clutching at straws for moaning about that when the first half was – yet again – very, very dire.
Where’s the creativity and invention?
Who is going to step up and breathe some life into the game?
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s job could depend on this next 45 minutes.
In other Rangers news, this former Premier League manager is a “standout” choice to replace van Bronckhorst if he’s sacked.