Stephen Craigan baffled by VAR decision against Antonio Colak in Rangers clash v Partick Thistle
Rangers fell victim to yet another ridiculous VAR decision on Sunday during their Scottish Cup clash with Partick Thistle, according to Stephen Craigan.
The Gers fell behind towards the end of the first half when Antonio Colak was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, with the referee giving a penalty after checking footage on the VAR review screen.
But while reacting to the incident live on Viaplay Sports (12 February, BBC pundit Craigan couldn’t understand how the referee could award a penalty after seeing the footage with fellow commentator Rory Hamilton admitting he could do nothing about it.
“He’s not even looking at the ball,” Craigan said. “He’s in mid-air, he’s actually on one leg when it hits him. He can’t balance with his hands by his side, you need your arms for leverage.
“Looking at the freeze frame, you can put pictures and you can put them any way you want, I just don’t think that can be a penalty.
“I know there’s been lots given in the last couple of weeks, but I think this is very harsh if it’s given. And it’s given.
“It’s something the officials have to take into consideration. He’s coming down from being in the air, two feet off the ground, when he lands he needs to balance because he lands on one leg.
“The referees have to be big enough. If they look at it themselves and don’t think it’s a penalty kick, then why do they agree with the VAR official?
“Partick Thistle will be delighted of course they will, but it’s very, very harsh.”
“I have to be honest, there’s nothing he can do about it,” Hamilton added after the decision was confirmed.
Ridiculous
There’s not a single football fan, player, manager or pundit on planet Earth who can watch that footage and say it’s a penalty.
Colak isn’t looking at the ball because he’s jumping for it and it’s gone over his head, and the man behind him has headed the ball down onto his arm from less than a yard away.
There is no movement toward the ball, no intention to make himself any bigger and absolutely nothing he can do about it.
It’s absurd that the decision to award a penalty was even considered, nevermind deemed by VAR to be a penalty and the referee has absolutely bottled it by going back on his original decision to ignore the calls.
It could have cost Rangers a place in the latter rounds of the Scottish Cup now and while our performance on the day was poor, it’s not right that with technology in place that this can be allowed to happen.
In other Rangers news, star flops on return against Partick Thistle in our player ratings for the game.