BBC Sportscene pundit reacts to Rangers Allan McGregor penalty incident v Kilmarnock
BBC Sportscene pundit Richard Foster has insisted it was the right decision to not give Kilmarnock a penalty after Rangers star Allan McGregor seemed to collide with Rory McKenzie on 4 March.
Foster confessed that referees would be giving “100 penalties” per game in Scottish Premiership clashes if incidents like this were given all the time.
McGregor did manage to get a dubious punch on the ball, something which seemed to save him from a penalty blunder in the 3-1 win at Ibrox.
“At the time, I was at the game and I had a screen in front of me and I see Alan McGregor punch the ball out for a corner he then kind of falls through his movement and knocks McKenzie over for me that’s not a penalty kick,” said Foster on BBC Sport’s The VARdict. (6 March)
“I think you’d be given 100 penalties per game if that level of contact resulted in a penalty, especially if when McGregor punches the ball away, I think if there is no touch from McGregor it’s a penalty but because there is a touch I don’t think it is a penalty, I think they were right not to go back to this one.”
Up for debate.
Kilmarnock fans may not be as happy with the decision to not award a penalty here and McGregor was definitely quite fortunate to get away with one.
It was a clumsy error from the Rangers shot stopper, one which he has become known to make from time to time in a Light Blues shirt, with that slight touch saving his blushes.
Michael Beale will likely be looking for a new man between the sticks for Rangers once the summer transfer window opens, something all fans can agree needs to happen.
The Kilmarnock performance wasn’t the Gers’ brightest afternoon at Ibrox after, with a frantic first half being followed by a relatively lacklustre and dull performance by Beale’s men in the second.
Something just doesn’t seem right at Ibrox at the minute and it’s likely a squad overhaul will be the first point of call for Beale at the end of this campaign.
Unfortunately, for McGregor, his name may be one of the first on the chopping block for the Rangers manager and errors like the Kilmarnock one certainly won’t have helped his cause.
In other Rangers news, a former FIFA official slammed a decision from Willie Collum then got Craigan’s name wrong.