Andy Walker furious with Callum Slattery red card decision in Rangers 4-2 win v Motherwell live on Sky Sports
Andy Walker believes the decision to send off Callum Slattery against Rangers was “ridiculous” during the 4-2 win on Saturday (18 March).
Gers came from behind to win an entertaining game at Fir Park thanks to goals from James Tavernier, Fashion Sakala, Todd Cantwell and Malik Tillman, but Motherwell were furious that Slattery was sent off for a flailing arm that caught Cantwell in the face.
But after complaints from the Motherwell management to the SFA and question marks about why it was given, Walker told Sky Sports (20 March) that the decision was “ridiculous” and “wrong”.
“No wonder it frustrated them because now he misses the games ahead of them,” he said.
“I think it was a ridiculous decision. To put your body in the way of your opponent, I don’t think there was any aggressive throw of the arm.
“No complaints about his first yellow, but surely referees must realise a second yellow means this player is going off. You need to be absolutely sure.
“The card came out far too quickly and it was the wrong decision.”
Behave
It’s very interesting to see how members of the media and pundits are reacting to this, considering how they’ve reacted to similar issues in the past against Rangers.
We’ve seen some contentious decisions ourselves in the past, but plenty of pundits would say that you just can’t lift your arm and that our players should know better.
But on this occasion it’s still Rangers’ fault even though we’re on the receiving end, because Cantwell goes down too easily apparently.
It’s easy to forget this wasn’t a straight red card, it was a second yellow, which means the referee is simply following the rules because you can’t raise your arms into the face of your opponent regardless of how much contact you do or don’t make.
It’s the right decision from the referee and the points were well earned and well deserved, so this will all be forgotten about very quickly when everyone stops pretending otherwise.
In other Rangers news, one player could be set for a new position as Michael Beale looks to shoehorn his top guys in.