Rangers: Barry Ferguson shares new Jose Cifuentes appeal verdict live on air
Barry Ferguson has shared his verdict on Jose Cifuentes’ red card against Dundee, admitting that he believes Rangers will win their appeal against the decision.
The Ecuadorian midfielder was sent off in the closing moments of the first half of the Light Blues’ 3-1 win having initially been shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Amkadou Bakoyoko before VAR upgraded it.
Currently, Cifuentes will miss the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden on Sunday 17 December but Rangers have already confirmed that they have appealed the decision and Ferguson believes they will overturn his red card.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show (11 December, 31:10) he said: “For me, I don’t think it’s over-aggressive, I really don’t. I thought a yellow card at most and I’ve watched it three or four times and you slow it down and the still image you see, obviously his studs are on his shin.
“When referees see that, you know what they’re going to do, they’re going to produce a red card. I thought it was harsh. I can see the reason why Rangers are going to appeal it and I actually think they’ll win the appeal.”
Could be overturned
As Ferguson said, as soon as referees see a player making contact so high up an opponent’s leg, they almost always will show the player who committed the foul a red card and that makes it hard to see why Cifuentes’ red card would be overturned.
The midfielder clearly had no malicious intent in the challenge and Philippe Clement has confirmed that himself, but if VAR decided there was enough contact for a red card at the time, why would another panel conducting the appeal have a different view on the challenge?
In an ideal world, Ferguson’s prediction will come true and the Gers will have Cifuentes available for the clash at Hampden Park on Sunday as it would be a huge boost to Clement’s midfield given the lack of options currently available to the Belgian.
Rangers will be keenly awaiting the result of this appeal and will be hoping Ferguson’s assessment is right, but it will take some turnaround for this red card to be downgraded.
In other Rangers news, Stevie Clifford has said that talk of one player departing Ibrox this summer is “nonsense”