Willie Miller left amazed live on BBC at something he saw during Rangers v Aberdeen clash
Willie Miller labelled some of the challenges during the first half of the Viaplay Cup final between Rangers and Aberdeen as “out of order”.
A total of 13 fouls were registered in the opening 45 minutes of Sunday’s (17 December) clash – eight of those for Aberdeen.
However, referee Don Robertson showed some leniency and only reached into his pocket for the first time late in the half.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound [17 December, 15:24], the former Dons defender said: “There comes a time where the referee has got do something.
“He’s got to either talk to the player or get a yellow card out. I’m not one to highlight it but some of these challenges are out of order.
“There’s been half a dozen that the referee has ignored without trying to calm things down.”
Two at once
The referee can never be blamed for wanting a match to flow, but at the same time you risk letting too much go if not intervening.
There were a couple of incidents in which players were fortunate to avoid a yellow card in the first half.
The incident that triggered Miller’s comments was the second of Stefan Gartenmann’s challenges on Abdallah Sima, which went unpunished.
Not long after Miller spoke out, Robertson booked John Lundstram and Ester Sokler in quick succession after a coming together.
In many ways, that just showed that the man in the middle did not have a real grip on the game, as that punishment did not fit the crime.
If nothing else, though, at least it meant both sets of players were made aware that they could not get away with absolutely anything, as was looking like being the case prior to that point.
In other Rangers news, journalist Ewan Murray blasted something “not good” he saw when reading the team sheets prior to kick-off.