BBC Sportscene pundits stunned as Scott Brown rages over Rangers player incident v Ayr United
Kenny Miller and John Hughes were left stunned by Scott Brown’s suggestion that Fabio Silva should have been sent off for Rangers in their clash with Ayr United.
The Light Blues booked their place in the Scottish Cup fifth round with a 2-0 win at Ibrox on Saturday (11 February) and while the Gers had complete control, they were arguably slightly fortunate to not be reduced to 10 men.
Brown felt Silva should have received a second yellow for a tackle on George Stranger, but admitted that Willie Collum was never going to make that call [Daily Record, 10 February]. While Miller understands Brown’s frustration, he doesn’t think the Gers forward deserved to be sent off.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene on Saturday (10 February, 15:00) he said: “I can understand why Scott is a bit upset, but see for me that’s not a booking. He barely catches him on the toe.
“He takes a heavy touch again so he’s now trying to make up for the bad touch, the bad control but the player is feeling his ankle and he never touched his ankle. But when Willie Collum decides to give him a soft booking, all of a sudden you’re asking questions about this.
“Even when you see it in real speed, there’s no real contact but that’s probably a booking I would say, more than the first one. But it would be a soft sending off though.”
Hughes agreed saying: “That’s the worse one, this one here is worse than the first one. Willie Collum is an experienced referee and if you give yellow cards early you’re putting yourself under pressure.”
Scott Brown in the wrong over Fabio Silva Rangers red
Rangers were perhaps rather lucky to see their Portuguese forward stay on the pitch, but it would have been incredibly unjust had Silva been sent off for what were two soft challenges with very little contact, as Miller suggested.
Collum, who Rangers have plenty of history with this season, shouldn’t have handed out the initial yellow card so quickly for the first challenge. Had Silva been given a single caution for his second challenge, Brown would have had nothing to moan about.
Silva will have to be more careful in the future. If he keeps flying into tackles like he did on Saturday with that level of recklessness after a heavy touch, he will keep picking up yellow cards and before too long he’ll be sent off.
Hopefully, he will take Saturday’s near miss as a warning and calm himself down for the remainder of the season as he has shown he can be an excellent source of goals for the Gers this season.
In other Rangers news, Robby McCrorie may have played his final game for the Gers after Clement’s latest decision
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