Dundee United v Rangers: ‘Mohamed Diomande undermines officials’ – Expert
Mohamed Diomande was consistently undermining the officials in the Rangers win against Dundee United on Sunday, Keith Hackett says.
Despite scoring in the 3-1 victory at Tannadice on 26 January, the midfielder was spotted on several occasions complaining to Nick Walsh.
Diomande was later sent off for alleged violent conduct, with Walsh somehow sticking to his original decision after a VAR review – leaving many baffled with his officiating.
Speaking exclusively to Ibrox News, the ex-FIFA referee shared an example from his career where he was being questioned consistently.
“I remember refereeing Luton Town and their captain Brian Horton chipping in every five minutes with his views and I ignored him,” Hackett said.
“That week I received an assessment report that said: ‘Mr Hackett, I wondered who was in control of this match – you or the Luton Town captain.
Rangers undermine SFA officials
“So I am clear that I might let a player make a comment but if it is irregular like this then I suggest:
Stop the game, bring the captain across with the player and inform both of them that the next player who wants to make a comment out of a decision will be yellow carded.
“This player is undermining the authority of the referee.”
Looking at the positives, Diomande was everywhere at Tannadice and his stunning strike towards the end of the first half was his reward.
After missing the defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United through suspension, he will have been desperate to get back into the action.
Complaining about the physicality of an opponent should be no surprise to Rangers or Diomande given their struggles this season, but he wasn’t happy on several occasions.
Hackett has admitted afterwards that the red card was a surprise, suggesting that it should have been downgraded to a yellow card after review.
It will be an interesting few days ahead.
In other Rangers news, the current transfer model at Ibrox is absolutely disgraceful as £10million news emerges at Celtic.
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