Kris Boyd shares sympathy amid recent Rangers controversy
Nick Walsh deserves “a little bit” of sympathy after his role in Mohamed Diomande’s sending off for Rangers at Dundee United, Kris Boyd has said.
Speaking on the Scottish Sun Sport’s Go Ballistic show (28 January), Boyd argued that while Walsh’s initial red card decision was justified, he wasn’t given much help by VAR when reviewing the incident.
Walsh only being shown the angle at which he’d seen Diomande’s alleged slap on Kevin Holt led to him sticking with his call to send Diomande off, albeit that red card has since been overturned by the SFA.
Boyd said: “It was a strange one – I’m glad that it’s been overturned and Diomande can continue to play, because he has been a big player for Rangers.
“I can understand why Nick Walsh issued the red card to start with, in terms of the angle that he saw it – but when he goes to the monitor, that’s really the only angle he sees again as well.
“He doesn’t really see any other one. So, in a way, you can look at it and say there is a little bit of sympathy there for Nick Walsh. Did VAR do its job properly? Probably not.”
Rangers controversy shines poor light on Nick Walsh and VAR
Given that most angles of the clash between Diomande and Holt showed that there was no contact whatsoever in a completely accidental motion, it’s staggering that Walsh wasn’t given more assistance.
As a result, it’s no surprise to see both the on-field referee and VAR officials being hit with criticism from all angles – given that if they’d shown Walsh all the angles, they could have avoided the controversy.
The red card coming in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time didn’t have much impact on the match itself, but a retrospective ban for the in-form Diomande would have been a huge blow at Ibrox.
Diomande netted the Gers’ opener at Tannadice Park on Sunday and was instrumental to them building a 3-1 lead before his late sending off, and Philippe Clement will be delighted that he’s still available.
The spotlight being shone on refereeing decisions has increased tenfold since the advent of VAR, and Walsh will be hoping that next time, the off-field officials can hold their side of the bargain up.
In other Rangers news, teams on the continent are lining up bids to sign an out-of-favour forward player at Ibrox.
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