Michael Stewart hits back at Hutton amid ‘bizarre’ Rangers v St Mirren footage
Michael Stewart and Alan Hutton were at odds after “bizarre” footage from the Scottish Premiership clash between Rangers and St Mirren emerged.
Rangers suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday (22 February), ultimately costing Philippe Clement his job as their manager after 24 hours.
The Scottish Premiership giants are keen to put the disappointment of the result behind them as they look to return to winning ways under Barry Ferguson against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Wednesday, 26 February.
However, some incidents from Saturday’s game have become a topic of decision again after new footage emerged on Premier Sports, with Stewart and Hutton analysing them further.
Stewart baffled by Clinton Nsiala
Stewart, who believes Hamza Igamane was fortunate to avoid a red card, was baffled by the way in which Clinton Nsiala tripped himself in the lead-up to Mikael Mandron’s opener.
Speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club (24 February), the pundit said: “Bizarre. He has [tripped himself up], he is not [clipped by Mandron].”
Stewart’s opinion was met with resistance from Hutton, who argued that there was some sort of contact from Mandron that forced Nsiala to the ground.
“It must be a clip [from Mandron]. I’m not saying that he did, I’m saying there must have been something for him to go down”, he said.
Stewart, who was left shaking his head, quickly hit back at Hutton, insisting that the videos of the incident leave no room for doubt or debate.
“I’m sorry guys, but I have to disagree with you here. I think the pictures are quite unequivocal, Nsiala has not touched [Mandron]”, the Scot argued.
“Listen to me, what you’d see regardless of the angle is a deviation of his leg or foot movement, I don’t think you do.”
Nsiala flops in Rangers v St Mirren
Nsiala has been in a rich vein of form since breaking into Clement’s squad at the start of January, helping them to a six-game unbeaten run in the Premiership.
However, the centre-back had a bad day at the office against St Mirren as he tripped himself over for Mandron’s opener before displaying abysmal defending for Toyosi Olusanya’s goal.
| Stat | Nsiala |
| Appearances | 8 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 1 |
It now remains to be seen if that performance will affect his place in Ferguson’s pecking order when the Gers lock horns with Kilmarnock on Wednesday.
Ferguson has returned to Ibrox as their head coach only until the end of the season, but will nevertheless be determined to make a positive impression.
Therefore, it will not be a surprise if the ex-captain shows no mercy to players who are not performing at the level they should be.