Tam McManus hits out at 'unforgiveable' error as Sky Sports share new Rangers footage

Tam McManus has reacted with disbelief at a recent VAR decision that went in Rangers' favour following Willie Collum's verdict.

Rangers were unfortunate not to have conceded a penalty in last month's 1-0 win over St Mirren.

Emmanuel Fernandez fouled Ismeal Kabia in the box, but referee Don Robertson did not point to the spot.

Not only that, but VAR did not ask the official to check the pitchside monitor as they deemed it was not a clear and obvious error.

However, the Scottish Football Association's head of refereeing operations Collum has now said a longer VAR check was required.

Footage has been released coinciding with those comments from Collum, which has not gone down well with McManus.

Tam McManus calls out officials for Rangers VAR error

Bojan Miovski rescued Rangers with a 94th-minute winner in the tight game with St Mirren.

Had a penalty been awarded, it likely would have been a frustrating day for Derek McInnes as his Ibrox tenure looked to be gathering momentum - and ultimately still did.

Speaking at the time, Chris Sutton said it was "incredible" a penalty was not given against Rangers.

Collum agrees, saying it was a penalty "without a doubt".

Sky Sports Scotland has now shared footage from the VAR room, which reveals the conversations had behind the scenes.

The VAR team could be heard saying: "Okay, so the attacker plays the ball and then he runs into the defender. There's no on-field reaction."

Robertson then said: "Small contact after the ball, yep. I'm going to keep going. I'm not stopping it now. Nothing for me that constitutes a foul."

The VAR team then ended the check without properly looking back at it.

Reacting to Collum's verdict, plus the footage, former Hibernian forward McManus said via X on Saturday morning: "So Willie Collum agrees this should have been a penalty for St Mirren/yellow card for Fernandez.

"Also, I know an apology was given to Craig McLeish the following day by him at a meeting at Hampden. This kind of decision is unforgivable, though - you simply cannot get that wrong."

St Mirren will feel cheated, but for Rangers that decision proved very welcome at a key moment early on in the season.

Who will be referee for Rangers' clash vs St Johnstone

Plenty of water has now passed under the bridge since the St Mirren clash, with St Johnstone now next on the agenda.

Chris Graham has been put in charge of Saturday afternoon's game. It is just the second time Graham has refereed Rangers.

The only other occasion came two years ago when Graham controversially did not award a penalty to Rangers when Cyriel Dessers was wrestled to the ground by a Dundee player.

The SFA later accepted a penalty should have been awarded, though it mattered little as the Gers won the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final tie 3-0 anyway.

It goes to show, though, that these decisions ultimately balance themselves out over time - or at least so you would hope.