Tom English tears Cammy Devlin to shreds after brain-frying Rangers incident

Cammy Devlin certainly had a night to forget for Rangers on Thursday.

Derek McInnes' side ran out 1-0 winners over Jablonec in the first leg of their Conference League qualification final at Ibrox.

Devlin, one of the 11 new Rangers signings made this summer, was named on the bench against the Czech outfit.

The 28-year-old came on in the 69th minute, but by minute 78, was already walking back to the dressing room after being shown a red card.

It was a dangerous foul by Devlin, who left a straight leg on the Jablonec player's shin, whilst also having both feet off the ground.

Off the back of that, the Australian has come in for some scathing criticism from leading Scottish football reporter, Tom English.

What did Tom English say about Cammy Devlin's Jablonec display?

Few of Rangers' new summer recruits have particularly hit the ground running in Govan, and Devlin hasn't particularly done so either.

However, the former Hearts midfielder did play well against Dundee United and Hibernian, and has fared better than most others.

He is, however, a player who isn't typically shown his marching orders, having not been sent off in the Scottish Premiership since the 2022-23 season.

McInnes won't want him getting into a bad habit for this with Rangers, but his Jablonec sending off was entirely valid and unnecessary.

Writing via BBC Sport, English, BBC Scotland's chief sports writer, didn't hold back on his assessment of Devlin's night.

"Of all the dullness on display at Ibrox, Cammy Devlin's five-minute cameo stood apart," he wrote.

"A blink-and-you'll-miss-him appearance from a substitute who was supposed to be a leader, a senior man, a guy to nurse Rangers to the endgame with their flimsy 1-0 lead intact.

"Devlin's night ended with a deserved red card for a ridiculous and entirely needless lunge that fried the brain.

"The midfielder was brought to Rangers to add steel, not to contribute to the mental frailties that dogged them on the run-in last season.

"He was meant to be part of the solution, not at risk of being part of the problem.

"The red could have put Rangers' win in jeopardy, had Jablonec been up to much, which they weren't."

So, do Devlin's early-season numbers suggest more red cards are on the way for him this season?

Why Devlin's Jablonec red card was bound to happen at some point

For central midfielders, striking a balance between being combative but not a liability in terms of picking up cards can be very difficult to find.

Rangers supporters demand those in the middle of the park to get stuck in, win duels and set the tackling tone, and that's what Devlin has been trying to do.

As per FotMob, however, he's averaged 3.66 fouls per 90 minutes in the league so far this season.

That number ranks him among the 6.7 percentile of Scottish Premiership central midfielders for the highest average of fouls per game in 2026-27.

On the flip side, he's also won 4.71 tackles per game this term, which is among the best in his position.

It's a tough trade-off to weigh up; he's winning a near-league-leading number of tackles, but is also leading the fouls chart as well.

Needless to say, but that's a recipe for red cards.