Outspoken pundit and ex-Hibs midfielder Michael Stewart has lambasted “ludicrous refereeing” in Rangers’ Scottish Cup win at Easter Road.
The Gers ran out 2-0 winners to book their place in the semi-finals at Hampden courtesy of goals from John Lundstram and Fabio Silva in Edinburgh.
But the match was influenced by some big refereeing decisions as whistler Steven McLean awarded Rangers a first-half penalty and sent two Hibs players off in the second period.
The decisions have certainly led to plenty of post-match discussion as Rangers progress at the expense of the 9-man Hibees.
Michael Stewart on Rangers v Hibs calls
Michael Stewart – who doesn’t seem to like Rangers very much – was on ViaPlay commentary duties in the match.
You’ll be unsurprised to hear that the former Hibs and Hearts star is not convinced by any of the decisions which went in the Ibrox club’s favour in the match.
In a series of quite hilarious reactions, firstly here’s how Stewart reacted to the penalty decision after Dujon Sterling was clumsily felled in the Hibs box.
James Tavernier missed the subsequent spot-kick but the rebound was put away by John Lundstram.
“I’m not sure he clips him,” said Stewart. “He’s just clumsy and falls in the back of him but is it a case that Sterling just feels the contact and goes over?
“You know, it’s a difficult one. D’you know what? They need to really look at this and see if there is clipping. I don’t think that’s a penalty, I think Sterling feels a bit of contact and falls over.”
Right you are, Michael.
You’ll also be unsurprised to hear that Michael Stewart – who had a failed trial with Rangers as a player in 2004 – also didn’t think much about the red card decisions either.
Jordan Obita was firstly sent off for a second yellow card after a clash with Rabbi Matondo in a decision Stewart branded “ludicrous”.
The outspoken pundit then disagreed with the decision to send Hibs star Nathan Moriah-Welsh off for a reckless challenge on John Lundstram three minutes later.
On Obita: “That is not a yellow card, that is ludicrous refereeing. As you say, VAR can’t get involved. That is an absolute nonsense, certainly from that first wide angle.”
On Moriah-Welsh: “Well it’s a silly, silly challenge, stupid from Moriah-Welsh. He dives in, he jumps in. He comes down the side of Lundstram. For me it’s a stupid tackle, is it a red card though? There’s more than enough there to constitute VAR sticking with the red card. I don’t think he challenges him through, he dives down the side of him. Stupid tackle, red card? I’m not sure.”
Scottish Cup referee nonsense expected
Had any Rangers players given the referee these sorts of decisions to make, we wonder if Michael Stewart would display such uncertainty.
The ex-Hibs midfielder is famed for his salty reactions to Rangers and it’s a big part of the reason why ViaPlay have him on commentary duties here.
But the consistency of questioning every decision which goes in favour of Rangers like this sums up the focus on refereeing and Ibrox perfectly.
It’s not about Rangers getting the right decisions, is it Michael? It’s about Rangers getting any decision at all.
