Rangers and neutrals alike have expressed befuddlement at Mohamed Diomande’s red card against Dundee United.
The midfielder was sent off deep into stoppage time after a clash with Kevin Holt, who seemed to be the instigator and chief aggressor in the situation.
Diomande’s arms moved as he was shoved by the defender but it didn’t look to be a deliberate action and nor did it even look obvious he had made contact. But ref Nick Walsh was straight on the spot to award the red and was instructed to look again by VAR Don Robertson, but stuck to his guns.
Kris Boyd hit out at the ‘stubborn’ referee for refusing to admit he was incorrect first time round and branded the decision ’embarrassing’.
That sparked a clash with Chris Sutton, who unsurprisingly took the opposite view and thought the Ivorian deserved to walk for a “slap.”
Philippe Clement confirmed Rangers will appeal the decision, insisting his own player was the one who was ‘attacked’. The manager had been incandescent on the sideline at the time.
Diomande was Rangers’ man-of-the-match but will now have a suspension to serve unless the appeal is successful.
What the SFA will do about Rangers red card
Former referees Des Roache and Steve Conroy don’t think the appeal will be successful, despite the fact the clash wasn’t worthy of a red.
From their experience of working with the SFA, they reckon the governing body will stand by Walsh, using the validation that the Rangers star ‘strikes or attempts to strike’ an opponent.
Posting on social media from the account for their podcast The Ref’s View, they said: “While we don’t consider this to be worthy of a Red Card, we believe Nick will be supported by the SFA for Violent Conduct & the use of the wording ‘Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent’.”
SFA give Rangers instant explanation
It comes after the SFA did attempt to offer an instant explanation for the decision.
After discussing it on BBC Radio Scotland during which the assessment was much the same as Boyd’s, the team were sent a briefing from the governing body.
It read: “Nick Walsh has taken the view that there was a deliberate swing of the arm towards the face of an opponent, which was not negligible, and therefore constitutes violent conduct.”
