Ex-Rangers star gives Dermot Gallagher ‘who cares’ verdict and pinpoints missed Connor Goldson foul in Kilmarnock win

The current Hearts star questioned some of the decisions at Ibrox on Saturday.
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Former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday has questioned “who cares” about the views of former English Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on key decisions in Scottish football.

The retired whistler is tasked with looking back on the weekend’s main talking points from around the UK every Monday morning on Sky Sports ‘Ref Watch’ show and declared that he was surprised to see Willie Collum award Rangers a penalty during their 3-1 Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox despite the intervention from VAR.

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Collum initially missed the ball appearing to strike the arm of Killie defender Ryan Alebiosu on Saturday, but after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, he pointed to the spot and James Tavernier subsequently converted from 12-yards.

Former Rangers player and current Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday at the funeral of Rangers kitman Jimmy BellFormer Rangers player and current Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday at the funeral of Rangers kitman Jimmy Bell
Former Rangers player and current Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday at the funeral of Rangers kitman Jimmy Bell

Current Hearts star Halliday, who spent two seasons at his boyhood club between 2015 and 2017, admits he didn’t think there was enough evidence based on television replays at the time to give the penalty, but insists no one in Scotland should be interested in what Gallagher had to say on the matter.

The 31-year-old reckons the incident that wasn’t discussed was an even bigger call to miss as Kilmarnock’s consolation goal was allowed to stand despite a foul on Rangers defender Connor Goldson in the build-up.

Reflecting on both incidents on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Halliday said: “My only issue with that handball is I think it is down to a matter of opinion, which VAR shouldn’t be. I don’t think the camera angles shown were conclusive enough that it hit his arm below the t-shirt line, which is the threshold.

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“I’ve only seen the two angles, the one from behind the Kilmarnock defender and the one from behind the goal. The one from behind the goal looks as if it hits the Kilmarnock player’s hand for me but is it below the t-shirt line? I don’t think it’s conclusive enough.

“Dermot Gallagher? Who cares? Genuinely, who cares what he says? He’s doing Ref Watch on Sky Sports News. The VAR that we’re using in our country is supposed to be doing the job for us. What I will say is, I actually thought VAR had a very good weekend.

Dermot Gallagher has cast his views on the key talking points from the weekend’s Premiership games involving Celtic and RangersDermot Gallagher has cast his views on the key talking points from the weekend’s Premiership games involving Celtic and Rangers
Dermot Gallagher has cast his views on the key talking points from the weekend’s Premiership games involving Celtic and Rangers

“The three incidents at St Mirren, David Dickinson didn’t give one of them in normal time. VAR’s job is to come in and pick up the incidents that the referees have missed so VAR did its job in that game. In terms of the Rangers game, I don’t think it’s conclusive enough on the handball but for me it looked like a handball.

“But I think the one the caller didn’t mention, I think Connor Goldson is a foul for Kilmarnock’s goal - which Derek McInnes didn’t mention after the game! I don’t think there’s a debate about that. You can’t jump on somebody’s shoulders and have two hands on somebody’s shoulders, not allowing them to jump to compete for the ball.”

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