Jason Holt DIDN’T deserve to be sent off against Hibs and if his challenge on Kevin Nisbet was a red card, then tackling should be “stopped.”
That was the view of the Sportscene panel as they analysed the big call during the Hibees 4-0 hammering of Livingston. The former Hearts midfielder was given his marching orders after just 145 minutes at Easter Road after a tackle o Nisbet. The hosts took full advantage, and recorded a big win against the ten man, which also saw skipper David Marshall save two penalties.
But Sportscene pundits Michael Stewart and Ricky Foster reckon the early ordering off had a huge impact on the outcome. And both felt Holt was hard done by to be sent for an early bath after he caught Nisbet. Stewart didn’t think Holt could much about Nisbet moving into his path and was surprised VAR didn’t overturn the decision.
"Hibs were good today but I don't think you can underestimate how important this was,” he said. Holt wins the ball quite clearly. Nisbet isn't even in his field of movement either, he moves into his path and he catches him.
"I don't see how Jason Holt can be punished for that because I don't know what else he's meant to do. He slides in, wins the ball and Kevin Nisbet should've been either jumping the challenge or not going into it at all because he was never going to win the ball. As we've shown there, Jason Holt quite clearly wins the ball.
"For big decisions like that, the referee brandishes the red card which I can see why they would. But for it go to VAR and when you look at what we've just shown. I think it's harsh to give a red card for that."
Foster added: "It's also quite low. He catches him on the side of the foot, not high on the ankle.
"If you're going to give a red for that you need to stop slide tackling because there's nothing Jason Holt can do. And it changes the game."
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