Former referee Dermot Gallagher admits he has been left scratching his head over Rangers' VAR penalty award in their 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
Ryan Alebiosu was adjudged to have handled in the area after Willie Collum was sent to look at the replay of the incident by his VAR official. But Gallagher and fellow pundit Stephen Warnock aren't having it. That's a view not shared by Stuart Dougal and Ricky Foster on their Vardict for BBC who reckon Collum was bang on to point to the spot. Gallagher insists he can't see contact with an arm and reckons Collum was in a position to say no viewing the incident.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: "Well the referee clearly can't see where it's struck him, only the VAR can when it shows it from behind the goal. My only surprise is when the referee sees this, i just don't know where it hits him on the hand. I wasn't surprised he was sent to the screen, he couldn't possibly see anything. But when he goes to the screen he retains all options – he doesn't have to give a penalty like people think (once called over)."
Host Rob Wotton can be then heard saying it hit Alebiosu on the chest, something the former elite whistler agreed with which prompted Wotton to opine "I'm glad because I was going to go and change these glasses.". And fellow pundit Warnock also revealed his major shock over the award. He said: "No, how you come to that decision when it's pretty much clear to everyone it's struck him on the chest. You see the Rangers player it's handball, it is going to be reviewed but to look at and go...it's bizarre." A view echoed by Sue Smith.
And Gallagher reckons Kilmarnock had a justified gripe over the incident involving Allan McGregor and Rory McKenzie in the second half. "Well Kilmarnock will argue they have been penalised twice, won't they? They will argue the one given against them wasn't a penalty and the one that wasn't was. The one thing as a referee is you've got to be mindful of treating every incident in isolation. And, unfortunately, for them (Kilmarnock) the two decisions have gone against them."
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