Rangers' 5-1 win over Motherwell overshadowed by new handball guidelines; "We have to ignore the calls we hear all too often that all or some of our refs have bias. Nonsense."
Monday 5 October 2020 17:21, UK
Andy Walker argues that Scottish referees are at a big disadvantage without VAR after the latest handball controversy...
I thoroughly enjoyed covering my old club Motherwell last weekend when they entertained Steven Gerrard's Rangers.
Both sides had differing fortunes in their Europa League qualifiers with Motherwell losing 3-0 in Israel to Hapoel Be'er Sheva while, in stark contrast, Rangers had an impressive 4-0 away win against Dutch dide Willem II.
The stage was set for an entertaining 90 minutes and it's exactly what we got.
But even allowing for the fact that Rangers stole the show with an impressive 5-1 away win, the game was completely overshadowed by the controversial new handball guidelines that resulted in two penalties for Rangers.
Let me say from the outset that, arguably, referee Bobby Madden got both decisions correct according to the new instructions that all referees have to take from this season.
In short, that's really all that can be expected of them. And remember, we don't have VAR in Scotland.
I imagine the vast majority of players will accept that Motherwell defender Bevis Mugabi's hand was completely outstretched when the ball hit him from Calvin Bassey's cross so with his body being "unnaturally bigger" it was an easy decision for ref Madden to make, despite the fact that it was completely accidental.
The second penalty Rangers received was much more contentious.
From a Ryan Kent corner, Liam Grimshaw's forearm/elbow came into contact with the ball after it was flicked on at the near post. With the ball travelling at great speed it's hard to see what Grimshaw could have done to get out of the way.
In my view, it wasn't a deliberate action from Grimshaw, nor was he making his body "unnaturally bigger". It's also debatable whether his forearm/elbow was high or above shoulder level. But the only question is, what does the referee see in that split second?
The instruction from IFAB, the game's lawmakers, is that a hand/arm above shoulder height is rarely a "natural position".
We don't have VAR in Scotland and we're not likely to have it anytime soon so if Bobby Madden, in a split second, sees a forearm/elbow higher than normal, I can understand why he points to the spot.
Quite simply, the ref was applying the Laws of the Game as they now stand but remember, without the support of VAR.
I doubt you'll find any former players in agreement of the new guidelines with the vast majority going along with the views of Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson.
Basically, let referees decide if it's deliberate or not.
But until there's a change of direction from the governing bodies, we are where we are and clubs, players and managers need to learn to live with the new guidelines.
Rightly or wrongly, we're going to see more penalties than ever before and if they're awarded to your team, you must take advantage.
The harsh reality for Motherwell is that they have already conceded nine penalties this season.
Not all of them have come from handballs but that's a serious problem for any team and one that Stephen Robinson will have to address with his players.
It's worth pointing out that referees in Scotland are at a disadvantage here because of the lack of VAR but I honestly think it will work for and against teams in Scotland.
Crucially, we have to ignore the calls we hear all too often that all or some of our refs have bias. Nonsense, they're doing the best they can while other leagues stride ahead with the help of technology.
On another day, a referee will not be in the same position as Bobby Madden was at Fir Park last Sunday and won't give penalties for incidents that he obviously doesn't see.
But with the prompting of VAR, he'd be asked to consult a monitor at the side of the pitch to have another look with every chance of reviewing his original call.
The harsh reality for our refs is that law changes are being implemented on the back of VAR and all of our refs in Scotland are out of the loop.
The combination of VAR and debatable handballs last season in the bigger leagues and European competition is behind the latest IFAB changes.
As a result, you're more likely to get a consistency of decision making from referees in the bigger leagues - no matter how much we disagree with the new guidelines - because they will have a chance to look at controversial moments time and time again.
Remember, our refs in Scotland are being asked to make all the right calls with the naked eye in games that are being played at 100mph.
It's inevitable they'll get some wrong. But when you hear managers complain about the next high-profile refereeing error, we should ask why our clubs in Scotland refuse to bring it [VAR] on board to help our refs.
Ian Crocker is joined by Andy Walker and Kris Boyd to discuss the Rangers and Celtic's upcoming Europa League games, the last week of the transfer window ahead of Monday's Deadline Day, the latest Scotland squad announcement plus their predictions for the weekend games.
