Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum has indicated St Mirren’s Shaun Rooney should have been red carded in the recent Scottish Premiership draw with Kilmarnock.
Rooney’s challenge on Killie’s Kyle Vassell went unpunished in the 2-2 draw on 14 September, with Rooney’s action seemingly viewed as an attempt to play the ball.
Kilmarnock’s Joe Wright was sent off in the same game for an act of violent conduct towards Rooney at a corner, a decision that Collum backed on the Scottish FA’s October edition of The VAR Review.
But he said of the Rooney and Vassell incident: “This is the incorrect decision. We would prefer an on-field review and we also believe this is an act of violent conduct by the St Mirren player.
“There’s not only one kick, there’s two kicks. Both kicks are acts of violent conduct and should have been punished.
“The referee, in my opinion, has seen a kick but he’s not been able to see it properly. We would’ve liked the VAR to pursue that even further. The referee should’ve been brought to the monitor.”
Collum backed the overturning of a penalty awarded to Hearts in their 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park and the award of a spot-kick to the hosts in the same game, also on 14 September.
Liam Scales was initially penalised for a handball but VAR intervened, meaning there was no penalty and later Nicolas Kuhn’s cross hit James Penrice’s hand, leading to Arne Engels’ opener from the spot.
Handball calls at Fir Park and Ibrox ‘correct’
On 28 September, Lennon Miller’s second goal for Motherwell against St Mirren was reviewed for a possible handball but stood and Collum said the VAR officials were “unable to fine the evidence to be categorical” about a foul.
Later in the same game, Well’s Dan Casey handled the ball on the goal-line to deny Killian Phillips a goal and was shown a straight red. Mark O’Hara had the resulting penalty saved.
“In our opinion, this is the correct call,” said Collum. “It’s a very good piece of teamwork between the assistant referee and the referee. There’s nothing there for the VAR to think that the referee has made an error there in terms of showing a red card.”
The following day, there was a similar incident at Ibrox where Rangers defender John Souttar was penalised for handball in the box following a VAR review. Mykola Kuharevich’s spot-kick for Hibernian was saved and the hosts maintained their 1-0 lead until full-time.
“It’s the correct decision for us,” Collum said of the Souttar incident.
“We would not support a red card, this is not an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
“This is certainly a punishable handball. There’s every opportunity that the goalkeeper can save this shot. The fact that no card was shown could be debated.
“If the referee had deemed John Souttar’s actions here as deliberate, he probably would’ve received a yellow card. Because the referee and the VAR team don’t deem this as a deliberate handball, there’s no need for a yellow card.”
The position of goalkeeper Jack Butland’s feet in relation to the goal line were also discussed and Collum was “content” there was no need for a re-take.
Collum also re-iterated that there had been an error in the last Scottish Premiership fixture before the split, Rangers’ 2-0 win over St Johnstone on 6 October.
It was announced earlier this week by the SFA’s key match incident review panel that St Johnstone defender Aaron Essel should have been penalised for a shirt pull on Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers.
“This is a wrong decision,” added Collum. “We expect a penalty kick here and we expect the referee to be brought to the monitor to review the decision.”