Corrie Ndaba lands firm Rangers penalty handball defence as Philippe Clement view has Celtic hero packing his bags
Peter Grant has told Philippe Clement 'we may as well pack our bags and go home' if he believes Rangers should have had a penalty for handball against Corrie Ndaba at Ibrox.
David Dickinson initially waved the game on but was sent to the monitor by the VAR officials for a second look at the incident in the opening minutes of the Light Blues' 4-1 win over Kilmarnock on Sunday. The match official stuck with his original decision to NOT award a spot-kick in a move praised by both Steven Thompson and Kenny Miller at the time.
Speaking post-match, Clement admits he found the decision 'strange' for the whistler to stick by his initial opinion despite being sent to the screen. He believes that if he has been called to the video monitor then the VAR team believe it IS a penalty. He said: "I don't know what was said from the VAR. If they call the referee to come and see it and they think it was a penalty, I think we decided it was not a penalty. That was strange for me, if you compare with the penalties we get against over the last couple of months, like Kilmarnock here at home. But it's part of the game we need to accept and focus on the things we can control."
It was a VAR dominated opening half hour at Ibrox, and looking back at the first flash point on Go Radio, Celtic hero Peter Grant said: "Well if Philippe Clement thinks that is a penalty kick we may as well pack our bags and go home to be perfectly honest with you. But the other side of it is, if they are all getting taught at the start of the season what the rules are. If the referees are all sitting in that room together nodding their heads agreeing to it so everybody knows exactly what is and what is not a penalty. And they are calling someone over to look at that and then call the referee who has made the decision correctly right away anyway to come and check - it is ridiculous and this is the reason why VAR doesn't work."
Former Rangers midfielder Graham Dorrans backed up his fellow radio pundit and insists it was NOT a penalty and reckons the VAR officials were wrong in flagging up the incident to Dickinson for another check. He added: "Firstly, it just took to long to reach a decision. I have certainly seen them given but for me I don't think it was a penalty. I think the officials behind the VAR have got it wrong.
"I think they are watching it, and they've called David Dickinson over to the monitor and he has stuck to his decision. He can't do anything with his arm. It is by his side. He's not gained an advantage or put it high or out to block the cross coming in. I think they got the right decision in the end but the problem is, as we all know, it took too long to get there."