Andy Halliday has sent a blunt message to former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher over his Rangers penalty verdict against Kilmarnock.
The former whistler has a weekly segment on Sky Sports called 'Ref Watch' and regularly looks over the key incidents in Scottish football. He was raising eyebrows at the decision to award a penalty to the Light Blues in their 3-1 win over Killie, when Ryan Alebiosu was deemed to have handled the ball in a collision with Ryan Kent.
While Willie Collum's decision after a VAR check did surprise him, his opinion is worth a pinch of salt to the Hearts and former Rangers midfielder. Halliday told Superscoreboard that the evidence wasn't definitive and believes an even bigger call was missed on Connor Goldson as Kilmarnock pulled a goal back at 3-0 down. He explained: "My only issue with that handball is I think it is down to a matter of opinion, which VAR shouldn't be.
"I don't think the camera angles shown were conclusive enough that it hit his arm below the t-shirt line, which is the threshold. I've only seen the two angles, the one from behind the Kilmarnock defender and the one from behind the goal.
"The one from behind the goal looks as if it hits the Kilmarnock player's hand for me but is it below the t-shirt line? I don't think it's conclusive enough. Dermot Gallagher? Who cares, genuinely, who cares what he says?
"He's doing Ref Watch on Sky Sports News, the VAR that we're using in our country is supposed to be doing the job for us. What I will say is, I actually thought VAR had a very good weekend.
"In terms of the Rangers game, I don't think it's conclusive enough on the handball but for me it looked like a handball. I think Connor Goldson is a foul for Kilmarnock's goal - which Derek McInnes didn't mention after the game!
"I don't think there's a debate about that. You can't jump on somebody's shoulders and have two hands on somebody's shoulders, not allowing them to jump to compete for the ball."
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