Michael Stewart blasted Stuart Dougal and accusing him of being patronising over his defence of referee Craig Napier and VAR following James Jeggo’s controversial sending off for Hibs at the weekend.
The Austrian was dismissed for a foul on St Johnstone’s Connor McLennan but Lee Johnson blasted the decision and the Edinburgh club have fired in an appeal to the SFA. But, speaking on BBC’s VARdict, former ref Dougal defended the call which sparked a furious response from pundit Stewart who labelled him condescending.
Dougal said of the incident: “If we look at the protocols for VAR - has VAR seen a clear and obvious error? Within the laws of the game, I don't believe he has seen a clear and obvious error. VAR will have seen the referee making a very swift red card decision and people were criticising the referee for brandishing the red card quickly.
“That's good refereeing. He had a great angle, he was out quickly with the card, it saves the St Johnstone players possibly remonstrating with the players. From a refereeing perspective, I thought the referee handled that situation very well. VAR can't get involved unless he thinks it's a clear and obvious error.
“How do we know if it's a clear and obvious error? Let's look at the laws of the game. They're explicit when it tells referees, not just Scottish referees. If a tackle endangers the safety of an opponent - if you're going in studs-up you're running the risk, if you make connection you're endangering the safety of an opponent.
“Is there excessive force? Any player who lunges at an opponent. Jeggo was definitely lunging towards an opponent there. Studs showing. VAR can't get involved there. There's been a lot of criticism in VAR in that game and I think it's misplaced criticism. The laws are there and the protocol's there.
“You can criticise the referee's decision but when we go to the laws of the game, that's how you judge a referee's decision, not just what you think you should as a player, ex-player, pundit or a manager. We've got to be careful that we don't just jump to conclusions without looking at the laws of the game."
But Stewart took to social media in response to Dougal’s explanation to say: "Here's a massive problem in Scottish football right here. Embarrassing stuff. This stuff is from a parallel universe. Very concerning that there's a doubling down on poor decisions. The wee condescending comment at the end is quite revealing too. It’s as if everyone else don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Dermot Gallagher was also asked about the incident on Sky Sports Ref Watch. He said: "This could've gone either way but once it's given on the field I would suggest the VAR would never intervene. They would never not support the referee here. It's one of them, he lunges - he gets a lot of the ball but he does get the man as well. He gets a lot of the ball, follows through. He is low but it's all about what the referee's decision is on the field."
Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie lost his appeal for a challenge at Ross County the previous week and Gallagher said: "I didn't think Graeme Shinnie would win and he didn't, but I think this is a different tackle, Rob. I think Graeme Shinnie, unfortunately, is higher, I think his studs are planted, the other one [Jeggo red] I think he gets a lot of the ball, he's lower and it comes down to the referee's view on the day."
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