Well, here we go. In the Rangers v Celtic game, were our fears about the appointed referee and VAR team justified? I’d say yes. Trusty’s challenge was a straight red all day long. As for Ralston, that’s a second yellow and a clear denial of a goal scoring opportunity – he should have been off.
Aasgaard’s tackle, while unlucky and unintentional, was still a red card in my view. And Maeda? He must’ve committed about twenty fouls before finally being booked – why did it take so long?
We struggled to get to grips with the game at times, but Chermiti should have scored twice (honourable mention to big Cyriel Dessers for his effort). Nico Raskin also had a big chance – not the best optics, but we were still very much in it.
At times, though, it felt like we were just putting out fires. Our decision making – whether to play it out or simply clear it into Row Z – let us down too often.
Danny Rohl’s influence is already visible, and in my opinion, it will pay off. Still, this team needs surgery across several areas. Defensively, Cornelius earned a pass mark, but Djiga didn’t convince me. As strange as it sounds, Soapy could do with someone like Grant Hanley beside him (I know how that sounds).
As for Tavernier, I’m not going there. He gave everything today, but he didn’t even find himself at right-back until around the 100th minute.