NEIL McCANN claimed Craig Gordon should have been sent off in Celtic’s 2-0 win over Ross County in the SPFL league opener at Parkhead.
The Hoops keeper was involved in an incident outside the box in the 22nd minute with former team-mate Jackson Irvine.
Celtic gifted possession to the Highlanders with a slack pass inside and a swift ball was sent through the home back lot with Irvine running free.
Gordon raced from his line and there was contact as the Aussie midfielder went sprawling on the turf.
Referee Willie Collum decided it merited only a booking and former Rangers player McCann, working as a pundit for Sky Sports, disagreed with the match official and insisted Gordon had to go.
McCann fumed: “The new rules are simple. Is the Ross County player being denied a goalscoring opportunity? Well, I feel he is.
“The referee has to take into consideration where the goalkeeper is and where the defender is.
“The goalkeeper made the challenge first, so the goal is wide open and unmanned. Can Jackson Irvine, if he’s not fouled, get to the ball? Yes, he can.
“And, yes, the ball is going slightly away from goal, but it’s not going wide enough that it isn’t going to allow Irvine to get a left foot onto it.
“Where was Virgil Van Dijk? Sorry, he may be Usain Bolt, but he’s still not going to be quicker than the ball.
“The new rules are quite clear. Van Dijk had 22 yards to make up to get back to the line.
“The ball can be struck about 50 miles-per-hour and Van Dijk on a Yamamha 500 still wouldn’t have caught up.
“It’s a clear goalscoring opportunity and it should have been a red card.”
McCann benefited from an EBT payment which allowed the former Rangers club to pay for players they couldn’t otherwise afford. The rules seemed pretty clear on that too. Rangers were eventually sold for twenty shillings before HMRC could drag the club into court and subsequently went into administration.
This was followed by liquidation in 2012 when a CVA was rejected by the club’s creditors. Rangers ceased to exit: the club died cheating.
It is unclear if McCann intends to repay his EBT ‘loan’.
