KRIS COMMONS admits some of referee Bobby Madden’s decisions were “absolutely baffling” during Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final extra-time exit at Hampden yesterday.
The much-criticised match official bewildered the former Hoops and Scotland midfielder – and many others who witnessed the Ibrox side’s 2-1 win – especially with John Lundstram escaping any sort of punishment, despite at least three challenges that looked as though they should have at least brought a yellow card.
The former Sheffield United player clattered into opponents right up until he was replaced by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the 102nd minute with Glen Kamara coming on in his place.
HAMPDEN HURDLES…Tom Rogic takes to the air as John Lundstram slides in.
Commons said: “A lot of people were questioning the performance of referee Bobby Madden. In all honesty, I found some of his decisions absolutely baffling.
“John Lundstram was excellent in the heart of the Rangers midfield, but the reality is that he was extremely fortunate to stay on the pitch for as long as he did.
“He could have been booked quite easily on three different occasions at the very least. But Madden was extremely lenient, to put it mildly.”
Commons, speaking to the Daily Mail, added: “This raises another question. What good is VAR going to be in Scotland when the basic level of officiating is so obviously incompetent?
CRASH-LANDING…Daizen Maeda hits the ground as Kemar Roofe wipes him out.
“Yeah, VAR will obviously will help with the big decisions like penalties and red cards. But you are still relying on the referees showing a basic level of competency beyond that.
“When we’ve got such an awful standard of refereeing, VAR isn’t going to be the silver bullet that a lot of people seem to think.
“The performance of Madden doesn’t take away from the fact that Rangers were simply the better team on the day. They deserved to win.”
The whistler booked seven players in total – two from Celtic and five from the opposition – but it will remain a mystery to those who witnessed the action at the national stadium yesterday that the name of Lundstram did not figure in that list.
DEFLECTION ENDS THE TREBLE DREAM
