You may have missed it after the shocking scenes near the end of Rangers Europa League tie against Slavia Prague dominated headlines but there have been calls for the book to be thrown at Kemar Roofe.
The Gers striker had only been on the park for six minutes since replacing Scott Arfield as a second-half substitute before -rightly – seeing red for a dangerous challenge on Ondrej Kolar that left the Slavia keeper with a fractured skull and needing stitches to severe facial wounds, treated by the Ibrox medical team.
He will undoubtedly face a ban which will rule him out of next season’s Champions League qualifiers, however, Talksport appear to be leading a bizarre campaign to get him suspended for as many as 10 games, with Jason Cundy leading the charge:
“The keeper couldn’t play on. He knows what he’s doing, he’s followed through with the studs in his head. I’d ban him for eight to 10 games, whatever they throw at him there can be no complaints.
“Go for 10 and they’ll appeal it and he’ll get eight. It’s a coward’s challenge because he knows the goalkeeper has got to go with his hands and he knows he’s going to lead with his foot, follows through, and catches him on the head. It’s appalling.”
Ally McCoist defended Roofe with Ray Parlour also offering a defence despite more claims for an extended sentence:
😤 “He should get a ban for a red but how can you punish him further!?”
😩 “He is totally going for the ball… he does not follow through!”
😡 “Don’t try and say for a minute that was intentional, there’s no way!
Ally McCoist passionately defends #RangersFC’s Kemar Roofe. pic.twitter.com/fHJ59r52JZ
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) March 19, 2021
The severity of injury has never been a factor in deciding how long players are banned for, yes, it was dangerous but at no time was Roofe looking at Kolar before connecting with him – it was an accident with severe consequences – he clearly gets to the ball first but because his foot is so high the referee only had one option.
Red card Roofe for accidentally kicking keeper in face.Cmon Rangers pic.twitter.com/Tdp6t1sUNX
— Stu (@sturfcno1) March 18, 2021
There was no need to sensationalise the incident, it was clumsy, not reckless, sometimes in sport players get injured competing for the ball and on this occasion both the individual and the team was punished, when Roofe departed the field, so did our hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.