Michael Stewart is never one for sitting on the fence, he’s also never one for agreeing that a referee has got a decision right when it has been in Rangers favour.
Against Aberdeen, Jayden Richardson was penalised by Nick Walsh after consulting with VAR and taking a second look, exactly how the system should be used incidentally, and yet, still Stewart wasn’t happy.
The handball law has some grey areas but, if you move your hand towards the ball then you are likely to get punished. Handball is not supposed to be given if the ball deflects off a player’s own body first, however, in this instance, that is cancelled out by his arm movement – regardless of whether or not it is intentional.
Speaking on Sportscene, Stewart said:
“That to me is never a handball. It deflects up off of Richardson…are the officials trying to tell us that he has deliberately handballed that?
“That would be one of the most ludicrous things on planet earth.
“There’s nobody round him, it bounces off his leg.
“‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll just punch the ball away.’
“It’s an accidental handball, his arm has moved after it’s deflected off his leg.
“It’s not deliberate, it’s not a penalty.”
Once more for those at the back or who refuse to learn the laws of the game.
Handball. Doesn’t. Have. To. Be. Deliberate.
Honestly, how is he still employed as a pundit when he continues to base his opinions on what he thinks the laws of the game should be rather than what they actually are?
Stewart is clearly no fan of Rangers, we all know his history, after all, how many pundits do you know that have had to apologise to a club for things that they have said, and that’s including those in England?
VAR will help to get more decisions correct in Scottish football and that can only be a good thing, thankfully, the referees know the laws significantly better than those that are paid to talk about them.
You are right , it doesn`t help Refs or Var that pundits , managers and players don`t bother to learn the rules .It means fans get stirred up with complaints and conspiracy theories because they are being fuelled with false information by those that they think know what the rules are . Richardson quite clearly moved his hand to the ball after it hit his foot , it did not bounce up onto his hand . Stewart is a biased fool , no doubt he thought the Celtic penalty was a stonewaller.