Another round of Scottish Premiership games and more controversial incidents.
Some of it was contrived whilst other matters were very real and undeniable. On Wednesday night at Easter Road, referee John Beaton correctly awardness a penalty to Rangers after Ryan Porteous impeded Ryan Kent. After the game, the usual circus was in full show online and with certain ex-players adding their tuppence worth.
The penalty incident was closely examined with the ‘was it, wasn’t it’ weighed up and debated despite the fact that there was contact between the players and Beaton was right to make the penalty call which persented Kemar Roofe with the opportunity to win the game for Rangers, with which he duly obliged.
Added to the debate was plenty of replays and close-ups of the incident from Sky Sports, who televised the game live, as well as contributions on their view from Hibs boss Jack Ross and Rangers manager Gio van Bronckhorst.
Loads of people debating the punditry which leaves unsaid what is truly remarkable about this – that Sky Sports don't seem to have a graphics person on hand to better illustrate offside calls for SPFL games… https://t.co/EbCakr5uho
— Jonny McFarlane (@jonnyrmcfarlane) December 3, 2021
Compare and contrast to another incident at Parkhead last night and the seemingly offside goal scored by the home side.
As pointed out by Jonny McFarlane of the Rangers Review, where was the use of technology and graphics from Sky to bring clarity and sense to the discussion around the decision, which cost Hearts in the end?
Quite simply, Sky Sports were caught offside by this omission – something that is readily available on their coverage of the Premier League, albeit with the far greater resources dedicated to the big league in England.
Last night, Kris Boyd tried to tell it as it was but this was refuted and the incident appeared to be portrated as a matter of opinion despite the footage and camera angles pointing to an obvious conclusion, quite the diffference in narrative from just 24 hours earlier at Easter Road.