Dermot Gallagher cites Rangers penalty as evidence of SPFL crusade and blustering Kris Boyd shut up in a sentence
Dermot Gallagher reckons penalties like the one Rangers got against Dundee are being given ALL the time in the Scottish Premiership.
There were more than a few major flashpoints across the top flight at the weekend with Tony Docherty's men feeling hard done by when Abdallah Sima saw his shirt pulled in the box and a penalty awarded to Rangers at Ibrox. That was before Philippe Clement's men suffered an affliction of their own when VAR decided a review was necessary in a Jose Cifuentes challenge on Amadaou Bakayoko that saw the Ecuadorian sent off.
Yet the former top official reckons spot-kicks for shirt pulls are a constant marker for VAR to point for a penalty, especially in Scotland. That means in contrast the protestations of raging Kris Boyd after he believed there was an identifiable handball missed by the officials by Alistair Johnston in Celtic's defeat to Kilmarnock have now fallen on deaf ears.
Gallagher told Sky Sports Ref Watch on Rangers' penalty: "He just grabs hold of him too long, it is very apparent in the SPL that anything like this is being penalised every week."
On Cifuentes, he added: "It's the way he comes in, he's almost stretched to make sure he gets on top of it. I think it's a red card, I don't think there's any need to do that whatsoever."
Boyd's analysis was way off according to the former top official, with the block made by Celtic's Canadian defender likened to that of an incident involving Kai Havertz in Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa. Gallagher believes the handball rule has been diluted, but offered the Hoops man a get-out clause.
He added: "It has been diluted (the handball law). It's like the one in the Celtic game, it clearly strikes Johnston's arm but he's on the floor so you can't give it
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