Two former Scottish refereeing officials have given a scathing report about Connor Goldson who was fortunate to escape penalties on three separate occasions for handling the ball in the box which included the game against Celtic.
One of those incidents came in the derby clash at Ibrox against Celtic where he blocked Carl Starfelt’s shot with his two hands as the Hoops trailed 2-1 in the match.
Officials didn’t check the incident and it could of played a major part in the title race had the Hoops not went on to clinch a late equaliser from Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi.
Since the introduction of VAR technology into Scottish football, it has been met with some amount of criticism from clubs in the top flight as it has only appeared to bring into the focus the poor standard of refereeing in Scottish football.
Both Steve Conroy and Des Roache who are now retired grade one officials admitted that all three incidents should have resulted in a spot kick being awarded to the opposition if the rules of the modern game were applied correctly.
“Under the current laws of the game, the decisions were not given correctly. The ball bounces up and hits his arm against Ross County, the ball falls out of the air and hits his arm against Dundee United and he holds his hands to protect his good looks against Celtic, said Roche speaking to [Grosvenor Sport].
“Ninety-nine per cent of the population would say all three are penalties. He shouldn’t be in a Rangers strip he should be wearing a Harlem Globetrotters outfit. It beggars belief the difference in interpretation of decisions between referees. It’s making a mockery of things. No other league in Europe has such a variance in what is given as a handball.”
That’s became a current theme when the Ibrox club are put into focus as they haven’t conceded a penalty in the league since January last year compared to conceding two in the Champions League group stages.
Other penalty decisions given across the board were also brought into context as Conroy used Celtic as an example once again as to when penalties should and shouldn’t have been give.
“You look at decisions given against Celtic’s Matt O’Riley when the ball bounced up and hit his arm and then Efe Ambrose – against Celtic for Morton – when he couldn’t possibly get out of the way, then what is the difference?”
