Rangers' 2-0 victory over St Mirren in Paisley was helped by a penalty that pundits have described as "extraordinarily soft", with James Penrice's tumble coming under scrutiny.
The Light Blues were awarded a spot kick by referee Nick Walsh when wing-back Penrice went down in the box under pressure from Buddies' defender Samuel Ramos. Whistler Walsh was backed up by Greg Aitken in the VAR room, and Ryan Naderi stepped up to break the deadlock, with Derek McInnes' men going on to secure the win and move within a point of Premiership leaders Celtic.
Pundits Question the Decision
Former Rangers and St Mirren striker Steven Thompson wasn't having the decision, telling BBC Sportscene: "Certainly for me, it’s in the extraordinarily soft category. I don’t think there is enough to warrant a penalty."
Former Ibrox midfielder Andy Halliday admitted he would have expected VAR to step in: "I have always had a bit of a grievance with the clear and obvious stigma, I think it’s a bit of a hindrance for referees. I didn’t necessarily blame Nick Walsh for giving the penalty in normal time, because initially I did think it was a penalty kick."
"But I think the threshold has got to be so much higher for this type of contract to be given as a penalty. I don’t think there is anywhere near enough for this to be given as a penalty. Whether there is a slight glance on the thigh, or contact with boot on boot, I don’t think that is enough to be a penalised offence."
Penrice's Reaction Criticised
Thompson vented on the reaction of the AEK loanee: "I am not having Penrice’s reaction either. Clearly you can see there is very little contact, it’s not going to be sore. He goes down right in front of the referee and that can influence a referee."
Halliday went on: "I don’t necessarily blame Nick Walsh, I am looking at VAR to bring him over to the monitor to have a second look. I don’t think there is sufficient enough contact there."
Thompson stated that Derek McInnes would have had a strong response had the call gone against Rangers: "Always in these situations, home supporters say that if the penalty is against you then it shouldn’t have been - but imagine it was on the other foot, and Derek McInnes was asked if that penalty was given against Rangers. I am pretty sure he would have said that it shouldn’t have been."
Further Criticism from Former Referees
Halliday added: "He has already had grievances, I think with the penalty for Hibs at Ibrox that we deemed soft. When it goes for your own team, you can kind of take those ones. But like I said if that level of contact is a penalty kick every game, then that is a worry."
Former referees Steve Conroy and Des Roache also questioned the call. Posting on The Ref's View podcast X account, they said: "Very soft penalty, doesn’t look to be a lot of contact. VAR should be overturning that."
