Dermot Gallagher and Neil McCann disagree with ex-Scottish refs on Alex Cochrane red card verdict

Dermot Gallagher and Neil McCann have gone against the tide of opinion by backing the decision to send off Hearts defender Alex Cochrane against Celtic. But two former Scottish referees believe Willie Collum, who expected to be given Old Firm derby to referee this weekend, made a huge mistake as VAR.

The Hearts left-back’s dismissal just before half time after a Collum’s intervention was the biggest talking point of Saturday’s Scottish Premiership match at Tynecastle, which Celtic went on to win 2-0 after gaining a one-match advantage.

Gallagher is a former English Premier League referee who delivers his verdict on Sky Sports each week on the most controversial decisions of the weekend north and south of the border. Most pundits felt VAR should not have intervened after referee Nick Walsh initially booked Cochrane for bringing down Daizen Maeda.

When Collum, the video assistant referee, asked Walsh to look again on the monitor, the yellow card became a red and furious Hearts boss Steven Naismith felt it had a significant bearing on the match. But Gallagher used a freeze frame image to back the officials’ decision to bring out the red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity, suggesting that Kye Rowles was too far back to stop Maeda from getting a shot on goal.

said: “One of my friends is a Hearts fan and he sent me a message last night saying he didn’t think it was right. But I think it is a red card and the reason is that the defender is not going to catch the player. Cochrane brings him down, he’s going to head towards goal, keeper can’t get the ball. The law says ‘will he get a shot away?’.

“I understand in normal play why it’s a yellow card because he has not seen that (the freeze frame image]. When he goes to the screen and sees what I’ve just seen, I think it is obvious it is going to be a red card.”

Former Celtic striker Andy Walker felt Walsh should have stuck with his on-field decision and criticised the use of still images to reach a decision. He said on Sky Sports: “It is nonsense to referee games with a still image as they have done again. You must take into account the pace of the player, the spin of the ball. It is not a clear and obvious error from Nick Walsh.”

Michael Stewart, Craig Levein, Chris Sutton, Pat Bonner, Stiliyan Petrov and James McFadden were among the pundits who all felt VAR should not have intervened, but but McCann disagrees. The former Hearts winger believes the correct decision was reached in the end.

He said on BBC Sportscene: “Honestly, I think they get there to the right decision. When the ball is played over the top, I looked at the line of Hearts and Maeda is so quick. Cochrane isn't in a bad position you know but it's accidental. So we need to establish is there contact enough for the free-kick? And there is, just, it's a little clip.

“No defenders are getting back to Maeda there. If there's not any contact, he's in on goal. He can square it to Kyogo so there's a goalscoring opportunity, not only for Maeda but for Kyogo. It is contact, it is a foul whether it's accidental or not. I don't think Kye Rowles would've got back to either Maeda or Kyogo. But I feel really sorry for Alex Cochrane and Hearts because it was accidental."

Co-pundit Scott Allan, the former Hibs midfielder, agreed that the decision was the correct one. He added: “I think I agree with Neil, they got there in the end. Maeda is that quick that he causes problems, if he takes the touch he's got the square on for Kyogo. Does Kye Rowles get back to him? I don't think so, so it probably is a clear goalscoring opportunity.”

Speaking to www.t10-digital.com, Steve Conroy and Des Roache, two former referees in Scotland, have explained why the Scottish FA will have little choice but to appoint Collum to the final derby of the season at Ibrox on Saturday even though, in their view, he got it badly wrong with the Cochrane call.

Conroy said: “Cochrane got wrong side and there is no question it’s a free kick. I agree entirely with what Nick did. It was a foul and a caution but it was not a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity. There was another Hearts player coming back and Maeda might have got past him or nutmegged him and scored but the law doesn’t allow for that.

“Not a chance that was a clear scoring opportunity and for VAR to get involved in that was shocking because it was not a question of fact, it was an opinion. VAR does not belong in realms of opinion. Willie should not be involved in that at all. The only reason I can think why Nick changed his decision is that there must have been chat from the SFA’s referee department that you don’t over-rule a VAR review.

“Ironically, as far as I’m aware, this has only happened once this season and it was Willie who stuck by his yellow card decision which proved to be wrong (Ryan Jack’s challenge on Adam Montgomery in Rangers’ win over St Johnstone in January).”

Roache added: “I can see why Willie had a look at it because Maeda is very fast and got ahead of his opponent, but Maeda was not in control of the ball. For me it was impeding, not denying a scoring chance. For me the VAR intervention is re-refereeing the game. We have said all season that Nick is our best referee and I just wish he had the courage of his convictions to stick by his decision rather than go with someone who is not up to the same level as him.”