Ross County boss Malky Mackay didn’t sound happy with referee Don Robertson in the aftermath of his side’s 4-0 defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
Full-back Kayne Ramsay was shown a straight red card for his reckless lunge on Tom Rogic which forced the Australian out of the game with an ankle injury.
This came after two other Ramsay tackles that had the Celtic Park in uproar.
Mackay had issues with the red, telling a press conference after the match, which 67 Hail Hail attended: “Yeah [I had complaints]. I looked at it again quite quickly. His right foot comes through and takes the ball, I didn’t think there was a tackle on that foot. His momentum coming through sees his left foot come off the ground and that’s what the referee gives the sending off for.
“Letter of the law you could say his feet are off the ground but I don’t think there was any malice in it.
“It’s not something he meant to do and he clearly got the ball and played it away with that touch. At that point, the crowd are shouting and the referee gives it. Could it have been a yellow? Yeah, maybe.
“I asked the referee if he was sure. He said the two feet were up off the ground. I don’t think there was much in it. It is what it is.”
This is about as blatant a red card as you will ever see in the modern game, so I’m not sure why Mackay is making such a point of it after the game. Perhaps emotions are running high.
County were already 3-0 down at this point so it’s not as if it changed the game. If anything, County improved after this and managed to keep the score semi-respectable compared to what could have been the outcome.
Robertson didn’t have a great afternoon but I’d put that down to his lack of protection for players in the first half and a blatant missed penalty call. The red card was the right decision.
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