Ianis Hagi red card on Rangers return vs St. Johnstone celebrated by ex-ref as VAR victory

Ianis Hagi’s sending off on his return to the Rangers first team against St. Johnstone was a victory for VAR, says Bobby Madden.

 

The former Scottish Premiership referee took to his Instagram stories late on 7 October after the Romanian saw his booking upgraded to a straight red by David Dickinson in the 2-0 Gers victory.

Hagi stretched to challenge Benjamin Kimpioka but only succeeded in stamping on the inside of his standing leg to bring his 100th Light Blues appearance to an inglorious end.

 

But Madden was pleased to see video technology triumph, posting a still image of the foul with the caption: “VAR to the rescue again”.

 

Bobby Madden reacts to Rangers sending off at Ibrox

It was a red card and Hagi can have little argument, so the fact Dickinson initially booked him means the VAR involvement did what it should on this occasion.

The system is still used by officials in such a way as to frequently enrage fans and pundits but is arguably starting to settle from its widely unpopular introduction.

 

Hagi was making his first appearance for Philippe Clement after spending last season on loan at Alaves and then spending the first two months of the season frozen out in the B Team thanks to a contract dispute with the club [Sky Sports, 12 August].

That bizarre episode was belatedly brought to an end after negotiations behind the scenes where the 25-year-old gave up a wage rise in order to return to the team [Daily Record, 1 October].

Despite recording an assist off the bench for one of Vaclav Cerny’s double on the night his sending off will set him back thanks to a suspension.

 

It might suggest his time playing for the reserves left him rusty at this level, a situation which didn’t reflect especially well on the club or the manager.

In the mean time Cerny has rebounded from some rough outings, particularly in front of goal after glaring misses in back-to-back Europa League games, to prove the match-winner.

 

His excellent opener was reminiscent of the fantastic strike against Motherwell at Hampden Park on 10 August, and made his recent finishing all the more baffling, but if the Czech winger has found some form it is a definite positive.

 

In other Rangers news, another new contract announcement is on the way imminently at Ibrox