Marvin Bartley has warned Stuart Kettlewell “it would be a waste of money” to appeal Liam Gordon’s red card against Celtic.
The Motherwell boss claimed the defender’s late sending off during Sunday’s clash at Fir Park was “so harsh” – insisting a yellow card would have sufficed.
Goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah saw Celtic cruise to a 3-0 victory over the Steelmen to reclaim their spot at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Gordon’s lunging challenge on Idah was upgraded to a red card following a VAR check after referee David Dickinson initially issued a yellow. When quizzed on the incident after the game, Kettlewell said: “We’ve all got an opinion on that type of challenge.
Read more:
“I just feel it’s so harsh to give the red card. I think, at the time, the referee has a look at it, he can see that Liam has made contact with the Celtic attacker, but the first thing you see on a screen is still images and it looks bad, of course.
“I spoke to the referee after it in a calm fashion, just to ask what he saw in the challenge. He spoke about hinging the Celtic player’s ankle.
“But my counter-argument to that is you’re talking about Liam at full stretch at that point, not really with any force whatsoever trying to get a toe-end on the ball.
“I acknowledge he doesn’t get that toe-end on the ball, but I don’t think he’s come in with any reckless intent or trying to injure the Celtic player.
“We can look at these things a million times on the screen. I think the referee got it right at the time when he gave a yellow card."
He continued: "If you are going to appeal something you have to believe that the people at the other end of it are going to take your points and see it the same way. I'll have a conversation with the hierarchy here and decide what we will do."
But pundit Marvin Bartley feels the Well boss would be wasting his time launching an appeal.
“I think when he sees it from different angles, he will understand exactly why it’s a red card,” Bartley said.
“I must admit from first seeing it live I thought it was just a booking, but you look at it from different angles and you realise it’s a terrible tackle.
"As soon as you leave the floor and catch someone at the height he has caught Adam Idah, you have to be sent off. I don’t think they will be putting an appeal in because it would be a waste of money in my view.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel