Philippe Clement was praised for not attempting to “defend the indefensible” after Ianis Hagi was sent of in his Rangers return, by Behind The Whistles.
The podcast run by former officials Des Roache and Steve Conroy reacted via X on 7 October to agree the Romanian’s challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka was a sending off, after David Dickinson upgraded the initial booking following a VAR review.Rangers won the game 2-0 on 6 October after a double from Vaclav Cerny, with Hagi making his 100th appearance for the club, and Clement said afterwards it was a “clumsy” foul but the type of high-footed challenge was something he didn’t want from his players [Daily Mail, 6 October].
Behind The Whistles wrote: “Red Card was correct and credit to his manager for coming out post match stating that he doesn’t want to see his players making these kind of tackles rather than attempting to defend the indefensible.”
They did, however, agree it wasn’t a malicious foul: “It was rusty challenge from someone out a long time who was keen to make up for missed time. It endangered his opponents safety and caught him high. For SFP there doesn’t need to intent. It was the right decision.”
