Celtic penalty farce shows Rangers ref row 'playing on officials minds' as offside debate sees VAR eviscerated

Michael Stewart has declared Rangers' row with the SFA over the penalty snub against Celtic is "playing on the mind of officials" after a flashpoint in the Buckie Thistle clash.

During the last derby clash, Alistair Johnston appeared to handle the ball as the ball was trickling out for a corner - with neither on-field referee Nick Walsh or VAR official Willie Collum awarding a penalty. Abdallah Sima was in an offside position in the build-up to the flashpoint but Rangers raised concerns to the SFA that the penalty had not been initially awarded by the matchday team to then be ruled out.

And there was a similar incident during the Scottish Cup showdown with the Highland League outfit. With the game goalless, Liel Abada appeared to be chopped down in the box by Jack Murray - with referee Chris Graham being sent to the monitor by Steven McLean in the VAR room. The penalty would not be awarded with both Abada and Matt O'Riley standing in an offside position.

Amid the lengthy VAR check, irked Stewart said on Viaplay: "It was offside regardless when the ball is played to him." Co-commentator pressed on if the ball was played by O'Riley, Stewart clapped back: "He is offside again. He is offside twice."

"There is no doubt Jack Murray catches him. It is quite clear for all to see he is offside. I am very, very surprised by this. There is a little touch, you could argue that it's a foul. But it's offside.

"This is where VAR gets a bad rep. As soon as the first replay is shown we can see it's offside, and now it has taken so long for a decision to be made when it is at moot point. Straight away from the first angle you can see it's offside."

Hamilton noted that the debate over the attacking phase of play was a hot topic