Todd Cantwell's Rangers 'dive' has put 'target' on his back as former ref calls for harsher punishment

A former referee has told Todd Cantwell he's got a 'target' on his back ahead of the new Rangers season after his penalty moment in a friendly with Olympiacos.

The winger is deemed to have dived by ex-whistler Des Roache as Michael Beale's men went down 3-1 to the Greek side at Ibrox. Goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis came sliding out his goal and Cantwell went down as he looked to take it round the goalie, with James Tavernier dispatching the resulting spot-kick.

Referee Steven McLean took his time before delivering his verdict and Roache has a thirst for more punishments if an official does deem a dive has occured. He told AltText : “It’s a clear dive. He was looking for it and bought it. Referees need to be strong on simulation. I have always said it should be a red card offence - it is cheating. Any player and not just Cantwell should be subject to the same sanction. Officials need to be strong on this. VAR would have got involved during a regular season match and Steven would have been encouraged to watch a review on the pitch-side monitor and overturn his decision, which I’m sure he would have.

“I think Cantwell could now have a target on his back in the new campaign because anyone looking at the incident from the Olympiacos game will feel he has definitely gone down looking for the penalty. As I say, this is an issue that really burns with me.

"The punishment for diving – or seeking to win a decision – is a yellow card and that’s nowhere near enough. We need to eliminate simulation from our game so the tariff has to be much higher.

“Players should be given a retrospective red card for cheating. I really hate simulation and I think the only way you are going to get rid of blatant cheating is to make it a