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Opinion
What Dermot Gallagher said in 2021 shows his Declan Rice red card verdict was massively hypocritical
Arsenal were stuck in the middle of the most controversial incident over the weekend in the Premier League.
It is already the first international break of the season with Arsenal having gone their first three league games unbeaten.
However, Mikel Arteta‘s side will be coming out of the break and into the North London Derby with Declan Rice unavailable.
Rice will be set to serve a one-game suspension for his involvement in a controversial incident which saw him wipe off his feet by Brighton & Hove Albion’s Joel Veltman.
But the midfielder was shown a second yellow for kicking away the ball as the Brighton man went to take a quick free kick.
It is an incident which has divided the nation with differing views on whether Rice should have actually been shown a second yellow card.
What Dermot Gallagher said about Declan Rice’s red card
It really was a decision which divided football fans across the nation with Rice sent off through the letter of the law.
Rice knocked the ball away from Veltman as he went to kick it and, it has to be said, it was a silly thing to risk when he was already on a yellow card.
But the argument is that Veltman did not actually have any intention to take the free kick quickly with the ball still rolling.
Speaking on Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher claimed the referee was left with no choice but to send off Rice on Saturday.
“The players were told at the start of the season that if you delay the restart, you run the risk [of a booking], it was quite clear,” he said on Sky Sports.
“You think someone else should’ve got a yellow card, but that doesn’t exonerate what he did.
“Two things don’t help him. He knows what he’s doing, and secondly the touchline – people say he didn’t knock it very far, but he knocks it off the field and so they definitely can’t restart play.
“Chris Kavanagh has got nowhere to go. The second yellow is mandatory.”
What Dermot Gallagher said in 2021 about Henri Lansbury’s similar incident
Back in 2021, there was a very similar incident which saw Henri Lansbury wiping out Swansea City’s Ryan Manning.
Lansbury got away with just a yellow card for kicking the Swansea player, but, interestingly, Gallagher claimed he thought it should have been a straight red card.
“I just don’t know why it’s not a red card. I think everyone watching that would say it’s a red card,” said Gallagher.
“The player will say, ‘well I was going to try and kick the ball, it was our free kick.’ But if you put your boot in as hard as that on someone, it’s got to be a red card.”
An interesting viewpoint from Gallagher who has seemingly changed his mind on the matter over the years with the two incidents drawing very similar parallels.
The only slight difference is that the ball is actually still when Manning kicked it away but Gallagher still feels it was worthy of a red card.
And yet, when the ball was not eligible to be kicked by Veltman – as it was still rolling – Gallagher felt that the referee was right to provide Rice with the yellow card.
A very interesting find from just a matter of a few seasons ago.