DON'T TAKE THE MYK

I faced grapple master Amo so I know a shocking pen call when I see it

I USED to think Lorenzo Amoruso wanted a McManus Hibs shirt for his living room wall.

The former Rangers hero was an absolute master of the penalty box grapple, a typical Italian defender who would have such a tight hold of your strip at set-pieces you could hear the stitching start to rip.

He'd make sure he was the wrong side of the referee and was so clever about it. That was the art of defending back then.

Big Amo wouldn't last a minute in the VAR world we live in now. Certainly not if Colin Steven and Greg Aitken were involved.

Referee Steven and his video assistant Aitken cost Hibs two massive points in last Saturday's draw with Dundee United at Easter Road. They had an absolute shocker.

To penalise Mykola Kuharevich for holding Emmanuel Adegboyega's shirt in the 89th minute when the ball was nowhere near the players was ridiculous.

The fact Steven was sent to the monitor by Aitken was bad enough. That it took him more than three minutes to come to the decision to award a penalty was outrageous.

He was clearly looking to find something that wasn't there.

No Dundee United player claimed for it. The key point here is the two players were nowhere near affecting play.