Hearts have their say on Jorge Grant's red card and a possible appeal after win against Motherwell

Hearts remain frustrated at Jorge Grant’s red card against Motherwell, but manager Robbie Neilson acclaimed a raucous atmosphere at Tynecastle Park following the 3-2 victory.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Grant was dismissed for a sliding first-half tackle on visiting midfielder Callum Slattery, and thereafter Andy Halliday’s double put the Edinburgh club 2-0 ahead. Louis Moult’s penalty and Blair Spittal’s goal mounted a recovery but, at 2-2, Lawrence Shankland’s late penalty proved decisive. Neilson confronted Kevin Clancy for an explanation on Grant’s red card after VAR backed the referee’s decision.

“I can talk all day about it, it’s just more discrepancies with VAR,” he said. “Last week we saw it with St Johnstone when the ref gave a red card. VAR asked him to look at it and he was downgraded to a yellow. Having seen it [Grant’s], and even at the time, I didn’t think it was a red card. Kevin’s thoughts at the time were that he was high and out of control and reckless.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“When you look at it, he’s definitely not high because he is on the ground, his studs are down. There is going to be some kind of velocity when you make a tackle, that’s part of football. I don’t think it ticked the boxes that he thought it did, I would have liked for him to look at it again. My belief is we’ve got VAR there for a reason and I think there was an opportunity to look at it again. I think, if he sees it, he changes his mind.”

Motherwell's Callum Slattery is tackled by Hearts midfielder Jorge Grant.Motherwell's Callum Slattery is tackled by Hearts midfielder Jorge Grant.
Motherwell's Callum Slattery is tackled by Hearts midfielder Jorge Grant.

Asked if Hearts would submit an appeal, Neilson replied: “I need to see what the angles are first, it all comes down to angles. I think VAR is a really good thing, I think how it is implemented is the problem.

“Looking at the [Motherwell] penalty with Craig Gordon, when you look at the real details of it, when the player plays the ball, yes they come together, but the spin of the ball changes so Craig gets a touch on the ball, hence he makes the save. The people watching VAR don’t understand that. You have to look at the ball not just the player and the goalkeeper. He [Clancy] said VAR agreed with him. I think there are a lot of discrepancies that need to get tidied up.”

Hearts supporters cheered their side from the field after a victory which puts them fourth in the Premiership. “I’m delighted with the spirit of the group, the club,” added Neilson. “The players brought the energy and that was reciprocated by the fans and you can see at the end there is a real belief that we can win these games. We know we’ve got a number of injuries but we have solutions as well, we’ve got guys who can come in. The objective was always to get close or to be third at the break and we’re around about it now.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Even at 2-2 I still felt there was a belief. Yes, Motherwell had opportunities and they put you under pressure but I always believed – with the players we had on the pitch and with Robert Snodgrass showing that composure – that we would get a moment and we clearly did.”