Hibs victim of referee 'shocker' vs Aberdeen as bafflement ignites over two Pittodrie decisions
Hibs had refereeing decisions impact their clash against Aberdeen on Saturday.
Sky Sports pundits have been left in unanimous agreement that Hibs were let down by officiating in their defeat at Aberdeen.
The Dons clinched a 2-0 win over David Gray’s side in a game that hinged heavily on two key calls by referee David Dickenson. His performance has been criticised after failing to identify a clear Grant Hanley challenge on Aberdeen forward Toyosi Olusanya in real time, needing to rely on VAR, before dishing out a red card and penalty kick.
His next blunder came as he was called to the monitor for a forearm hit by defender Emmanuel Gyamfi on Hibs striker Owen Elding. He decided it was only worthy of a yellow card, but former Rangers striker Kris Boyd couldn’t believe that upon review, Dickinson deemed it only worthy of a caution.
Possible Aberdeen red card vs Hibs assessed
He said on coverage of Rangers’ 6-3 win at Falkirk: “I've no complaints here, I think it is a red card, as Hanley gets the wrong side. The strength, from Olusanya to start with, you can see it there, and then the little pull. It's a penalty kick for me all day long. If anything, any complaint I've got, David Dickinson's looking right at it. He's got to see that in real time.
“I know there are a lot of people complaining about VAR but VAR bailed him out. Here again, it's a penalty kick all day long, it's a red card. No complaints from me here at all, as I said, apart from David Dickinson. He should have called it in real time.
“This one, it is a red card all day long. I mean, I cannot... one, he doesn't see it to start with. He then goes to the monitor, and you can quite clearly see, I mean look there, it's just a lash out,. It's incredible to think that he’s had look after look after look, and still not sent him off. It's violent conduct all day long. And then, there we go, there's the yellow card, I mean it's a shocker, it's a red card all day long.”
Hibs season assessed by rival
Livingston midfielder Scott Arfield also agreed an Aberdeen red card ought to have been dished out, taking a more playful approach, but admitted as a whole he’s been disappointed by Hibs at times this season. He got a first-hand look at the team when Livi drew 0-0 at Easter Road last month and believes there’s an element of caution within their ranks.
Arfield said: “It's a red card. David Dickinson, he's not the real deal, is he? We played against them a couple of weeks ago and I just expect so much more for Hibs. Like, the recruitment's been really good, good manager, they've got the fan base there. When we played against them at Easter Road, I just felt as if they were really within themselves.
“I was just disappointed and underwhelmed with the performance, and probably that's been, it's been the key. Even though they're sitting in a pretty position, but if Falkirk won, I think they're only two points behind Hibs. Hibs should be right up into, into their positions. I think they've got inconsistency written all over them at times.”