Rangers forward Fabio Silva won’t get any sympathy from Andy Halliday.
The Portuguese forward, 21, is under increasing scrutiny for some high profile incidents which have led to accusations of diving.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers accused Fabio Silva of ‘simulation’ following the Old Firm draw, the striker having a yellow card overturned when he won a penalty against Alistair Johnston.
That moment has heaped the pressure on the forward and in the 2-0 win over Hearts, another incident has been branded the ‘howler of the weekend’ from ex-Rangers star Halliday.
Silva appeared to have a tap-in in the second half when Cyriel Dessers squared him the ball at Hampden but after flopping on the ball, the incident has drawn substantial criticism.
But with the likes of the BBC Sport commentary team suggesting Fabio Silva dived, Andy Halliday refused to be drawn on such accusations.
Halliday slaughters Fabio Silva
Andy Halliday was speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard after the conclusion of the Scottish Cup semi-finals this weekend.
After Celtic overcame Aberdeen on penalties, Rangers lined up the first Old Firm Scottish Cup Final in 22 years when they defeated Hearts at Hampden.
Now at Motherwell, Andy Halliday had the weekend off to enjoy the matches and that incident with Fabio Silva certainly caught his eye.
When asked for the ‘howler of the weekend’ Halliday, quick as a flash, responded “Fabio Silva”.
Expanding on the choice, Halliday said: “Cyriel Dessers does fantastic to get down the left hand side.
“He’s never scored a hat-trick for Rangers so fully expecting him to pull the trigger but he does the unselfish thing, pulls it back to a free Fabio Silva at the edge of the six-yard box.
“You’re asking me ‘what does he do?’ I don’t know. Does anyone know? I can’t believe he’s just managed to either get his feet muddled up or he’s anticipating contact.
“He’s just ended up on the floor when he had a tap in from six-yards out.”
Fellow pundit Roger Hannah then asked: “When you say anticipating contact, do you mean diving?
Andy Halliday then responded: “No comment.”
Expanding further, Halliday said: “Actually, I watched the replay back a couple of times and thought, has Dessers maybe pulled it a wee bit too far back and he’s sort of try to lean his body to get his feet back?
“But I don’t even think he does pull it back that much. Just swing your left foot.”
On Rangers star to change narrative
Fabio Silva has certainly made himself something of a target with his antics over the last few weeks.
Whilst we’re keen to give the Portuguese the benefit of the doubt, the Rangers star has already been spoken to by Philippe Clement about the situation.
But whilst Fabio Silva probably hasn’t helped himself, it’s interesting that the Ibrox forward is at the centre of analysis for these incidents.
There have been several high profile incidents by other players in the Scottish Premiership – not least Kyogo Furuhashi – which haven’t quite received as much criticism.
Why is that? Well, we reckon it’s because Fabio Silva is not producing enough on the field.
If the £35m Wolves loanee wants to silence his detractors, he needs to start putting his chances away and helping Rangers to win games.
