DONS ROCKED
Club to investigate breach that sees EIGHT players go into isolation but game with St Johnstone goes ahead
ABERDEEN last night launched an immediate investigation into the events which saw two first-team players test positive for Covid-19 after socialising in a city-centre bar.
In a dramatic day at Pittodrie, it emerged that, in total, eight players have now been placed in self-isolation after eating out in the city’s Soul bar following Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Rangers.
The players showed no symptoms when they turned up as scheduled to train at the club’s Cormack Park complex on Sunday morning. But, after adopting extensive measures to create a bio-secure training hub, the club’s management are deeply unhappy with what one source branded ‘a real lapse of judgment’.
The two players who tested positive will now be quarantined for ten days. On Scottish Government advice, the six others will self-isolate for 14 days.
All will miss Aberdeen’s clash with St Johnstone in Perth tomorrow which goes ahead as planned, a midweek home game with Hamilton and next weekend’s trip to Parkhead to face Celtic. Most of the group will return to training just six days before a Europa League qualifying tie on August 27.
The Dons bombshell comes as public health officials wrestle with a steady rise in coronavirus cases in Aberdeen. First
The sky is the limit with him. He can score goals at any level
NOW at the seventh professional club of his career, Jermain Defoe has learned how to cope with the mental contortions of transfer speculation.
To that end, the former England international has some blunt advice for Alfredo Morelos.
Put down the phone, leave the negotiating to Rangers, Lille and your agent, and focus on scoring goals.
Ruled out of last night’s Europa League clash in Germany with a hamstring problem, Defoe obviously can’t control whether the French club come back with an offer for the Colombian which Rangers find acceptable.
But the 37-year-old striker is ready to lend his years of experience to a team-mate at the centre of nagging speculation after Rangers snapped up attacking duo Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten earlier this week.
‘I would just say to him: “Don’t even get involved”,’ said Defoe. ‘Literally.
‘When you are young, sometimes you can become anxious. Especially for him when he sees two new forwards have come into the football club.
‘Just get your head down and play football. If I was Alfredo, I wouldn’t even think about it.
‘I would put my phone down and I wouldn’t even speak to my agent.
‘I would just let them take care of whatever is happening, get my head down and play football.
‘At the end of the day, this is what we do. We play football and we let the football do the talking.
‘That’s what people say and that’s the best way to approach any situation like this.’
Despite jousting for one starting place up front, Morelos and Defoe have forged a professional bond based on mutual respect.
While the temperament and discipline of the South American have been questioned, the Englishman has played with some of the biggest names in the game and believes his talent and potential are limitless.
‘I’ve always said the sky is the limit with him,’ said Defoe at the relaunch of the Castore Rangers megastore at Ibrox.
‘He is a natural goalscorer and I believe that when you are a natural goalscorer you will score goals at any level given the chances.
‘From day one when I came into the football club he really impressed me. His hunger for goals was always there.
‘Even when he missed chances he was always getting into those same areas to try again, which is a good sign. He is a natural goalscorer and I believe he can score goals at any level.’
To that end, Defoe is ready and willing to offer any help and guidance he can. Acknowledging the benefit he derived from others lending him a word when he started out, he recalled: ‘When I was young at West Ham, I had Ian Wright and he was unbelievable with me.
‘I was like a sponge. I used to watch how he used to train. I used to clean his boots.
‘And to get to this stage of my career, I can give something back to someone like Alfredo…
‘We had a situation where he was scoring goals and running over to the bench to me and that was nice.
‘As a senior player, it’s always nice to help a younger player to improve.
‘I have always been approachable if they want to come and speak to me. I will always listen and try to help.’
Defoe regards himself as a team player, with nothing left to prove to anyone. And if new signings Roofe and Itten want or need help to get Rangers to where they want to be as a club, then he will offer it willingly.
‘You know what, I remember watching him (Roofe) at Leeds,’ continued Defoe. ‘He really impressed me.
‘I am delighted we’ve got someone like that because, at the end of the day, I just want to achieve something special here.
‘It’s a special football club and the demands and the pressure mean that every game you have to play well and you have to win trophies.
‘That is something that I craved before I came here. Before I came here it was an easy decision. You walk round the training ground and walk round the stadium and see all the history on the walls and you just want to be a part of it.’
Not everyone thinks so, of course. This week, former Spurs player Jamie O’Hara — now manager of mighty Billericay — became the latest talkSPORT pundit to take a swing at Scottish football when he claimed Steven Gerrard should leave Ibrox for a ‘bigger job’ at Bournemouth.
Speaking after the comments were slapped down by former Rangers boss Ally McCoist, Defoe laughed: ‘I know Jamie and he’s that sort of character, he’s not shy.
‘When I saw it I laughed. I couldn’t believe it. I was thinking: “Jamie, why say that?”.
‘I listened to what Ally McCoist said and that was quite funny but I hope afterwards he realised what he said.
‘It’s difficult for me because I played for Bournemouth, but let’s be honest, there’s no comparison.
‘The size of this football club is massive with an unbelievable fan base. It’s laughable what he said.’
Rangers were yesterday taking the latest step in their drive to improve their business model away from the pitch. How they freed themselves from an onerous merchandising deal with Sports Direct remains unclear.
Yet Rangers commercial director James Bisgrove believes the new tie-up with Castore has the potential to be ‘the most valuable in Scottish sport’.
Helping to promote the opening of the new megastore, Defoe is hopeful of returning to what he does best after suffering a hamstring strain in a pre-season meeting with Motherwell.
‘I’m not far away,’ he added. ‘I’m probably a week away.
‘I’ve ticked every box in terms of the hamstring. It’s good and I’m getting back to normal.
‘To be honest, I would rather have it now than midway through the season.
‘I’ve had time to sort out my hamstring problem. I didn’t miss any pre-season sessions which was good, so in terms of fitness, I’m just ticking over. I’m happy with where I am.’
Undeterred by the arrivals of two new strike rivals, Defoe added: ‘I’m excited by it. Throughout my career, I’ve always been excited by new players coming in, whether they are strikers or midfielders and I want to see how good they are.
‘Bringing players in is part and parcel of the game now, especially if you want to achieve something special. I’m looking forward to seeing them both.’