SFA charge leaves Gerrard facing Old Firm touchline ban
RANGERS last night expressed bemusement at the ‘bizarre’ SFA charge that could threaten Steven Gerrard’s touchline presence in the first Old Firm game of the season. The Ibrox manager has received a notice of complaint over comments made following a 4-0 win over Dundee United earlier this month, during which Alfredo Morelos was stretchered off with a gash in his leg after a high challenge from Ryan Edwards. Edwards escaped any punishment for the incident as referee Kevin Clancy chose to take no action. Speaking afterwards,
Gerrard refused to say that the United defender should have been shown a red card, but pondered whether Morelos would have been treated in a similarly lenient fashion. ‘I’d be very interested to see what the decision would have been from the officials had the shoe been on the other foot and it was Alfredo who had made that tackle,’ he said. That has led to Gerrard being accused of a breach of SFA rule 72, pertaining to comments which ‘indicate bias or incompetence’ on the part of match officials. A hearing is scheduled for October 8. If Gerrard is hit with a touchline ban, he could be absent from the technical area for the trip to Celtic Park nine days later. Rangers vowed to vigorously defend their manager as they took aim at the charge in a statement released yesterday afternoon. It read: ‘Rangers are bemused that a notice of complaint has been raised against Steven Gerrard, for comments relating to the challenge which caused injury to Alfredo Morelos. ‘This is a bizarre charge which we will robustly contest at the scheduled hearing. ‘As is often the case, Steven Gerrard was asked for his view on a flashpoint in the match, with leading questions relating to the challenge that caused the injury and whether it should have been deemed a red card. On several occasions, he refused to do so. ‘Given the wide range of incidents in
Scottish football so far this season, we are perplexed that this issue has been raised and cited for complaint. ‘Whilst our national sport faces an unprecedented crisis, it is baffling that resources are used to charge Rangers’ manager based on a flawed and inaccurate interpretation of Steven Gerrard’s remarks. ‘Rangers will fully support its manager against this charge during the scheduled hearing.’ Morelos received stitches to the wound on his thigh but there was no lasting damage. He returned to score a double against Lincoln Red Imps and followed that up with another goal in Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Hibs. The Colombian is expected to start tonight’s Europa League tie against Willem II in Holland.