These players have been caught breaking the law. I don’t understand why there’s a delay in dealing with that
JOHN KENNEDY has learned that the wheels of justice in Scottish football can often grind slowly. What perplexes Celtic’s interim manager is why there is no way of predicting the precise rate at which they turn.
When Boli Bolingoli was charged by the SFA after playing at Kilmarnock in August when he should have been self-isolating, the punishment — a three-game ban with a further two suspended — was meted out 19 days after his transgression.
The so-called Aberdeen eight had 27 days to stew between their ill-advised visit to a city-centre bar and notification that they would be served with three-game suspended sentences.
Why then, Kennedy asks, has it taken the SFA a comparative age to deal with five Rangers players recently found to have broken Covid protocols?
It was the weekend of February 13-14 that Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear attended a party in Glasgow’s West End during lockdown.
It took 39 days before a hearing convened to hand them six-game bans — two of which are suspended — with a further five-day delay before it was announced.
As is their right, Rangers lodged an appeal on their players’ behalf on April 2. Last night, it emerged this will be heard on April 20 — three days after Kennedy takes his side to Ibrox on Scottish Cup business.
‘Bolingoli was punished and we accepted that was the right thing,’ said Celtic’s interim manager.
‘We were addressed very quickly in the situation we were in.
‘These (Rangers) players have been caught breaking the law themselves. The SFA have to address that quickly. It’s not our situation but, looking from the outside in, I don’t understand why there’s such a delay.
‘We had to deal with that punishment at the time. It’s consistency that again a lot of people in Scotland will ask for, whether it’s with officiating, the SFA disciplinary process or other things.
‘It should be very clear in terms of how you deal with situations like this. And, regardless of the player — how talented, how valuable he is — there comes a punishment when you step out of line in these situations.
‘We’ve been dealt with harshly in the past and had to accept it and we’ll have to wait and see what comes Rangers’ way.’
In any proper legal system, everyone has the right to appeal. However, Gerrard raised a few eyebrows when outlining one of the grounds for Rangers doing so in the case of the five last Sunday.
To point out that the circumstances differed from the case of Jordan Jones and George Edmundson — handed seven-game bans which were accepted — was one thing.
Yet his assertion that the five should have been treated more leniently on the grounds of their talent — Patterson especially — was curious, to say the least.
‘Steven’s got his reasons to do that and say that,’ Kennedy added.
‘Regardless if you are a talent or you’re not, you’ve still broken the protocols and there’s a punishment that goes with that.
‘Our players are talented. We paid money for them and have high hopes for them.
‘Look at the Boli Bolingoli situation. Yes, he broke the law and he was harshly punished for it and rightly so. It was a massive setback in terms of his career at Celtic. That’s the punishment for stepping out of line.
‘You can’t do it. It was made very clear to our players that these are the situations you can’t get involved in. One, because you’ll be punished for it. But also because it brings extra pressure and scrutiny on the club.’
By Kennedy’s reckoning, Celtic have already suffered to a certain extent through the delay.
Patterson’s appearance as a substitute at Parkhead on March 21 helped Rangers preserve their unbeaten league record. Zungu was an unused sub that day. A more efficient disciplinary process may have denied them that privilege.
While that game was on the lower scale of Old Firm importance, the Scottish Cup joust at Ibrox a week on Saturday has everything riding on it.
In Kennedy’s view, the fact that Patterson, in particular, will now be able to play in the game runs contrary to natural justice.
‘Players played against us who probably should have been banned,’ said Kennedy.
‘That is a by-product of this and I don’t know why this has taken so long. It happened eight weeks ago but I don’t have the answer to that. You’d need to ask the SFA directly. It’s something I think should have been dealt with a hell of a lot quicker to remain consistent with all the other decisions that have happened.
‘I’m saying protocols because we tend to use that word but, 100 per cent, they were breaking the law.’
Celtic’s failings this season have largely been self-inflicted yet Kennedy still feels sore that they had two matches against St Mirren and Aberdeen postponed at the insistence of the Scottish Government after the Bolingoli episode.
Asked if those postponements put the team at a disadvantage, he said: ‘They did, because we were then running behind and we had to fit those matches in somewhere else while losing a player who had been important to us,’ he recalled.
‘We can’t use that as an excuse because (Bolingoli) put us in that position and we had to deal with it. But we need to make sure there is consistency across the board.’
With Eddie Howe’s camp insistent that he won’t be returning to football until the summer, Kennedy appears to be in place as interim boss for the remainder of the season.
Sportsmail understands that, while a number of matters pertaining to staff remain unresolved after lengthy talks, negotiations are set to continue.
‘There is no frustration with me in terms of the position I’m in,’ said Kennedy ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Livingston.
‘The club are being calm about it and taking their time to make sure they make the right decision.’
Kennedy confirmed that the club have the right to effectively opt out of the final year of Leigh Griffiths’ contract this summer but was adamant no decision has yet been taken.
‘It’s something the club often do with contracts,’ he said. ‘If players sign a three-year contract then a lot of the time there is an option year at the end of that.
‘That’ll be a discussion between Leigh and the club as time develops until the end of the season.
‘When the time comes, if I’m asked my opinion on it I’ll give it. But, for Leigh and his privacy, that should remain private until that decision is made.’