Gerrard shares Kennedy’s anger at SFA inconsistency
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard says he agrees with many points raised by Celtic counterpart John Kennedy over the inconsistencies and punishments for Covid rule breaches – but defended his club’s appeal against the sanction imposed on five players last month.
The interim Celtic manager took issue with the Scottish Football Association’s handling of the case when a group of Rangers players including first-team members Calvin Bassey, Nathan Patterson and Bongani Zungu attended a gathering in Glasgow which was broken up by police in February.
They were handed six-match bans, but Kennedy criticised the time taken to impose the punishments and then to set the appeal hearing to be heard on April 20, thus permitting the trio’s availability for selection
against Celtic in the Scottish Cup next weekend.
Gerrard concurred that the governing body needs a more even hand when dealing with breaches, and punishments in general, and said Rangers have “been banging the drum for some time” seeking consistency.
However, querying the ban length when set against others earlier in the season, he believes the club’s pro-active approach in punishing the players immediately should also be considered. “I agree with what John said in terms of the inconsistencies and the punishments for all the Covid related incidents that have happened in Scotland,” Gerrard said.
“The boys made a mistake and at the time it was indefensible.
"We were at the forefront, being really sharp on this by suspending our players and giving them maximum fines, but that was our decision as a club - we weren’t told by the government to do this or they had to be suspended - that was my decision and a club decision and they missed certain games on the back of that.
“I was pretty firm and strong in terms of what I said to them face-to-face - it was not acceptable and the club was not pleased about it.
“But there are so many inconsistencies over the punishments.
"The Aberdeen lads got three games and it wasn't until the government stepped in and cancelled their games that they got punishments.
"Nothing came on the back of Celtic going to Dubai – we didn't hear anything on the back of that.
“[Boli] Bolingoli decided to go to a different country and then came back to train with his fellow players without telling anyone and went on to be involved at Kilmarnock. He was given five games with two suspended - I don't understand all the inconsistencies in terms of the punishments.
"People seem to think that if you break the Covid rules, every situation is the same. People compare this one to Jordan Jones and [George] Edmundson (who were banned for seven games after attending an illegal party) and when you know the details of each situation they are very much different, that's what we are appealing.
"But that's our business and I agree with a lot of what John said in terms of inconsistencies coming from the SFA, but we have been banging that drum for some time.”