Gerrard: We all have a duty of care to game
RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard has urged the whole of Scottish football to be mindful of their duties in protecting the game’s reputation as it faces up to the prospect of another Covid civil war.
Gerrard was outspoken last April in branding the fall-out from the controversial vote that called the 2019-20 season ‘an absolute mess’ as well as demanding proper leadership from league chairman Murdoch MacLennan and an independent investigation into the SPFL.
The former Liverpool and England captain, whose Rangers side have a 20-point lead in the Premiership, has made it clear he wants to see
the season played to a finish after SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster admitted this term could be rendered null and void should the coronavirus crisis worsen and member clubs stage another ballot.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell also wrote to Championship clubs on Friday night to ask if they wanted to halt the campaign following the postponement of Leagues One and Two.
But Gerrard is conscious of defending the image of the Scottish game after the chaos of last year and has also asked those keen on a shutdown to consider what damage it might do after all the effort that has gone into keeping it going during the pandemic.
‘We’ve all got a responsibility — media, the people involved on the playing side, coaches and everyone in the suits above that — to protect the reputation of the game in Scotland,’ said Gerrard.
‘We don’t want to see a null and void. We don’t want to see a curtailed season where prizes are getting given out earlier than they should be. We don’t want to see teams being relegated when there are games to be played and competitions are still in place.
‘There has been a tremendous effort from everyone — even though the clubs and the players haven’t always got it right. There has certainly been a lot of hard work, effort and attention to detail to try to get the game back, and we were all happy and relieved when the season started again.
‘In Neil (Doncaster)’s interview, he basically said that everything is on the table right now, which I suppose he has got to say. I think you also have to take into consideration what the game — and what all elite sport that is continuing at the moment — has given the public in terms of a focus and the help and support it has given them during this tough time.
‘So I am not sure about taking football away. Of course, it might help in some areas, but it might have a detrimental and negative effect on the public in other ways.
‘There is a lot to be discussed and the good thing for me is to let the right people discuss that at the right times. It is out of my control.
‘My opinion will never change — and that is to finish competitions that have started this season.
‘Wherever we are within those competitions, I would want them to continue. For example, we are out of the League Cup. But the four teams left in there should have the chance to finish that competition.’