Steven and Neil were well within their rights to go public with their problems
Over the past week, the managers of Rangers and Celtic have lacerated a few of their players in public.
Steven Gerrard made it abundantly clear that the attitude and desire displayed by Alfredo Morelos in training in the build-up to last Saturday’s SPFL game against Kilmarnock was simply not good enough.
This was not the Colombian’s first offence, either.
The Ibrox manager chose to inform the supporters via the media after his team had beaten Kilmarnock comfortably, with Morelos’s replacement, Kemar Roofe, on the scoresheet.
Neil Lennon also went public after his side had been on the receiving end of a
2-1 Champions League qualifier defeat to Ferencvaros at Parkhead.
It was a scoreline few expected and a shocker for the Hoops.
It sees them miss out on the financial rewards of the Champions League – for the third season on the trot – and also denied the prestige of being involved alongside the biggest clubs on the planet.
Losing clearly hurt Neil, and he made the decision to openly accuse players of not wanting to be at the club.
He didn’t single any player out by name. It was an all-encompassing statement.
While Steven was specific, and Neil was generalising, a lot of people were surprised both managers chose to act the way they did.
I think these days they call it “throwing your players under the bus”.
Usually, things are kept in-house and players are protected to the maximum.
My view is that as long as the managers are telling the truth, they are quite right to deal with situations as they see fit.
We are not all privy to exactly what has been going on inside both training camps in the past two or three weeks, but things may well have been festering.
It is very seldom, if ever, a manager will go through his entire career and not have to deal with a situation when a player wants to try something different.
Perhaps both Steven and Neil have tried the “arm-around-the-shoulder” approach with a few of them, and it hasn’t worked.
So they decided to go with both barrels in front of the media.
Some were surprised that Steven and Neil chose to go down the route they did, and accused them of taking massive gamble with their playing staff.
But that is their right.
They choose the team, the formation and give tactical instructions to win games.
I’ve never known a gaffer pick a team to lose. What Steven and Neil will be wanting to see now is strong leadership from within the squad.
Sometimes when you have a player – or players – who is unhappy or trying to get away to another club.
They try to spread poison around the dressing room and be disruptive.
One or two might be easily led, and I’ve seen that happen.
But in those circumstances, you want your captain and other experienced lads to stand up to any potential troublemakers and put the individual in his place.
If every avenue is exhausted, then you must move the player on. Let him go.
But choose a moment that suits you. You try not let the player – or his agent – dictate the situation.
You need to be aware, however, that things can sour very quickly, and it is unhelpful if a player has a twisted agenda.
In the build-up to yesterday’s game away to Hamilton Accies, Steven said that, mentally, Morelos was in a better place.
Neil, speaking ahead of the today’s home clash with Motherwell, appealed for harmony and for every player to focus fully on the prize.
Celtic will play a Scottish Cup semi-final in November as they try to edge towards 12 domestic trophies in a row.
They also have 10-in-a-row to try to win, and a chance to get into the Europa League group stages.
They have one helluva campaign ahead. For Rangers, they are trying to stop my former club in their tracks, and also win their first major trophy in almost a decade.
They will continue to be active in the transfer market, while Celtic strengthened on Thursday, buying David Turnbull from Motherwell for a fee in excess of £2.5-million.
He is a talented young footballer and I believe he has a really bright future.
But every Old Firm supporter should also prepare for the eventuality of one or two being sold.
What they will be keeping their fingers crossed for is that it isn’t an established first-team star.
However, we all know money talks, and I expect the transfer window to be ramped up in the UK over the next two or three weeks.
Scottish football is never dull and we have some tasty stuff to look forward to.
As ever, strap yourselves in.
Unhappy players try to spread poison around the dressing room and disrupt things