Gerrard anger as Rangers win is marred by missile throwing
● Lighter thrown from Motherwell section ● ‘Players are in danger and it needs to stop’
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard says the missile throwing that has plagued Scottish football this campaign has to stop after another incident overshadowed his side’s 3-0 win at Motherwell yesterday.
Gerrard admits he is fed up discussing unsavoury antics on the terraces after Ibrox captain James Tavernier became the latest player to be targeted when he had to dodge a lighter thrown from the home support at Fir Park.
Referee Nick Walsh was forced to stop the action after the lighter was thrown at Tavernier as he ran over to the far touchline to take a throw-in.
The official took action to douse the first-half flashpoint when he called in police and stewards to surround the section housing the home side’s ultras group.
The incident did not deter Gerrard’s side as they claimed the win thanks to Scott Arfield’s first career hat-trick but Gerrard confessed he was frustrated seeing his team’s display again overshadowed by the behaviour of fans.
“It’s a sad thing to see in this league but there’s a lot of it going on and there’s a lot of other sad stuff that’s going on in world football,” he said. “It seems like we’re trying to send messages out every time we speak to the media, which is a shame.
“It’s dangerous for the players when there are objects thrown on to the pitch, whether it be a lighter or whatever it may be. It needs to stop.”
On the pitch, Arfield was consistently on target yesterday but afterwards the Rangers hero was in no doubt that the club’s inconsistency had ruined their season.
“It’s killed us,” he said after the 3-0 win. “We take so many steps forward then one back, it’s absolutely killed us. Hopefully, though, this will be a lesson learned and we will end up all the better for it.”
This was the first hat-trick of the midfielder’s career and he thanked Jermain Defoe for having set him up for the third goal when the striker could have scored himself. “I can’t believe he passed. No one in