Time to look for the positives in Scottish game
Steven Gerrard believes it’s t i m e t o s t o p squabbling and start selling Scottish football. The Rangers manager is concerned that players from England and abroad could think twice about moving to the SPFL because of the constant controversy.
Gerrard has been in the thick of the arguments – voicing his opinion on referees, plastic pitches and the views of rival managers.
The 38-year-old admits it’s regrettable that few people are talking about the quality of the recent game between Aberdeen and Rangers at Pittodrie.
All the attention has been on refereeing and red cards – starting with Scott Mckenna and Alfredo Morelos being sent off. Gerrard said: “What we all want, and what we should all strive for – the media, SFA, players, managers – is to talk about the football and the players.
“That’s what we’re all here for, to talk about the games, the contests, the head-to-heads, the individuals.
“For me, we should be talking about Mckenna and Alfredo and how competitive that battle is and how lucky we are to sample that, rather than talking about how long they are going to miss. “We need to focus more on football. “Aberdeen v Rangers had everything. It had a top centre-back and a top centre-forward having an absolute war on the pitch, which was fascinating to watch.
“Aberdeen finished the stronger team under the lights at Pittodrie and it was an unbelievable game. “The people that watched it, and I had feedback from, they absolutely loved it.
“I’m sure there is going to be another one if we manage to get through Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup replay, which is great for everyone to look forward to.
“It’s only normal that some of these decisions will be up for debate, the shame was that it ended 10v10.
“For me, there should have been common sense applied and let’s see that battle for the 90 minutes, because I was absolutely loving it.” The Ibrox boss hints that he would rather call a truce with other bosses.
He said: “With the SFA and officials, I’m one who will try to back, support and accept decisions. But with an eye on, hopefully, trying to get it more consistent and a better process.
“In terms of going toeto-toe with managers and decisions, I think we need to try to maybe move on from it.” Rangers will play Kilmarnock seven times this season and will play Aberdeen six times if they beat Killie in Wednesday night’s cup replay at Ibrox. Gerrard went on: “You just have to adapt and be ready in case you face a different formation, or different personnel, because of previous results.
“We’d love the opportunity to play Aberdeen again. But we have a very tough game we have to deal with first against Kilmarnock.”