Declan Gallagher of Livingston will mostly be remembered this week as the guy that goaded Rangers players after Sunday’s game.
Today, the centre-back has opened up why he did it. Unsurprisingly, the former Celtic youth product hasn’t apologised for his actions.
Instead, apparently it was Rangers’ fault for his post-match exuberance. Apparently, Daniel Candeias didn’t shake the Livingston man’s hand, which led to the post-match scuffle. Below, you can see Gallagher’s reaction to the situation from his official Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/DeclanGalla/status/1047086831551111169
Gallagher has said the right kind of stuff here. But there’s no feeling of regret about the incident in question, and certianly no apology.
If Candeias has indeed refused to shake hands then there’s no doubt that’s a poor show. But if that is indeed the case, then why was Gallagher all over the place post-match?
Did Borna Barisic, Alfredo Morelos, and Andy Halliday all refuse to shake his hand? That would be a little hard to believe, yet Gallagher was still in all of their faces post-match.
Indeed, there’s no room for an apology in Gallagher’s words, and they certainly don’t match his role in what happened after the contest.
Big scalp
It’s clear that Rangers are becoming a big scalp this season. The elation in the likes of Gallagher and Ricki Lamie’s faces at full-time in particular showed just how much beating Steven Gerrard’s side meant.
Rangers have also had previous of being goaded quite severely in the past. Hibernian fans’ infamous invasion of Hampden after the Scottish Cup final of 2016 comes to mind. Motherwell supporters also did the same after the Championship play-off final back in 2015.
Sunday wasn’t on the same scale, but instead it was the players dancing around looking like clowns. The scenes were needless, and Gallagher would’ve done himself more credit by just walking away.
As for the likes of Candeias, if that’s the kind of attitude he’s going to have after losing games then there’s no place for it. Not shaking fellow professional’s hands post-match are a big sign of immaturity. It’s not the kind of act Gerrard will want from his players after matches.
James Tavernier has already criticised his team-mates for getting involved, and Candeias would do well to listen to his captain.
