Frustrated Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has called on the footballing authorities in Scotland to give referees more backing as the conversation over the disciplinary process rumbles on.
The Gers have felt the brunt of the retrospective Compliance Officer process with two Ibrox stars – Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe – currently serving suspensions due to retrospective action.
The Ibrox club have railed against “confusion” in the disciplinary process with similar or worse incidents routinely going unchecked by the powers that be.
A visibly irritated Gerrard – and with good reason – railed against the current processes and suggested we may as well not have referees if we’re not going to back them.
“I think my view is shared by a lot of managers, a lot of players, a lot of supporters and people in the media that the compliance and SFA way that they go about certain things that happen on the pitch – it does need guidance and support,” said Gerrard [Sky Sports].
“My opinion won’t change. Whether that happens in the short, medium or long term we’ll have to wait and see.
“We appealed the Kemar situation because one, we felt that the game is getting refereed up here and we feel it is disrespectful to the officials and their performance on the night, when they are seeing incidents live.
“And two, we didn’t think there was any malice or intent in the challenge, though at the same time we understand it didn’t look great when you slow it down or show people it 40 times.
“The decision has been made and we’re disappointed because we miss another striker for two games at such a crucial important time and that’s not great.
“But we have a squad that’s good enough and there’s opportunities for other people to come into the team and try and make up for Kemar’s loss.
“In the report that we got, there’s certain language about how the incident wasn’t seen, or wasn’t seen clearly. But there was a yellow card given.
“The referee was about five yards away and there was a yellow card given.
“You can’t then, hours or days after a game, change your mind or ask someone else or three guys to come and re-referee the game.
“What’s the point of us having referees? Why don’t we just have no referees and we’ll make all the decisions hours or days after the game and go from there?
“It’s not right. It doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Strong words from Gerrard and we’re sure they will be feelings and comments echoed by much of the Rangers support.
Gerrard isn’t the only Scottish Premiership manager railing against the system either – the Gers got backing from one unlikely source this week.
