Steven Gerrard has been speaking about fans attacking players on the pitch today, admitting he’d remove his team from the field if he thought they were under threat.
The Rangers manager was speaking in a press conference before the Gers crunch tie with Aberdeen. The Gaffer was quick to condemn fans coming on to the pitch and highlighted the need for player safety.
Gerrard was expressing his concern in the wake of a Hibs fan attacking James Tavernier on Friday night.
“Yes, of course [I would take my team off the pitch] if there was a situation that I thought it was necessary to do that,” explained Gerrard. “What we’d do is we would speak to the police and the officials on the day and we would make a collective decision.
“But it’s certainly a decision I would support if any of the players – my players or opposition players – were at risk, of course.”
Gerrard also highlighted his concern over the safety of Rangers’ players. He said security would “be on their toes” going into the match with Aberdeen.
The former Liverpool captain then spoke about the nature of his press conferences recently. He discussed coming in to speak to the press and “not really talking about football which is a bigger concern.”
He used the word concern again when describing the impact of fan behaviour on the image of the game, adding “it’s not right at all”.
The Gers Gaffer’s strong words prove a sensible voice amidst the chaos of Friday night’s incident on the pitch.
BBC Scotland came under fire from supporters in the aftermath of the incident. Fans were furious when they deleted a tweet which they felt misrepresented Tavernier’s role in the incident.
