It almost went unnoticed against the ear splitting racket created by the SFA’s car crash of a compliance process.
The clattering furore caused by the lamentable let’s-make-it-up-as-we-go-along handling of incidents involving Alfredo Morelos, Darren McGregor, Scott Brown and Albian Ajeti may have drowned out the message or at least distracted attention away from its significance.
But, nonetheless, something Steven Gerrard said in passing last week, when he called for a greater level of consistency from those inside Hampden’s nerve centre, struck straight to the heart of his own blossoming as a Rangers manager.
“I think as a club it’s something we’ve spoken about in great detail. Everyone is aligned and together we’ve tried to dial the noise down around the club, the unnecessary noise,” was how Gerrard put it.
Dial down the noise.
It may not sound like much but the fact that Gerrard now feels sufficiently empowered to control the narrative coming out of his club tells its own story.
It was not all that long ago that he was being blind-sided and occasionally embarrassed by a prolifically bad tempered PR machine inside Ibrox, which spluttered out one ill-judged statement after the next without pausing to reflect on the damage being done.
Gerrard was left to front each one up while also attempting to build a team capable of delivering success on the pitch. In his first job in management, under ferocious scrutiny and unimaginable pressure.
It’s little wonder he shrugged his shoulders and focused on doing his own job with great diligence and immaculate professionalism . They call it ‘controlling the controlables’ at coaching school.
But there’s a big difference between the remits of a coach and a manager and Gerrard’s burgeoning influence behind the scenes at Rangers is indicative of his own growth in the job. It’s no longer just the first team squad that is under his control, it’s the entire club, and Rangers are all the better for tucking in behind his leadership qualities.
On Sunday, after they had slipped up at Hamilton, Gerrard spoke again with admirable honesty. Conceding that he was relieved to get away with just one point given the sloppiness of his team’s performance, Gerrard also heaped praise on the opposition for their herculean efforts while admitting that he too must share the blame for leaving too many of his best players sitting on the bench.
His summation was spot on on every level and it’s likely he’ll have learned yet another lesson from this latest hiccup. For example, subs Steve Davis and Ryan Jack did more in the final stages of this match than Bongani Zungu managed for the best part of an hour spent plodding around the centre of midfield.
With his team now within touching distance of a first title in ten years, Gerrard chose an odd time to take such a risk and he’s unlikely to make the same mistakes again over the remainder of the run in.
But he went on to confirm his intention to appeal against the SFA’s decision to hit Kemar Roofe with a retrospective suspension for a lunge on Murray Davidson during Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone, which brings us nicely back to where we started.
Once again, Gerrard is absolutely correct to question the absurdly ad hoc nature of the disciplinary process which appears to have suddenly sprung back into existence over these last few weeks, ever since Morelos was caught on camera at Easter Road, doing what Morelos does.
Given that there is currently no Compliance Officer sitting on Hampden’s sixth floor following Clare Whyte’s resignation from the post, it does all seem like the SFA are busy getting themselves into one almighty fankle where trial by TV is concerned.
The decision to go after Morelos for a blatant stamp on Ryan Porteous was the right one. But because of it - and as a consequence of not throwing the book at Darren McGregor for committing the same foul in the same match - the beaks now appear to have been bounced into blind panic mode.
As a result, they are now straying towards the serious danger of re-refereeing matches from behind the office desk - and particularly those games involving either half of the Old Firm.
Today Celtic’s lawyers will argue that Ajeti should not have been subjected to a review for winning a penalty at Kilmarnock last Tuesday night. Given that the video evidence shows beyond doubt that there was indeed contact between the striker and Killie’s accident prone keeper Colin Doyle, this is going to be a hard one for the SFA to win.
Yes, Ajeti went down like he’d been hit by a sniper’s bullet but that’s not the point. Only he knows for sure if he could have stayed on his feet so unless they’re going to strap the player up to a polygraph the burden of proof looks like a tricky one for the men in blazers to achieve.
And then there’s a subsequent hearing for Roofe who was booked on the night for chopping horribly into Davidson’s ankle even though it seems reasonable to assume the striker was most probably attempting to get his left foot around the ball rather than deliberately sinking it into the St Johnstone man’s sock.
Now that he’s up in the dock for it Roofe will be lucky to escape without a ban.
But none of that weakens Gerrard’s call for the entire process to be applied with a greater degree of consistency regarding which incidents are selected for review and on what basis as right now it does appear as if they are being plucked out of thin air.
Gerrard has been careful with the language he has used and the measured tone with which he’s delivered it. He’s perfectly entitled to ask for fairness, transparency and parity across the board but he’s also correct not to go stamping his feet and screaming ‘injustice’ like some of the vein popping tantrum throwers from Rangers’ recent past.
By keeping calm and staying classy, Gerrard is showing those above him how a big club is supposed to act.
