The sound of silence from Rangers up until Steven Gerrard's Wednesday address surrounding the five Covid rule-breakers certainly wasn't music to the ears of our callers.
The Ibrox boss fronted up to club TV and named Bongani Zungu, Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear as the lockdown partygoers but many believe the club's official response should have come sooner.
It comes after they attended a house party in Glasgow and received fixed penalty warnings from police in the early hours of Sunday morning.
George Tyrell got the ball rolling with this assessment of the club’s PR strategy: “How sad it is that during the breach of the Covid restrictions there appears to be a complete shutdown of news from Ibrox.
“If Rangers want to be a big team in Scotland and in Europe they need to play ball with the media and every one of their employees need to abide by the country’s restrictions. We all would like to have a night out with friends. However I am sure that the stupid culprits who thought they were invisible are sweating out to see if they have a career.
“Right now these idiots need to come out up front and present themselves to the press take the consequences due from Rangers, the SFA and SPFL and then crawl away for a period of self isolation and reflection as they have not only brought shame to Rangers and their supporters but to all the football fraternity, and just maybe they might play top grade football in the future.”
Bobby Duncan, Skermorlie, added: “The silence was deafening coming out of Ibrox regarding their investigation into a house party where Rangers players were attending breaking Covid rules ... how long does it take to clear this up?”
Danny Robertson, Paisley, emailed: “Whilst having zero tolerance for any footballer breaching the Covid protocols I find the hypocrisy of the general public laughable. Calls for the employers of these footballers, the clubs they play for, to be penalised may very well be justified but what about the thousands of fixed penalties handed out to the general public? Are the employers of these people being held accountable for their employees actions?”
Tom Paterson, Falkirk, tried to lighten the mood with this offering: “As a lifelong Killie fan I have close friends on both sides of the Old Firm divide, so you can take this as slightly tongue in cheek! One of my pals is a Celtic fan and he came up with a great idea as punishment for the Rangers players’ Covid crimes - a points deduction of 20 points. That would sure make the League run-in REALLY interesting!”
Celtic’s half-yearly financials continue to provoke debate. Henry Moffat, Stirling, said: “Rangers fans are dreaming with this financial nonsense. Celtic may have a higher wage bill but not by that much and our turnover to outgoing ratio is much better than theirs, meaning we make a profit while they lose millions even in a year with fans in.
“This year they will lose a lot more than us - that is a fact. The Edouard sell on is just a rumour and will be for profit only.”
Eddie Easson, Ballingry, Fife, emailed: “In answer to Messrs Fulton and Baird on the Hotline - these two saw a loss of £5 million but failed to read the full article. Celtic still have a bank balance that eclipses every team in Scotland together. They have a billionaire owner who hasn’t needed to bail them out yet. Celtic won’t have to go out with a begging bowl to finish the season.”
Elsewhere, Frank McFerran, Carrickfergus said: “Does this retrospective refereeing happen in any other leagues ? I’ve only ever seen it in Scotland. A referee on the spot gives a yellow card but his judgment is disregarded. Strange rules.”
John Bruce, said: “It seems that Celtic fans believe that a new manager and a new team in the summer will see all their problems solved, like flicking a switch, and overtaking Rangers to win the league next season will then be a formality.
“Since Rangers returned to the top flight in 2016 with the aim of overtaking Celtic, they have had several team rebuilds and several managers and caretaker managers before getting it right with Steven Gerrard - who is now in his third year - before his project has finally borne fruit. Something to think about bhoys.”
Jimmy Murray, Edinburgh, emailed: “Can anyone remember headlines before the season started ? If Celtic win the 10 they will be better than the Lisbon Lions. And if Celtic win the 10 Lennon will be alongside Stein. Can’t write anymore as my sides are splitting with laughter.”
Stuart Pearson emailed to have a pop at regular Hotliner Gordon Ashley, saying: “Yet again more crap from the notorious Gordon Ashley who now wants an apology for Jim Goodwin’s comments on Greg Taylor, as he got it wrong. How many times has he been in this column spouting nonsense that was also wrong and how many times has he apologized for it? Look in the mirror and practice the same code of conduct you’re asking for on yourself first.”
Allan Docherty emailed with a radical solution to the diving debate, saying: “It would take a massive change in thinking to resolve the simulation/diving thing. Should the ref think a player has dived then award a penalty at the other end. That would solve the ‘I felt contact’ nonsense. Even outside the box give the foul up the other end.”
And finally, Alan Lough, Dunbar , emailed: “Barcelona were simply awful against PSG and are out of the Champions League before the 2nd leg is played. If Messi has any sense, it will be his last season at Barca, who are a burst flush and need to rebuild all over again.”
