Have Rangers just played a blinder against the SFA?

As Rangers fans know only too well, Allan McGregor was cited for violent conduct over the studs incident during the Aberdeen match.

Rangers, curiously, pushed the hearing back till today, rather than it being heard on Tuesday.

There doesn’t seem to have been an obvious reason, but thinking a little deeper between the lines and a possible motive arises.

Yesterday news broke that Killie’s Alan Power would not be receiving any additional sanctions for that reckless kick to the head of Ryan Jack. This came as no surprise – not because it didn’t warrant it, but because he wasn’t a Rangers player (more on this later).

And then suddenly a penny drops – did Rangers delay the McGregor hearing in order to await the outcome of Power’s potential disciplinary action?

And by holding off till today, McGregor, theoretically, should have a much stronger chance of being acquitted given Power’s similar or worse challenge went unpunished – in other words, there was a precedent and we can see the barometer.

The SFA have made a rod for their own back with recent decisions, and Rangers may have played a blinder.

Had McGregor been heard yesterday, there would have been no strict measurement of what ‘other teams get’ in terms of a recent comparison. With Power having been acquitted, McGregor’s defence is much stronger, and it would seem logical to us that if he is given a two-match ban, or worse, it is perfectly legitimate to point at appalling inconsistencies and double standards in the way Rangers are governed compared with everyone else.

It is worth pointing out Chief Compliance Officer Claire Whyte has not taken a single piece of action against any Celtic player since she got the job, and there have been accusations she’s biased in their direction.

Whether there’s accuracy in that we couldn’t of course be certain, but if McGregor gets slapped with a ban, and Power got away scott free the day before, it becomes evident there’s an agenda against Rangers no matter how much the powers that be argue the hearing is independent.

This could have been rather well played, Rangers.