If there was one blot for yesterday’s excellent victory over Aberdeen we are sure many fans know what it was. Yes it is the incoming near certain ban for Nico Raskin after his Squirtgate incident featuring an Aberdeen fan.
The Squirtgate moment
Obviously something was said somewhere. It was almost certainly by the fan yelling at him as he ran down the tunnel. The Belgian however instead of keeping his cool squirted the lad with his drinks bottle.
Fans and reactions
Of course it was much mirth for Rangers fans. Of course the galleries loved it. We did too to be fair. But the authorities will come down on Raskin. He will get reprimanded for that just like Vaclav Cerny. Of course the Czech escaped with a warning, but we’re not sure the SFA will be as lenient this time.
Why it matters
The fact is that players cannot interact and “abuse” fans in this way. This is despite the fact that the fans do it to the players every single match. Regardless of what was said Raskin should not have done that.
A key difference
Unlike the Cerny incident the match did mean something. In the previous iteration it was Barry Ferguson’s Rangers who had gone to Parkhead with that colossal victory during the split when the league was already gone. Nevertheless this one had something counting on it. A lot was counting on it.
Consequences
All matches at the moment most certainly do matter. In these circumstances doing that to a fan will only get repercussions back. It was a bit silly and was a bit stupid. It was certainly funny of course. But the authorities will not take a positive view of that at all.
What could happen
The fact is that Rangers will get punished. Whether Raskin gets a ban or the club gets a fine we cannot possibly know. But Raskin unfortunately has given the club and the authorities an excuse to act.
Final thought
That is not ideal. It is not great. It is definitely not what we could do with and not from Nico Raskin. Thankfully the majority of the news is positive at the moment. At least this is only one slight negative.