Ibrox Noise decided to remain fairly quiet on the outcome of the tribunal for Derek McInnes’s four-match touchline ban. A fourth match in itself was suspended.
The incident at Parkhead
Of course, this all harks back to last season and what McInnes said after Celtic took the title at Parkhead against Hearts.
He, of course, discussed how the penalty at Motherwell had made all the difference. It was, simply put, a disgusting decision.
Rangers made a statement, of course, defending our man. This incident may, of course, have occurred when he was at his previous club. However, it now affects Rangers.
Rangers put the position out rather impeccably. It has been seen as another improved statement made by the club in the new era.
McInnes criticised the decision
Put simply, the fact was that McInnes was criticising the decision and not the officials. He was not emotionally criticising the officials or questioning their integrity. He was criticising the decision itself.
This is why he got a ban and it is, of course, an unfair outcome.
Fans naturally became extremely irate with the SFA. The “f*ck the SFA” notions were roundly and loudly shouted by supporters. They have had enough of the bad governance by the SFA in this country.
We know that Celtic fans have very much shouted the same stuff. Both Old Firm sides are hardly thrilled with the very best that the SFA comes out with.
Four matches seems excessive
However, this decision seemed to be over the top. The simple fact is that McInnes’s comments were emotional and probably deserved some small action.
However, a four-match touchline ban seems over the top. Potentially, it is likely simply because he is now Rangers manager.
Criticising or condemning someone for criticising a decision seems to be a bit of a curiosity. That is especially true when they did not criticise the person making it.
Rangers have rightly appealed this. McInnes himself has had his hearing to appeal it. We would expect an independent body to overturn it or at least reduce it.
It is far too excessive for the apparent crime.
Rangers await the appeal outcome
It is, of course, understandable that he was emotional. It is understandable that he was angry. However, he at no point really questioned anybody’s integrity.
He didn’t say anyone was corrupt or that anyone was a cheat. He just said the decision itself was disgusting. That is a hard one to punish.
Criticising the message and not the man making it is the way to go about it. That’s what he did and yet he still got punished.
Consequently, we will see how the appeal goes and how Rangers’ statement is received. But do we expect an improvement on this one?
We’re not exactly sure. It depends on how the review process handles it.