Rangers twist v Hearts as Scottish football chiefs now on red alert
Scottish football chiefs are on red alert ahead of the Viaplay Cup semi-final between Rangers and Hearts this weekend, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.
The newspaper has reported in its print edition [04 November, back page] that Police are also on alert for pyrotechnics in the Hampden clash on Sunday 05 November.
It comes after Rangers’ last game against Dundee was suspended for over 15 minutes due to a display in the away end that filled the entire stand with red flares.
A message has been delivered to the four clubs in the semi-finals that the use of pyrotechnics is illegal in high-level meetings this week ahead of them diverging on Hampden Park.
Hibernian and Aberdeen are the first two to meet this weekend and there will be many eyes watching both games, not just Rangers and their fans.
Unstoppable?
This has become somewhat of an issue in football, but there isn’t much more the club can do than to urge their supporters not to do it.
It comes down to security, at the end of the day, and potentially the lack of it that allows these fans to easily smuggle their way into the grounds with these flares and other objects.
Rangers were not sanctioned for the disruption against Dundee, and no one ever has been in Scotland before, so before that starts happening, it won’t ever really stop.
Football has to be the main conversation ahead of these big occasions and Philippe Clement has reiterated that with his message to the fans, urging them to let the fire happen on the pitch.
The Belgian will just be concentrating on getting past Hearts for a second time in as many weeks, reaching the final, and then lifting his first piece of silverware only a couple of months into his role.
Hopefully, that does the talking.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has claimed that a Gers first-team player will jump at the chance to leave Ibrox as a transfer story has emerged recently.