Keith Jackson hits out at SPFL Bosses for focus on pyrotechnics ahead of Rangers clash with Hearts
Keith Jackson has hit out at SPFL bosses suggesting that their focus on pyrotechnics was always likely to result in a couple of “damp squibs,” including Rangers’ clash with Hearts.
The Light Blues advanced into the Viaplay Cup final with a 3-1 win at Hampden Park on Sunday (5 November) with James Tavernier scoring either side of a second-half strike from Scott Wright to maintain their unbeaten start under Philippe Clement.
Hearts made life difficult for Rangers in the first half of Sunday’s clash, but the Gers’ quality told in the second period and Jackson believes that both matches were always going to underwhelm given the focus on pyrotechnics by bosses in the build-up.
Writing for the Daily Record (6 November) Jackson said: “Having done so much fretting over the potential for pyrotechnics to light Hampden up in the worst imaginable way, there was almost an inevitably that SPFL bosses would end up with a couple of fairly damp squibs instead.
“A 1-0 win for the Dons on Saturday evening in a match which only really caught fire in the final 15 minutes followed by yesterday’s 45-minute standoff between Hearts and Rangers.”
Underwhelming
The pyrotechnic scenes during Rangers’ win over Dundee in the Scottish Premiership may have caused a greater focus to be placed on fan behaviour during the Viaplay Cup semi-final, but ultimately neither semi-final provided the excitement that the supporters’ display did earlier last week.
Rangers are unlikely to care too much that the game didn’t have too many fireworks as the most important thing for the Light Blues was progressing to the final and giving Clement a very good chance of winning silverware only weeks into his spell at Ibrox.
Things couldn’t have gone much better under the management of the Belgian in the early stages of his tenure and supporters will be hoping that he can continue to impress domestically and in Europe to guide the Gers to more silverware in the future.
Hopefully, the clash between Rangers and Aberdeen in the final will provide a few more fireworks than either semi-final match, but you would imagine that most fans at Ibrox would quite happily take a 1-0 win if it meant that they would get their hands on the Viaplay Cup.
In other Rangers news, Cyriel Dessers has lifted the lid on Michael Beale’s Ibrox departure and the impact of Philippe Clement