Rangers: Kris Boyd explodes at Dundee chiefs over Dens Park ‘shame’ as Ibrox money lost
Kris Boyd has reacted furiously at the second Rangers postponement as he blasted Dundee chiefs who “should be hanging their heads in shame”.
The Sky Sports pundit went to town on the debacle in his Scottish Sun column on 10 April over the “embarrassing” covers which failed he likened to Asda bags, after having to borrow from Celtic last week.
While praising Tony Docherty and the Dark Blues players he slammed club secretary Eric Drysdale (whom he called “Eric Soaking-wets-dale”) and managing director John Nelms for their “disgraceful” decision-making, while blasting the former’s “audacity” in blaming climate change when Dundee United’s Tannadice was usable just down the road
In the wake of Motherwell’s Stuart Kettlewell criticising the club for investing in the squad and not the facilities after their 3-2 at the weekend which itself was almost rained off [Daily Record, 6 April] Boyd agreed with the sentiment, insisting that was why he had “zero sympathy” for Dundee, who have been made to look “silly and inept” by the two postponements where they have “taken liberties” with their own season ticket holders.
And he railed against the SPFL for the effect this has had on Philippe Clement’s side and the broadcasters, saying: “Rangers went for the league in their statement and I can fully understand the anger and frustration they have over all of this. They’ve booked into hotels twice now for this game and it’s been nothing but a waste of money.
“It’s the same for the broadcasters who have prepared for this game time and again. All we hear in this country is that clubs don’t get the proper funding.
“And yet we have a company like Sky having to call off a showcase game because a club doesn’t have a pitch capable of coping with rainfall in April. That’s just not good enough on any level.”
Kris Boyd enraged over Rangers trip to Dens Park debacle
The money involved from a Light Blues point of view will be an unwelcome factor but when Clement is locked into a tight title race against Celtic the disruption to his players and their momentum is far more of a concern.
It may be that the game goes ahead without issue next week, and if Rangers secure a crucial win to potentially go back to the top of the SPFL then it might not prove to be a major disturbance.
But with so much pressure on the Belgian and his squad as they approach the business end of the season after the split, currently sitting a point off top spot with this seemingly impossible fixture in hand, any distractions are unwelcome.
There remains the possibility of a domestic treble, with a Scottish Cup semi final against Hearts still to come as well, and Clement has already had to navigate through endless injury issues to get to this point.
In that context he clearly doesn’t want to risk the safety of his players, let alone when they are injury prone enough as it is, so the surface at Dens Park, even if it is deemed playable, is a concern.
The Dundee chiefs are understandably coming in for heavy criticism, and when their own team, back-to-back opponents, their nearest rivals in the table and Sky Sports are all unhappy it isn’t hard to see why.
Drysdale has insisted investment is now on the way to address the issue but until the summer the league may have to utilise another venue to avoid the same thing happening a third time.
In other Rangers news, Neil Lennon was stunned by what a Light Blues ace did at Ibrox.
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