Rangers: Strong case for Dundee to be kicked out of SPFL over ‘absolute disgrace’
Issues with Dundee’s Dens Park pitch have seen their match with Rangers postponed twice – and journalist Gary Keown believes there is “a strong case” to kick the club out of the SPFL altogether.
Writing in the Scottish Mail on Sunday, Keown blasted Dundee’s failure to ensure their pitch is of sufficient quality to be played on despite bad weather, calling the club “an absolute disgrace”.
He also cites how Falkirk were denied entry to the old SPL for insufficient seating in their stadium and suggests that Dundee should face expulsion from either the Scottish Premiership or the league system as a whole.
In his column in the Scottish Mail on Sunday (page 72, 14 April), he wrote: “It’s too late to rewrite the rulebook now, of course. Whether Dundee are trying to save their dough for a new ground or not, they have to be made to pay up and commit to sorting out that muckheap for next season.
“However, if the authorities mean business like they say they do, why can’t they get a little more hardcore?
“Never mind floodlights and plastic pitches and Bronze and Silver Standards. You don’t have a game at all if you don’t have a pitch that can handle the weather. That’s basic. The very essentials. And it is an absolute disgrace that a Premiership club have put themselves – and the entire competition they play in – in this predicament.
“There’s a strong case to be made for booting Dundee out of the Premiership – or even the SPFL altogether – in the wake of this. It’s not that long, after all, since Falkirk were refused entry to the old SPL for not having enough seats in their ground.”
Rangers still waiting to play their game in hand against Dundee
Scottish Premiership title-chasing Rangers have certainly been negatively affected by the pitch issues at Dens Park which have delayed their match against Dundee not once, but twice.
The clash, which was initially set to be contested on 24 March, would have seen Rangers go top of the table with a win – but the two postponements have changed the complexion of the title race, with the Gers sitting a point behind leaders Celtic in second with a game in hand for most of the campaign since.
The second postponement was even more farcical than the first – a Sunday kick-off called off on Thursday – with Philippe Clement and his squad travelling to Dundee for the game on 10 April, only for the match to be called off after a second pitch inspection by referee Don Robertson, who had previously declared the pitch “playable” after his first inspection on the morning of the game.
Rangers will hope a solution is found soon – and that they are still able to claim three points and return to the summit of the league standings despite the disruption.
In other Rangers news, a proposed transfer target’s move to Ibrox has been thrown into doubt.
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