A Celtic double whammy will ensue from Brendan Rodgers’ ban from the touchline against Rangers, which will feed conspiracy theorists’ appetites.
That’s according to Peter Grant, who believes that people’s imaginations will run wild in the lead-up to the Parkhead boss’s tribunal hearing because Rodgers won’t be on the touchline. He will face the Hampden Bees on Thursday after facing criticism for remarks he made about referees after the champions’ 2-0 loss to Hearts at the beginning of the month.
After Don Robertson upgraded Yang’s yellow card for a high boot on Alex Cochrane to a red after being persuaded to do so by VAR John Beaton at Tynecastle, Rodgers was infuriated. And when Tomoki Iwata was given a VAR penalty for a questionable handball that let Jorge Grant put the home team ahead from the penalty spot, his attitude didn’t exactly get better.
In the aftermath, Rodgers questioned the officials’ competence and said that they had cost his team the game. Hotshot attorney Nick De Marco, known as the “Lionel Messi of sports law,” will defend him when he must defend himself this week at the National Stadium.
Should the Celtic manager receive a fine and a two-game suspension, he would be forced to watch only Sunday’s home match against Livingston and next week’s championship match at Ibrox. However, Rodgers has the right to appeal and it might only be a fine or a lesser suspension. Whether he can lead the champs into their opponents’ backyard would then depend on when that appeal is heard.
Furthermore, Grant claims that some ideas are already being developed in the event that Rodgers receives a touchline suspension for the journey across the city, which will again be attended by no away supporters. “You know what people are going to be saying if Brendan Rodgers misses the Rangers game for whatever reason,” he said on Go Radio. You can be certain that it will be a farce to Scottish football.
“You’re going there without fans and your manager (on the touchline) in respect of that. Do you know the conspiracy theorists that are so well-known? That will intensify over time. You already know what the debate will be about if Brendan is suspended for the match, which the opposing fans have already left.”
