Former Celtic player believes Rangers have ‘used the system’

There have long been calls for the restructuring of the system of appealing bans and for things to take place quicker. And the recent situation surrounding the upcoming game between Celtic and the Rangers shows that once again.

On this occasion it is about five of the Rangers’ players – Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear (currently on loan at Annan Athletic) and Dapo Mebude (currently on loan at Queen of the South). The five were handed six game bans by the Scottish FA for attending a house party. Four matches are immediate while two suspended until the end of this season as reported by Sky Sports.

The Rangers have appealed the bans though. Following the appeal, the hearing is set to be held on 20 April, which is two days after the Scottish Cup tie this Sunday against Celtic.

This has made Patterson available to play against the Hoops, which will be a huge boost for the Ibrox club, considering James Tavernier is recovering from an injury at the moment. Bassey and Zungu will also be available for selection.

Former Celtic player and coach believes the Rangers have ‘used the system’

Former Celtic player and coach, John Collins, believes that the Rangers have ‘used the system’ and ‘delayed the process’ so that they have options available for the upcoming Glasgow Derby.

The timing of the hearing means that with Tavernier possibly still injured, Patterson will now be available for selection for the game, providing the Rangers with valuable right-back cover.

While speaking on BBC Sportsound and as reported by the Daily Record, Collins said:

"“In my opinion, they’ve used the system.“Tavernier is out, injured, their only real right-back is the young lad, so they’ve played the system.“They’ve tried to delay the process, well they have delayed the process, which meant they had a right-back available for the last Old Firm game.“They’re going to have a right-back available on Sunday. So it’s worked.“The SFA, once again, their system is flawed. The process should have been much quicker and the question should have been asked straight away, ‘why are you appealing something that you’re not going to win?'”"

The Celtic players are unlikely to be thinking about the availability of Patterson on Sunday though. They’ll want to win the game against the Rangers irrespective of everything happening off the pitch.

In many ways, this is the biggest game of the Hoops’ season  now and if they are to win a trophy, they will have to beat Steven Gerrard’s side, something they have failed to do this season, till now. Bring it on!