One league game in and new Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is already sounding like a seasoned moaner.
Gerrard claimed that it “seemed the world was against” Rangers after Alfredo Morelos was sent off after 12 minutes, but that it has been “happening for seasons” to the Scottish club.
The striker was sent off for kicking out at defender Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna, although TV replays showed there was no contact.
“We feel hard done by because we felt he was provoked twice with violent barges (from McKenna),” Gerrard said in his post-match press conference.
“No way in the world was his kick-out violent. So, we didn’t think he deserved a red. He needs to learn and be ready for that.
“I can’t prove that’s the case, but two violent barges by McKenna, it seems people are out to wind him up, yeah.
“What’s disappointing from our point of view is that the whole incident was two or three seconds but the assistant referee (David McGeachie) only saw one second of it, Alfredo’s instant in one second but not the two barges in the other two seconds.”
Well that didn’t take long, did it?. Here’s a thought, ‘Slippy’. How about you instruct your players not to lash out like petulant children, rather than look to blame the opposition or officials?
Contact or not, Morelos rightly received a red card. Adopting the “blame game” mentality this early in his time in charge at Ibrox doesn’t bode well for the rest of the campaign.
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TALES FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
Leeds United began life under new boss Marcelo Bielsa with a stylish 3-1 victory over Stoke City on Sunday.
No sir, it wasn’t a dream.
Had an amazing dream last night, a bloke called Marcelo Bielsa was our manager and OH MY GOODNESS IT WASN’T A DREAM IT WAS REAL #lufc
— MrPaulRobinson (@MrPaulRobinson) August 6, 2018
Another dreamer.
Dreamt of Bielsaball last night. Yesterday’s win against Stoke is up there as one of the best performances I’ve watched in recent years #LUFC
— Ryan Linden (@RLinden94) August 6, 2018
He’s happy.
One of the best Leeds performances I’ve seen in a long, long time, completely dominated from start to finish! #LUFC
— NeilGakhal (@NeilGakhal) August 6, 2018
A tinge of realism here.
One thing I will say is that during our exile we’ve almost always played better against Premiership teams, which is basically what Stoke are. Alas, this league is largely filled with much more combative, direct teams. That will be the real test. #lufc
— Tommy (@tommy_lufc) August 6, 2018
Demi-god.
The first thing I did when I woke up was check the #lufc score.
It wasn’t the gin lads, we really did annihilate a just relegated Premier League team ?
And with 10 of the players we had last season too. Bielsa is a demi-god.
— Kay. (@kaydobbo) August 6, 2018
Brutal.
Stoke turned up with that “we’ll walk this league” attitude. What you actually walked into was a full Elland Road baying for blood, furiously pressing and chasing you. Your players arses fell out and your fans sat down and shut up. Welcome back to the Championship ??#lufc #scfc
— TheSouthStandAssassin (@TSSA_LUFC) August 5, 2018
TODAY’S TOP TUNE
Pete Burns would have been 59 today. This type of music isn’t usually our thing, but it’s fair to say that this wasn’t a bad tune.
A FINAL THOUGHT
Chelsea need a new striker – pass it on.
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