Dear Mr Gerrard,

You reckons the SPFL are desperate to end the season on current standings rather than finishing on the field of play. As the Rangers manager you are being somewhat accusatory in tone towards the SPFL, yet that’s becoming the norm when it comes to outbursts from everyone at the Ibrox club at present. To think they call Celtic paranoid.

Speaking to The Times you are quoted as saying: “I want to be back to work, I want to carry on with this season, there’s a real will to finish it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the governing body”.

Like a child throwing the toys from the pram you use phrases like ‘lack of energy’ from the SPFL and ‘desperate’ to finish the season early. It’s a fairly poor choice of words from a serving Scottish manager, and something the SPFL may wish to address. But then again you and Rangers have history and they are rarely chided for it, that’s probably what breeds the encouragement.

But that’s not really my point. your words, Mr Gerrard, have got my back up a little. I’m sure you do want to get back to work. While you have been cooling your heels at home, some of us in public service like myself, my wife and our many colleagues, have had our workloads go through the roof and what we’d like is a few days off, a breather in an upward trajectory of strain on public services, to spend some time with each other and our own kids.

But you know what, people are already sick, getting sick or needing help when they leave hospitals. For some of us all leave has been cancelled for the foreseeable. We accept that, its jobs we both signed up too and we’re bumping our gums at lot less than you, Mr Gerrard, having to deal with nothing more than a little boredom.

If you fancy a few days graft on the frontline then I’m happy to take a wee lie in tomorrow morning and you can knock yourself out. You’ll find you will get a good night’s sleep, I’ll guarantee you that. As long as you are not on call as I am now that is.

In normal circumstances we work Monday to Friday 8.30 until 5pm. We then have one on call member of staff to cover our whole area 5pm until 8.30 the next morning. That single officer usually covers 24 hours over weekends and bank holidays also. It’s often a challenge even without the threat of a pandemic, but it’s just about manageable if not a little sleep deprived.

Currently we have changed to all staff covering 8am-8pm every day. We then have two officers and an assistant covering from 8pm through the night until we start again the following day. We do this on a weekly rota basis. We can’t commit beyond that as we don’t know how many staff we actually have from one day to the next such is the risk to exposure they face.

The reason for change is demand. For my wife it’s on the wards and in the labs testing across three different hospital sites, for myself it’s dealing with the discharges from hospitals and making sure they have a roof over their heads. The Government has instructed and rightly so that every single person who is homeless or we have belief could be roofless is accommodated. No ifs no buts. Just do it.

On top of that Hospitals are discharging all the time. No notice, no planning, simply a maximum allowed turnover of 3 hours from discharge co-ordinator calling the emergency line to a placement being confirmed to the hospital and a driver being at the hospital exit ready to collect.

That’s fine if you have a home to go to or if the family would consider having someone back who has just spent time in a hospital riddled with Coronavirus. Many families don’t and many of the individuals themselves won’t risk it either. Its fine margins for beds now. Wards are at full capacity, many far beyond it. Not just Covid wards, all wards. Turnover is key.

Our service is block booking entire hotels – thankfully more welcoming to homeless clientele than they have previously been due to their own financial need as a nation of weekend trippers, business types and holidaymakers stays at home- and one of the bravest men I know, a taxi driver who we’ve had to arrange for PPE for but who has agreed to transfer as many of our clients as he manage. I’d love to name that man and show his picture in this letter so you can put a face to that selflessness but unfortunately I can’t. I don’t even know what he looks like.

We then have employed further courageous staff at the hotels as security. We need to ensure lockdown measures are imposed on many clients who have mental health and addiction issues, exasperated by self-isolation rules and who willingly or not, flaunt the rules and terrify staff and other guests. We have staff delivering food parcels and a team of social workers attending to addiction and mental health challenges.

So Mr Gerrard, if you are bored or if you think the SPFL are doing nothing more than taking a responsible outlook during this crisis, then come and shadow myself or my wife or any other key worker and see what we’re really dealing here with. Real human lives being impacted by this crisis.

In one corner we have the medical professionals advising the first minister that mass gatherings are a long way off. A careful, sensible approach based on the interpretation of statistics and projecting the unknown. On the other hand we have football clubs wanting everything to return to normal as soon as possible to protect their economic position, livelihoods income, their very existence.

Up and down the country this is mirrored. Medical opinion against economic need of panicking business. Scottish football is no different. We’ve already had Dave Cormack and Leanne Dempster saying we need to get football back and although I have sympathy for their clubs’ financial predicament, I’m also acutely aware it’s simply too dangerous and irresponsible to be doing it anytime soon.

Some may see the clubs stance as a common sense approach when it comes to consultation and looking at a fair way to conclude a football season. There is merit in that argument. There is also some merit in believing in ghosts, goblins and fairies at the end of your garden, depending on your perspective.

The fear is there for football clubs in Scotland over renegotiated TV deals and no paying customers coming through the turnstiles, coupled with threats from UEFA over European places for next season, I get all of that and in an ideal world it would have a chance of happening, if it does it’s a snowballs chance in hell at present.

China where this outbreak started anytime from September/October last year until December last year depending on who you believe have now reported no new Covid-19 deaths for the tenth day in a row. Once again a leap of trust in reporting is required.

They are still however getting new cases, just not so many deaths. This indicates that hospitals are starting to cope, not that they’ve got a handle on this and life can return to normal, there is a massive difference. The UK is some way behind that particular curve, many, weeks indeed months even if we actually follow a similar pattern.

Schools aren’t being considered for opening until 1st of June. That falls very near the summer shutdown. Anyone think social distancing classrooms are going to be risked for a few weeks, or is it more likely they’ll revisit that after the summer break? Yes me too. It’s just more palatable a soundbite for parents trying to manage home schooling, information and hope in bite size chunks are a little easier to digest.

In Holland the Prime minister has advised no football until 1st September and the Dutch have ended their league. A decision probably designed to focus minds to medical danger as opposed to economic gain. Even September looked optimistic.

Be it closed door games or supporters back through the turnstiles it’s simply not a possibility in the real world at the moment.

Mass gatherings in particular are a long, long way off. Even if closed door matches could be considered there isn’t a medically trained member of staff anywhere in the UK who could be considered as being able to oversee a football game at the moment, not when there isn’t enough staff to man the ongoing medical need on the frontline.

If this is rushed and if politicians bow to economic demand over medical opinion and get this wrong, then football could start we find we’ve timed it wrong and we are back to ground zero.

That’s why it’s important that Dave Cormack, Leanne Dempster and now you Mr Gerrard need to be careful with your words. Unless of course you wish to put your own neck on the line and join ever depleting numbers of key-workers working more hours than they’ve ever worked in their lives. We could certainly do with the help.

If not stay indoors, have a few drinks, relax and enjoy the time with your family. The Government will give you plenty of warning for when restrictions will be lifted. Then you can plan, then you can lobby for a date for football to return. For now wind your neck in please.

In your case Mr Gerrard, the SPFL are not singling out you or your team. I do understand ‘the’ desperation for income on the part of Rangers and I understand the perceived intransigence of the SPFL does you no favours when it comes to avoiding insolvency, but at least they are showing a bit of responsibility and understanding of what is happening in the real world.

Come on over to my place Mr Gerrard. I’ll show you the reality of it all. No one’s got it in for you or your club. It’s just there a bit of a crisis out there and it’s showing no signs of abating.

That’s the reality, Mr Gerrard.

A voice from the front-line in the battle against the Coronavirus.

Name and address (in England) supplied but withheld.

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