Peter Lawwell must have heard the news of ‘the’ Rangers flagrant disregard for testing protocol on Wednesday and felt a sense of infuriation. At Dundee United there must have been genuine anger.

The Ibrox club played two games on Wednesday. The latter against Motherwell in Govan had a delay of two hours to kick off as test results hadn’t yet been received. Yet earlier that afternoon ‘the’ Rangers played against Dundee United with what appears to have been nine of their players yet to receive test results confirming they were Covid 19 free, following their trip to France for pre-season encounters against Lyon and Nice.

The risk to their opponents is clear, not that you’d assume ‘the’ Rangers really care about that anyway, with their ‘We Are The People’ sense of entitlement. There’s always been one rule for them and another for the rest. That sense of entitlement transferred in much the same way as the titles when the new club emerged from the ashes of corporate death in July 2012.

Clearly not all clubs have their own testing equipment – apparently due to financial implications, I do wonder what happened to the philanthropist hand out – and as with any others reliant on government testing intervention, there are likely to be times when results are not returned in as timely a manner as clubs would hope. Such is the risk when you’ve decided not to invest in your own equipment and suitably qualified staff to interpret the results.

What it doesn’t mean is that you can assume, just because you have had the tests carried out, that you can carry on regardless until the results are back. It’s a selfish approach to public safety and one ‘the’ Rangers seem to be getting off lightly with.

In Austria there has already been a points deduction placed on league leaders LASK Linz after they failed to adhere to Austrian rules on testing protocols. Linz were sanctioned in June after they were filmed staging full team practice sessions during a period when the coronavirus rules restricted them to training in small groups.

In Scotland we’ve already had Ross County head halfway down the A9 only to have to turn the bus around when friendly opponents Hibs had not had their test results confirmed in time before last Saturday’s expected friendly match between the two sides.

We’ve also had St Mirren apparently have seven members of staff test positive though six of those resulted in False Positive outcomes leaving one member of staff placed in isolation.

This in itself should be warning enough for Scottish clubs to take this situation seriously, in the case of ‘the’ Rangers they decided to carry on regardless putting, let’s be honest here lives of fellow professionals and their families at a one hell of a risk.

Now we are back to having the teacher chide the pupils, with the Government’s Joint Response Group advising clubs must revert to twice weekly testing protocols until further notice.

SPFL Chief executive Neil Doncaster – no doubt gently encouraged by the Scottish Government – also made public comment on the matter as reported on the BBC , though you’d have to question the severity of his words and the fact there appeared no direct threat from the governing body towards the Ibrox club:

St Mirren: Six of seven failed Covid tests were ‘false positives’ – BBC Sport

Only one of the seven St Mirren staff members who tested positive for Covid-19 actually has the illness. The Paisley side said on Thursday that the individuals – none of whom are players – had …
www.bbc.co.uk

“There can be no complacency, but we are heartened by the rigorous way that clubs, players and officials have responded to Covid-19 since March.

“With such regular testing being carried out by SPFL clubs, it is inevitable that several players or coaching staff will have tested positive. This has happened, as it has also happened in leagues around the world.
“What is vital is that clubs manage those very few confirmed positive tests such that the virus does not spread. So far, the rigorous work that our clubs have carried out has ensured that this is the case.”

To put the public safety to one side for a moment, there is also the real financial threats to Scottish clubs. The season should we hope not be under threat if government warnings are adhered to now, however the actions of one particular club clearly did put next week’s league openers in serious jeopardy.

Peter Lawwell and others have been working closely with the JRG and very much lobbying for football grounds to have spectators in place, possibly by as early as October. Such actions by ‘the’ Rangers put all of that under threat.

Lawwell and his counterparts in boardrooms across Scotland must have been pulling their hair out as the lackadaisical attitudes from Ibrox. SPFL clubs must know that the actions of a fellow member club will now result in a possible delay to fans being allowed into grounds. If nothing else trust will have been eroded and there will be a cautious approach employed by the JRG now when it comes to trusting clubs to implement safety protocols for supporters and staff.

All summer Scottish football has been gripped by an amateurish approach to football governance, now it has slipped into the realms of rank idiocy and one particular clubs needs to realise the importance of putting the safety of others on an equal footing to their own needs.