Sir Kenny Dalglish: Celtic should not be docked points nor expected to be Bolingoli’s baby-sitter

I thought the madness in Scottish football had reached the finishing line when Hearts and Partick Thistle’s legal case was settled after they fought against the SPFL for relegating them.

How wrong was I?

On the back of the “Aberdeen 8” going to a city-centre pub before two of them tested positive for Covid-19, it emerged that Boli Bolingoli travelled to Spain for an overnighter on his days off.

The Celtic player didn’t inform his employers, failed to quarantine on his return, and the news only emerged after he had played as a substitute at Rugby Park last Sunday.

Not only did Bolingoli’s actions put the health of several people at risk, it also caused Neil Lennon’s men to have their games against St Mirren and Aberdeen postponed.

The Dons have had three games postponed, against St Johnstone, Hamilton Accies and Celtic.

And now the players and clubs are in line for further sanctions from the SFA.

I’m all for punishing players when they step out of line. Absolutely.

The individual clubs and the authorities can decide an appropriate course of action.

But I’m not in favour of deducting points or, as has been suggested, awarding the opposition in the affected games a 3-0 win.

Starting to mess around with points is not the way ahead.

Why should the rest of the squad, the manager and the fans be punished when they haven’t stepped out of line?

If a player receives a red card then gets suspended, the whole team doesn’t also miss the next game.

I’ve also heard some people suggest that Celtic must have known that Bolingoli had left the country and nipped over to Spain overnight.

I don’t believe that for a minute.

They were clearly oblivious to the situation. Had they known, they would never have jeopardised the health and safety of their own staff, and that of Kilmarnock.

At the end of the day, clubs can only advise and guide players on the rights and wrongs, the dos and don’ts of the current situation.

They can’t physically be with every player for 24 hours a day.

Football clubs bend over backwards to give their players the best possible life on and off the park.

But one thing they do not do is provide a baby-sitting service.

They can’t watch them every second of every day, and make every decision for them.

Players are not kids. They are adults, and you need to trust them.

Sure, one or two will inevitably let you down, and you need to deal with that at the time when the facts are in front of you.

But the whole football club should not be punished if one or two step out of line.

My goodness, if a journalist disobeyed the guidelines and tested positive for coronavirus, should that lead to the whole office getting closed down and readers being deprived of their paper, and workers denied doing their jobs?

Of course not. The same follows in every walk of life, and football shouldn’t be any different.

I know that the game we love can be used by politicians for their own self-interest.

But the rules have been made crystal clear in the past few days, and football has to sit up and take notice.

The last thing our game needs is the red card from the government.

Clubs have done everything possible and have spent fortunes on testing kits, revamping their stadiums and training facilities to make everything as safe as possible.

But they are still very much in the hands of their players.

Now, hopefully, every player has received the message loud and clear.

I hope that all players are available from here on in, and we can just focus on football.

The Premiership is shaping up nicely, and there is a chance for Rangers to open an 11-point gap on Celtic between now and next Saturday evening.

For Neil Lennon’s side to be missing out on two games is part of a punishment, and they could be facing real fixture congestion during this season.

That could come back to really bite them later in the campaign.

It has given Steven Gerrard and his players the chance to show what they are all about, and build on the good results of the first two weeks.

Away to Livingston this afternoon will not be easy, but it is a game they need to show they can go and win.

If they slip up, it will reintroduce the opinion of many that they do not have the mentality and ability to get over the line.

Set-pieces have been important this season and they will be again today, so the Rangers players will need to be alert and able in both boxes. That could be the difference.

They then play Kilmarnock on Saturday before Celtic get back into action away to Dundee United.

At least they have an important Champions League qualifier against KR Reykjavik to win, and get some game time, on Tuesday night.

It’s not a situation Neil Lennon and his players would have wanted, and that is another reason why they will rightly be feeling sorely let down by Bolingoli.

His selfishness could have ramifications that go long into the season.