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The Dilemma For Ibrox Fans Is That A Former Hero Accused Gerrard Of Racism.

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Amidst all the blood and thunder in the aftermath of the midweek game, Gerrard and his club have been pounding the message out that racism will not be tolerated at the ground where for decades its first club operated a sectarian signing policy and where the worst kind of bile and bigotry pours out of the stands whenever fans are present there.

There are times when you marvel at their ability to bend reality into whatever shape suits them.

Their forums are fizzing right now over Michael Stewart, who calmly pointed out what should be obvious to any thinking person; the Kamara thing only comes down to an allegation at the moment, and a thorough investigation has to be carried out before we can call it something else.

The attitude on the Ibrox forums – and indeed the attitude of the club – is that anyone who makes such an allegation should instantly be believed.

Which is all well and good … except that it puts them in a somewhat troubling position.

Because it’s not that long ago that a high profile player who played alongside Gerrard accused him of being a racist.

It’s a serious allegation, and if you are taking the Ibrox board at face value it’s one that has to be explored thoroughly … but I rather suspect it won’t be.

Furthermore, the player who made the allegation was El Hadji Diouf, one of the darlings of the Ibrox support.

That should surely make it awfully hard for them to dismiss, right?

After all, this is a guy who they hero worship over there, and he has said that Gerrard was openly hostile to “non English” black players at Anfield whilst he was there.

Don’t let the “non-English” bit fool you either; the Slavia Prague player stands accused of racism here, but as Michael Stewart pointed out, he plays in a dressing room full of black players so if he is a bigot they either aren’t aware of it or don’t care.

We know that bigotry comes in many forms, and the sort Diouf is accusing Gerrard of is a peculiarly little Englander version of it … don’t forget that the BNP had black candidates.

“Send them back” was amended with the addition of the words “if they weren’t born here.”

It’s a strange world we live in folks, one where that kind of mentality is alive and well … and the former Ibrox and Anfield player says that’s exactly the mind-set Gerrard carries about in his head.

Would it surprise me?

Not in the least.

Do I believe it?

Well that’s another question, because Diouf is an absolute piece of shit as everyone who’s familiar with the details of his career is quite aware. I wouldn’t believe that man if he told me that the grass was green and the sky was blue.

But then, I’m not the one saying that an accuser has the automatic right to be believed, am I?

I’m not the one arguing that we should convict a man on “he said, she said” evidence.

I make no rush to judgement here at all.

I’m with Michael Stewart when he points out that there are language barriers, miscommunications, things misheard and misunderstood and that before we conduct a public trial we better know that we’re on solid ground.

You’ll notice a lot of smoke being blown at Slavia Prague as a club because some of their fans are racist.

Incredible that the Scottish media would pursue this line in defence of a club from Ibrox.

How long would it take you to find some of their less than savoury banners?

Should we start listing the UEFA charges for sectarian singing?

Racism is a cancer on our sport and every despicable bastard who indulges in it should be rooted out.

If the Slavia player is guilty then he deserves everything that’s coming to him, and I fully support the idea that his punishment should be so severe that the next guy who thinks about this kind of thing is stopped firmly in his tracks.

Life bans would not be a harsh enough punishment, in my view, because this stuff does have to be kicked into the long grass.

The trouble I have here is with the Peepul spewing their bile at anyone who points out the simple fact that nobody has proved this happened, no verdict has been delivered, no evidence has been considered.

For the record, I believe Kamara.

I think the guy probably did say something absolutely beyond the pale to him, and I fully understand why his fellow players were furious about it. I can even understand – but not condone – their taking the law into their own hands afterwards.

But Ibrox’s lunatic statement and the rabid fury of their supporters is absolute hypocrisy when you consider some of what they’ve allowed in their own house, and for the club to demand that UEFA throw the book at the Slavia player when there might not be corroborating evidence is a typical example of their putting themselves in front of all other considerations.

That’s a slippery slope and UEFA will know it very well.

If every accuser is to be automatically believed and action taken, then I look forward to Ibrox’s internal inquiry into the allegations against their manager, because you either take such a public posture seriously or you don’t.

It’s either zero tolerance or it’s not.

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