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So What Are UEFA Pro License Precedents Celtic Needs To Think About?

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“Steven Gerrard Didn’t Have A License …”

The case that has been thrown at me constantly since this story first raised its head at the weekend has been the curious case of Steven Gerrard.

Much as I would like to tell you that he defied the rules and got one in under the radar it’s not actually true.

This site was one of the first to actually flag the issue of Gerrard lacking a Pro License.

It was too good a story not to explore at the time, and the Celtic sites had a lot of fun with it.

The thing is, as we found out in short order, it was only half a story.

Gerrard didn’t have the qualification, although he’d enrolled on it ages before.

But the fact that he was enrolled on the course and had the A,B and C licenses was perfectly legitimate in the eyes of UEFA, and he was therefore eligible to do the job.

That’s the crucial line here; he was eligible to do the job.

I’ve heard the same applied to Lampard at the start of his management career and people have thrown a few other names at me.

Believe me when I say this …

None of them could have gotten to sit in the dugout unless, at the very least, their studies for the Pro Licence certification were already underway.

So Gerrard is a red-herring.

Do not listen to anyone who tells you that this situation is the same as that one because it isn’t.

Gerrard had every right to sit in the Ibrox dugout.

They didn’t need to lobby UEFA or anyone else, or undergo any kind of UEFA process.

He was qualified because he was already doing the course; that’s the reality of it, and so suggestions that he was granted some special status are manifestly untrue.

As we quickly established at the time, there was never the least problem for him or for the club, although we certainly enjoyed ourselves with it before that information came to light.

The two situations are in no way comparable.

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