Take a little time to think it over

Published 7th Jan 2019

Nobody acquires players for their club based on the size of their IQ. The scale of their ability on the park is, as a general rule of thumb, the only measurement worth taking.

But you're frequently given cause to wonder what goes through some people’s minds at times.

It is always a delight to see someone achieve a lifetime's ambition and sign for the club of their dreams, particularly when it gives his family cause to burst with pride at the same time because they share that emotional bond with a team that has been passed down from generation to generation.

But there's a time and a place to make your innermost feelings known, is there not?

Kilmarnock's Jordan Jones went on to social media on Saturday evening to share his joy over signing a pre-season contract with Rangers. He ended his message with a popular slogan for Ibrox supporters.

Absolutely nothing at all wrong with any of that.

The slogan is inoffensive and the outpouring of emotion would have been perfectly acceptable as well were it not for one or two practical considerations.

Rangers next league opponents after the Winter break ends will be Kilmarnock - Jones' present employers and wage payers.

Killie also happen to be just one point behind Rangers in the league table and must therefore be assumed to be a club who harbour legitimate aspirations to win the Premiership.

Even if the Rugby Park manager, Steve Clarke, insists that subject must not be discussed in public under any circumstances.

What, precisely, are the Kilmarnock fans to make of their player's social media post?

The answer is it causes them to question his commitment to the cause between now and the end of the season.

The integrity of the competition. All that kind of thing.

Public trust, in case you somehow hadn't noticed, has become an issue of late.

We are currently in the middle of a difficult situation where a referee who failed to take what some have deemed the appropriate level of disciplinary action against Rangers' Alfredo Morelos in a game against Celtic is now being escorted to and from his football assignments by the SFA's Head of Security and having his movements overseen by officers from Police Scotland.

The latter course of action following on from threats and intimidation after the theft of the referee's mobile telephone number.

What we don't need is a fresh outbreak of insinuations, allegations and accusations, such as might arise from a Kilmarnock player publicly displaying a Rangers slogan before his club plays Steven Gerrard's side.

There is no tolerance threshold any more.

Jones will not be trusted by the Kilmarnock fans or the supporters of the other club who, along with the Ayrshire side and Rangers, are going for the title.

Mind you, the Celtic fans must also have had cause to wonder what players get up to when Leigh Griffiths was pictured at an English race course.

Griffiths has had the undiluted sympathy and support of the Celtic fans since the club agreed it was better for him to withdraw from his professional life and seek medical help for private issues.

The loss of their prolific goal scorer has not been easy for Celtic. They have felt Griffiths' absence as their ability to win an eighth successive league title has been called into question.

If the Celtic support do not feel let down by the man in need of professional care and attention being photographed at the races when he might have been thought morally bound to keep a lower profile then they should be.

This is not to deny Griffiths the right to a normal, everyday existence. But he was the one who said he didn't feel able to cope with life and needed time and space, which Celtic readily gave him.

He was given compassionate leave to sort his life out. That rehabilitation process is not normally best conducted at the races, I would not have thought.

The title is up for grabs. Griffiths' return would be a major lift for Brendan Rodgers and yet he's off out for a bet and a pint.

You've got to laugh. Sometimes.