Gerrard’s handling of Hartley situation has pleased Rangers fans

Steven Gerrard took to his press conference today and he was inevitably faced with questions about Motherwell captain Peter Hartley. The 30-year-old defender claimed that it was “fun to watch” former Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso weep after he broke his nose in a clash with Ryan Bowman in the Scottish League Cup semi-final last October.

SG: We accept the apology from Peter Hartley, he was quick to retract this and I’ve spoken to Steve Robinson today. We need to put this to bed and move on.

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) 24 August 2018

Gerrard was quick to claim that he’d accepted the apology that Hartley put out on social media after his comments and that he’d spoken to Motherwell manager Steve Robinson about the whole incident. Both clubs will be keen to put the whole thing to bed and the Rangers fans will be determined to smash Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday with the intent of taking all three points and putting some goals past them.

These sort of situations are obviously not what you want to see in football and Hartley will know that he’s fallen below the standards expected of a professional football and that of a captain of a top-flight team. The Gers claim to have forgiven the 30-year-old but they won’t forget his comments quickly and the supporters will be getting on his back at every opportunity on Sunday in what promises to be a fiery encounter at Fir Park.

You can read The Bluenoses’ verdict on Gerrard’s handling of the situation here:

Just another reason to This guy x class something that other managers could learn from x always better to forgive doesn’t mean you have to forget x we will do our talking on the pitch x

— Michelle carmichael (@Michell82480711) 24 August 2018