Keith Hackett suggests Livingston are the club that will be under investigation after crowd incidents in their 3-1 defeat to Rangers on Sunday.

Play was halted for 10 minutes in the second half at Almondvale as Livi goalkeeper Max Stryjek was pelted by snowballs from Rangers supporters.

Former FIFA-listed official Hackett has expressed concerns over what happened in West Lothian.

“This is a worry,” Hackett told Ibrox News. “Any object thrown on the field of play can cause injuries to a goalkeeper. I think it’s unfair.

“This is the danger when you have snow and where you put the snow, so I think Livingston might learn from this in terms of the snow in the stands. That’s something they will have to look at next time.

“The referee did the right thing to take them off and if they didn’t stop then the game would have been abandoned. The referee did the right thing, no question.

“When I’ve had that, I’ve almost made sure that they don’t pile the snow up.

“I think Livingston will learn from that and there is a possibility of facing a fine of course because they will be sanctioned by the Scottish FA for delaying the kick-off, especially as this game was on television.”

When asked if Rangers could face sanctions for the behaviour of some of their supporters, Hackett replied: “Ultimately, this is the nonsense bit, it’s the home club that has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the players.”

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The Bears beat Livingston 3-1 in the Dutchman’s Scottish
Premiership managerial debut on Sunday and were two goals up inside 16 minutes.

It followed a 2-0 win over Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, in which the scoring was also opened early – Alfredo Morelos notching after 15 minutes.

Writing on Twitter, Sky Sports journalist Dickson highlighted how these early goals are a big change from the last months of Steven Gerrard’s tenure.

“One notable stat for me from van Bronckhorst’s first two games,” he said.

“Three goals scored in the opening 16 minutes of those
matches. Rangers’ last three goals in the opening 16 minutes of games came over
their previous 18 fixtures.

“Stronger starts will do a lot to build confidence.”

Fast starts

Two games is obviously a very small sample size, but it is
definitely something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

As van Bronckhorst sat in the Hampden Park stands for Rangers’ Scottish League Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian, there was a fear that he had a bigger job on his hands than anticipated.

However, he is making the perfect start – quite literally – and ensuring that the Bears do not take their foot off the gas in the Scottish Premiership title race.

The team are asserting their dominance on games right from
the off, which was not the case under Gerrard; Rangers conceded the first goal in
the Englishman’s last five matches in charge.

But against Livingston on Sunday for example, after Scott
Arfield and Joe Aribo had put them 2-0 up with just over a quarter of an hour gone,
there was never any doubt that they would go on and secure the three points.

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Reporting via their verified Twitter account, it is claimed that the 23-year-old is wanted by the Super Lig side in the winter transfer window.

They wrote: “Galatasaray will meet Rangers for Ianis Hagi at half-time [January]. Istanbul-born Hagi can come back to his home town at half-time.”

Dream deal?

Hagi has made no secret of his desire to one day play for the Turkish giants where his dad, Gheorge, became a club icon.

The Rangers forward said in May [via Emanuel Orsu’s Twitter profile]: “One day, I’d like to play for Galatasaray. It’s a club I love, I grew up with that club in my heart. I was born there.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but I have feelings for that club.”

Clearly, Hagi has dreams of playing in a Galatasaray shirt, and it appears inevitable that he will one day adorn the red and yellow of the Istanbul-based side.

Galatasaray will also play in European competition post-December as they secured qualification to the Europa League knock-out stage last week with a 4-2 win over Marseille.

However, after 14 Super Lig games, Gala are currently sitting in eighth, just three points ahead of 16th-placed Kayserispor who occupy the final position above the relegation zone.

The club doesn’t quite perhaps hold the attraction it did in the ’90s and the start of the 21st century.

Hagi may also wish to pursue a move to a ‘top-five’ league when he does leave Rangers, with a Premier League move mooted as a possibility.

But, for now, he appears settled at Rangers and Giovanni van Bronckhorst has started him in both of his first two games in charge.

With Rangers targeting a second successive Premiership title and set to continue their journey in Europe, a January switch looks unlikely.

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