The spokesman for the Scottish Football Association who declared this week that the remarks made by the Rangers' footballer Ian Durrant in his newly-published book regarding the Aberdeen fans who sent hate mail to his baby son would be 'studied' at Park Gardens demonstrated a degree of insensitivity which must have made the player wonder, yet again, about the incident which ruined his career.

The SFA official declared: ''Players' autobiographies are

treated in the same manner as interviews they do in the media. They are studied in full and if we feel something detrimental has been said the people concerned will be asked to explain their actions.''

He then added: ''Aberdeen v Rangers' games are difficult enough to police as it is. We would take a dim view of anything that could add to any possible problems that might have to be faced.''

What has not been taken into account here, of course, is that Durrant described ''so-called Aberdeen fans'' - note the qualifying phrase 'so-called' - as morons after he had been sent hate mail containing pictures of his newly born baby with bandages drawn around his legs and a message - 'Hope you end up like your Dad'.

Now, the aftermath of the Neil Simpson tackle which took place almost 10 years ago, has scarred the fixtures between the two clubs for far too long. But that is not the fault in any way whatsoever of Ian Durrant.

It is the fault of the people he rightly described as morons, the people that all right-thinking members of society would describe as morons, and the

people that even the spokesman at the Scottish Football Association must recognise as morons.

Indeed Durrant, given the level of abuse he has suffered since that day, and given that this particular piece of poison was directed at his infant son, was probably more restrained than many others might have been if they discovered themselves in similar circumstances!

Of course, the latest furore brings out once again, the twisted logic that has invaded the North East since that afternoon. Durrant has seen his career stutter to a halt, a career which everyone in the game believed would have had him a Scotland regular, and a career which could have taken him into Italian football if he had so wished.

And, if anyone thinks that fanciful, then they can take up the point with Durrant's former manager Graeme Souness, who spent some seasons in Serie A himself, and saw the young Ibrox star as a player ideally fitted for the style of play there.

Durrant was the victim that day. He was the victim of a reckless tackle by Neil Simpson and while the Aberdeen player's own career foundered too it cannot be ignored that what happened at Pittodrie in that game was the fault of Simpson, the man who made the wild, illegal challenge. The surgeon who operated on the Rangers' player told club officials that the only other occasion he had seen a knee as badly damaged was when someone had been involved in a major car crash.

No-one knows what went through Simpson's mind in that moment - but we all know these fixtures since have been disfigured by 'so-called' Aberdeen supporters who have vilified Durrant.

Now, when he exposes the depths his tormentors have reached, the Scottish Football Association are to 'study' his book and these particular passages.

Aberdeen Football Club did not come out of the affair with credit at the time - it was almost as if they attempted a cover-up despite the pictorial evidence which highlighted the tackle - and since then there has been a failure to condemn the sickening chants which have been directed at Durrant on many occasions.

If the SFA decide to take any kind of action against Ian Durrant they will be wrong. The man has suffered enough, more than enough. The loss of a glittering career, the hatred which has been directed at him for no good reason, and when he, at last, allows the public to realise the extent of the abuse he has suffered there are suggestions that he could find himself in trouble.

That cannot be right. The people who have regularly pilloried Ian Durrant over the past 10 years have been morons. Worse, they have been vicious and cowardly morons, hiding behind anonymity when they send hate mail to the player and his family.

To suggest that Durrant's

revelations would hurt them is a nonsense and to suggest that his perfectly justifiable comments may exacerbate the problems which now surround this fixture is nonsense. The 'so-called' Aberdeen fans who assaulted Mark Hateley a few years ago come from the same sorry stock as those who have persecuted Ian Durrant.

The game does not need them and the authorities should recognise that before picking on

Durrant who must believe that he has somehow been cast in the role of the perpetual victim.