As we get closer to the weekend’s game, the number of ex-Ibrox players who appearing in the media to whinge about the lack of away fans continues to grow. They are all framing this the same way, as something that is a result of two clubs showing intransigence.
But we all know that nothing could be further from the truth.
This is starting to really piss me off, in part because I know that there will be a lot less sound and fury over this when we travel to Ibrox with no supporters. This is, in part, to make Celtic out to be bad guys here.
Yet all of it is based on a fundamental lie.
The latest person to push this is Charlie Miller.
It’s not even enough to say now that we must remember that the Ibrox club, itself, was the cause of all this in the first place. The situation we find ourselves in now has no precedent in the recent history of the game, and once again that’s entirely their fault.
This is not, as Miller and others wish to characterise it, a ban on away fans.
The absence of their supporters at Celtic Park this weekend is entirely the choice of their club, just as the decision not to take an allocation for Ibrox is because of a decision from ours.
The difference is, we turned our allocation down first, and out of genuine concerns for the safety of our supporters. There was no prohibition whatsoever on them accepting an allocation for Celtic Park.
We did not impose that on them. We would not have been able to.
The SFA regulations clearly state that clubs have a responsibility to make “reasonable arrangements” for away fans to attend games. We did not ban theirs. We could not ban theirs.
Their club looked at the situation it was in and how the media would have been forced to cover the decision we made, and they made a deliberate choice to “take the draw” in PR terms, at the expense of their own supporters and that’s the simple fact of it.
I cannot stress enough that this was not a “joint decision.”
We refused our allocation and made it clear that we would need to share with our supporters the concerns which led to that decision. That would have been a “clear the front page” moment … their club at that point had two options. To accept the reputational damage that this wrought or to spin. The only way to spin this was to turn down Celtic Park tickets and paint this as mutual.
Now listen, that’s an entirely legitimate response. They made a calculation. They weighed up the two scenarios and they decided that screwing over their own fans for the coming game was a better outcome than taking the PR hit … there’s nothing wrong with that, and in their shoes I wonder if other clubs would have made the same choice.
But the fundamental dishonesty in anyone trying to portray this as some kind of head-banger decision by two boards which refuse to compromise is too much to stomach. Celtic’s very legitimate concerns over the safety of our fans and the measures in place at Ibrox are thus completely ignored and the media focuses on the soap opera instead.
You can tell how seriously the take our well-being by the calibre of people they chose to feature talking about it. Charlie Miller doesn’t have the intelligence of a pet goldfish. The audience is made stupider just by paying attention to him, and the idea that he is offering any kind of unbiased perspective here is little more than a joke.
The two clubs had away fans for the games earlier in the season.
Not a single person in the media has asked what changed between then and now.
But we know what changed.
This time last season, a Celtic official got hit in the head with a bottle at Ibrox and this season our fans were the targets of a shower of missiles where we were very lucky someone didn’t get killed.
When Celtic enquired as to what measures the home club intended to take to make sure that neither of those incidents was repeated we were rebuffed.
During the game there last April, glass was thrown at our keeper. Jota was pelted with coins at the corner flag. A fan attempted to enter the field when Carter Vickers scored the goal and had to be physically restrained by fellow supporters.
The incidents at the last game, earlier this season, were described to me as far worse than anything that those who were there have witnessed there before, and in the aftermath of that game this site wrote that Ibrox is now a manifestly unsafe environment for our fans and the club apparently took the same view, and especially after talks with officials there which bore no fruit and left all involved at Celtic ever more concerned.
Alex Rae this week almost casually dismissed all talk of safety concerns when he said he “didn’t buy it.”
Now we have Charlie Miller trotting out garbage about how he thinks the two clubs are pathetic.
But there is no two clubs in this, only one which caused this problem in the first place, and our club which has to decide how to respond in relation to it.
Fukin Charlie Miller how aply named the wee Junkie Hun Bastard!! I remember this Cunt acting the BIG MAN in Bridge of Weir in the 90’s when Wife Beating Gascoigne & McMoist were in town! A wee Fukin SHITEBAG NON FUKIN ENTITY!! Whr the Fuk dae these Fukin CLOWNS crawl oot fae?? Get this MOB FUKIN HUMPED CELTIC, 6 or 7 please.. NO FUKIN MERCY!!
The biggest disgrace in all this farce is the refusal of the gutless media to correct them. I dont think newco were bothering about any pr in their decision the two george square riots and recent events during games against them at greyskull are proof of that they continue to be above any law.
7!! Rings a bell!! Love it and we are more than capable of it!!
Again another Hun brought out too deflect whats going on at Ipox,they began all this problem about crowd.As usual he either can’t or won’t tell the truth in case he gets into trouble,from there supporter who cannot except the true side of anything
It al boils down to the fact that they are shitting themselves over the game on Saturday. They are squealing like stuck pigs and blaming their lack of support as the reason in advance of why they will be overwhelmed on the field of play come the day.
Let them fkn squeal.
You failed to highlight the cache of weapons that the police confiscated from their fans prior to entry : also the array of alcoholic bottles that were found and displayed et the end of the Ibrox geme.
We all know that they are not Rangers, but can you imagine them seething with fury all over the world, in their clubs, pubs and hovels, when the Celtic support are belting out:-
Fk you Rangers we’re gonna win the league,
They will be apoplectic with rage, with the veins sticking out in their brass necks, their big blue hooters swollen with anger, and they will be foaming at the mouths as they listen to our hearty chorus.
Great innit! I can’t wait.
We need an official statement from Celtic FC.
Spot on. Our bawless board need to wake up. Even on stv news tonight it was the same pis* both clubs they said.
Joseph, that’s what I think too! Our club & our supporters are being dragged down into the swamp with these Neanderthals time to set the record straight! Why should they avoid the PR shit storm caused by their thuggish support and by their klub’s inability to control or even reason with them. Celtic refused our ticket allocation for noble reason we should not let all these Ibrox mouthpieces tell their lies – happily reported by their friends in the media! Enough is enough!
Charlie Miller obviously doesn’t know what dave king done in the first place cutting our allocation to try n get more money out of the zombie nation
HH It’s the same every game, week Masons running Celtic & our Supporters down at every chance for no reason than their pure Bigotry and hatred for us all & WHY: The REAL tROUBLES IS SIMPLE they are a new club Lucky to be here + Authorities let them away with EVERYTHING ANYTHING so they just Continue with their Bile: Celtic just get on with their own Bisnes keep improving & get out of Scottish Football, Germany would suit us just fine good football cheep for the Supporters: leave this Bigototry behind because it’s Holdiding Cetic back: hh ktf
Agree Celtic need to put out a clear and unambiguous statement stating that we chose not to take our ticket allocation on the basis of previous attacks at the midden as evidenced on tv and in the court’s 12 month imprisonment of the rankers supporting offender that bottled one of our staff there and clearly stating that the rankers could not or would not offer security to our fans and staff.
Further Celtic need to make it clear that we offered their fans their allocation at Paradise and that it was the ranker club that turned it down in spite of no evidence of assaults on their staff and fans at Paradise emphasising that there was no joint decision made.
Their silence is dragging our club’s reputation and that of our fans down. What efforts have the Trust made to Celtic to ensure this is undertaken on the fans’ behalf?
It really is an easy task for Celtic to do this so get on with it or face our contempt for you.
Excent post your spot on!
It annoys me when uncle Tim’s try to be liked by huns such as keevins( at his age to!) And Peter McGuire ” Martin” his middle name that says it all about him! Anyway they know like every other bassa that Celtic didn’t start this and tried to resolve it and because that poisonous new club put our fans in danger as they always will when their way more its the shitebag Hun way! Fact!! They hate a challenge!! Anyway I digress we tried to get it sorted they refused so we did what any club should and that is protect our fans!! So the real story should be about their stance and their vile hate filled fans !! That’s the story where no one is safe! Our staff, our players ,our former players in the media!! Anyone with a saints name !! Utter scum!! That should be the only conversation! But the shitebags like keevins and martin should but won’t ever say a thing!! Cowards!! The rest the media are looking after their new club shame they did help save the old one! Celtic will hammer this poison and another Treble is incoming Hail Hail!
Shame they didn’t help save their old clubi meant
It’s all u get out of 2012,LIES,LIES,AND MORE LIES,HMRC FACE PAINTER,NEWSAGENT,ANYONE?SO THEY 2 PEEPL DONT MATTER