The Celtic boss was right to call out our pyromaniacs. Their behaviour is utterly selfish.

The most important Celtic statement of the season so far came on Friday at the pre-match press conference when Brendan Rodgers was asked to give his thoughts on the current situation involving our fans and the use of pyro. He absolutely owned it.

The first thing he did was smart. He dampened any talk of controversy by immediately highlighting the positives that our support, home and away, brings to the club. Because, let’s be clear, we’re not talking about the whole support here, or even a large minority. We’re talking about a tiny group of people whose behaviour risks visiting adverse consequences on everybody else.

I wasn’t surprised that we received a harsh UEFA punishment the other day. The only surprise was that our sanction was harsher than the one given to the club across the city, who genuinely feared that a stand might be closed for what their fans did.

But I’m not blaming UEFA or claiming that they have some contradictory or hypocritical stance on pyro. Their policy is clear, as it should be, and it isn’t open to negotiation. We know what the rules are, and the club has made this clear to fans numerous times. The fans understand the policy, although I’m not sure all of them fully appreciate the potential consequences for violating it.

These consequences are no longer hypothetical—they are imminent.

They can no longer be ignored, as the next breach of regulations will bring those consequences down on us. And I am strongly of the view that this cannot be allowed to happen. Now Brendan Rodgers himself, the manager, is on record saying the same.

I really enjoyed the Dortmund trip, and the result didn’t dampen my pleasure from that experience. But if I had booked for Zagreb or Birmingham, I’d be worried about wasting my money, because if this stuff happens again in Bergamo, one of those trips will be cancelled. Fans won’t be permitted to travel to the game. That won’t just affect those who’ve booked to travel but future trips too. How can you book any away trip in advance knowing this risk looms over it?

It’s also terribly unfair on the players.

The team deserves to run out in front of our passionate away support. Rodgers is right—how can you do this, knowing the potential result, knowing you might disenfranchise other fans and the team itself, and still call yourself a Celtic supporter? It’s pure selfishness.

And although Rodgers put it more diplomatically than I would, that’s essentially what he was saying. These so-called “superfans” care more about their own egos than they do about the club. If they endanger the team, as far as I’m concerned, Celtic can throw the book at them.

It’s encouraging that a lot of blogs have spoken out about this. It’s good that fan media is expressing its disgust. But nothing we can say is half as effective as when the manager speaks, and Rodgers has now joined Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou in condemning this. The difference now is that when we talk about consequences for the team, it’s no longer an abstract threat. It’s real. It’s on the table, and it will be for the next two years.

Do I have any confidence they’ll listen to Rodgers? No.

They didn’t listen to Lennon or Ange, and I don’t think they’ll listen to him either. The club has been pleading with them for years not to indulge in this behaviour, and they haven’t listened. I don’t think they will, and I fear it’ll continue until something gives. What I expect to break is the club’s tolerance level.

We can all help by making our feelings clear.

If this stuff happens in the stadium, it should be booed and discouraged vocally, loudly.

This behaviour will harm Celtic, and an away fan ban is only the start of a slippery slope. Before long, we could see stands closed or even a game played behind closed doors. At that point, it’s hard to imagine the club not taking drastic measures to prevent further incidents.

These people can tell themselves that this adds something to the atmosphere, but the only atmosphere it’s creating is a negative one—between their group and the club, and between them and the rest of the fan base. If they continue to act like selfish brats, that’s exactly how they’ll be seen. They’ve gotten away with it until now because the consequences haven’t been serious enough for others to take notice.

But all of that changes if they cross the line UEFA has drawn. They shouldn’t kid themselves—there isn’t a single person at Celtic who will support them on this. Not the players, not the manager, nobody. The best thing Brendan Rodgers did this weekend was to make that crystal clear.