There are articles that I write, that I know I’m wasting my time bothering about. There are articles that I write that I know are just not going to hit the mark with the intended audience. And this is going to be one of those articles.
I don’t mean you, the readers. I mean the people who run our club – they are its intended audience. But the idea that they listen to a single word that fans might say, far less someone like me, is ridiculous.
I know better than that. I’ve lived too long to believe otherwise.
But I could live the rest of my life and not be subjected again to the bile and the bigotry that poured out of the stand housing the Ibrox fans on Sunday. And the club has paid a price for it too, in the number of broken seats that it was undoubtedly forced to clean up. We’ve all seen the videos, so we all know that it happened.
I gather the toilets got wrecked. That’s what our guests think of our house. That’s what they think of our club. And you know what? We deserve everything we get for ever having allowed them back in the door again.
I recognise that we are now in a place where the SPFL is guaranteeing minimum allocations for these games. But it’s not good enough. The SPFL is not realistically going to do anything about it if we tell our noisy houseguests that they’re no longer welcome. I would dare them to try.
And yes, we can send the bill to their club and hope that they pay it – which they might decide not to do. But we shouldn’t need to do that. We shouldn’t need to put up with this in our own front room.
Their fans are a disgrace. They’ve always been a disgrace.
There isn’t a game they’ve come to Celtic Park in the last 20 years where they haven’t damaged the place in some way. And this is the reason that, right from the start, I was completely opposed to their returning in any form, in any number, for any reason, for any game short of a Scottish Cup tie where we were mandated to give them an allocation.
They behaved exactly as advertised. Exactly as we knew they would. Exactly as they always do. It comes as no surprise at all that they decided to break seats, smash up toilets, and generally just cause as much mayhem as they could. That is what they’ve always done. That is what some of us predicted they would do. And only the Celtic board can pretend to be surprised by any of it.
This is our house. They shouldn’t be in it because they don’t respect it, and they don’t respect any form of civility at all when it comes to us.
They polluted our stadium with their bigoted bile songs, and then they damaged it on the way out. And it confirmed what all of us have said for a long time – that it was a much better place without them in it.
I understand that nothing is going to change about this. I understand that even my saying this is pissing in the wind. The club has made the call. They are back – 2,500 of them – and the club wants to bring back more of them if it can. God forbid that should ever happen. That number of them is too many for me. It’s too many for most people.
Everyone, I think, but the Celtic board. And I’m not giving them stick for that. They’re partly concerned that our away fans can get to go to games. But I find it amazing that this is the club they’ve gone to the most trouble with on this issue.
It’s the club they’ve sought a solution to that problem with – because, to the best of my knowledge, they haven’t even tried to engage with Hearts or Aberdeen or any of the other clubs who cut our allocation over the years.
You could almost be forgiven for thinking that they subscribe to all this Old Firm rubbish.
But I do not accuse them of that, and I will not accuse them of that.
Other things they may be – but not that. But I cannot understand, if it’s not that, why these people are welcome in our house.
The Huns aren’t welcome James, they are tolerated for various reasons and they have to be managed by Celtic as best they can. We aren’t entirely innocent either when we go to away grounds, yes I know there is no comparison when it comes to their conduct versus ours, but a lot of clubs think the same about our support, they tolerate us, but at least they get something back in return, the Green pound keeps them going and keeps them happyish to accommodate us. All the hun hordes ever do is to cost us money, with security and policing costs and stadium repair costs, it is not a satisfactory situation but it is a necessary evil that we are somehow stuck with.
They are a joke support.
Keep singing
Simply the Best ,,,,,,What at, coming SECOND.
Would keep them out forever,they are not needed and never will be.
Why the fuck hasn’t the club put out an official statement about this and pictures of their wanton and deliberate vandalism…
The only one I’ve seen is a pic from a Celtic supporter of the seats…
Are they fuckin so gutless yellow cowardly bastards that they are too scared yet again of Sevco…
Or is the useless and inept ‘Lucan’ lording it (pardon the pun) in some expensive place like The Seychelles, The Virgin Islands or The UAE and ending himself at the expense of Celtic supporters as we wallow in misery for a fortnight at least…
His counterparts at Liebrox weren’t backwards at coming forward to steal a march on fan behaviour for sure and of course led the narrative with accusations about Celtic supporters…
We have gutless gutless bastards as our fuckin frankly embarrassing custodians when it comes to sticking up for our support and calling out others (Sevco fans) for unruly and thuggish behaviour on a repetitive scale…
If only it was Thornton we had to authorise statements – Because ‘Daddy’ certainly won’t…
If only it was Paddy that would pen them because that spineless lump of softest shite Lucan certainly never fuckin will…
Shameful by The Shameless Bastards on our board regarding this !!!
Clach, the board are full of Blue Tories, Red Tories and Green Tories, bending the knee to all the clowns and bigots who run Scottish Football, it is just part of the game to them. They will never rock the boat of the football establishment at Hampden, or the anti Celtic media both broadcasting and print. Oh for someone to appear with the intelligence, courage and determination of Fergus McCann, a guy who never shirked from defending Celtics corner.
Firstly I do not accept that the huns damaged the toilets. Even the huns are not stupid enough to destroy the lavvy pans aka their only source of drinking water.
Secondly we have to be fair to the board. They pay the polis a handsome some to maintain order.
So instead of using that obscene number of polis to kettle in fans who had done ab zero, they could have deployed that resource roon the lavvies and seats. You know catch actual perpetrators which is what they are there for. I know it’s a zany idea.
Amazing how with today’s technology they can pinpoint one coin thrower but wholesale vandalism, glass appearing in our goalies area etc are beyond the polis.
I agree that they shouldn’t be anywhere near our ground. They are scum of the highest order and are way beyond ever being civilised.
The only way to hurt them is to hump them royally every game. We have seen how they react to constant defeats by their crowds continually dwindling. Hopefully they dwindle away to zero and gie us all peace
They might daviebhoy54 dwindle – IF,IF,IF,IF Brendan decides to change tactics against them…
Otherwise zilch will happen v them until he is replaced !
They should make them pay for the repairs using the money they are making from selling Cerni’s shirt. Nearly spat oot my porridge when I read they are trying to make income that way. What a riddy man.
Apparently we do it too I just learned. I’m definitely not a fan of this. Old shirts should be going to kids and hospitals etc. plus how many shirts do players go through? Do they get a new shirt every game?
When the survey came out at the start of the season, I listed the Celtic blog as one of the ways I got Celtic information so the board might not act but they’ll know what’s being said I think.
We should tally up the damages bill and send it at the end of the season, if it’s nots paid before the new season starts then they’re not getting back in. Surely this would be backed up by a police report, there’s millions of police there but never see anything? I wanted away fans back in for Glasgow derbies for the sake of fans who never miss a game but I think I’ve changed my mind.
Take a deposit aff the manky bastards- 250k any damage and they forfeit it.
The irony of the fuckers complaining about missile throwing, they are aptly named the Huns for a reason.
We should send them the bill and if it’s not paid then either refuse a ticket allocation to them next season or insist on a cash deposit refundable net of damages. Of course they would then reciprocate and we need to accept that we also have our share who would vandalise their ground.
A more relevant point for me is that I didn’t think the “TV experience” of away fans in the ground enhanced the experience. On TV, a full ground is a full ground.
A bigger issue for me are the empty stands at our other TV away matches which makes the SPFL look ridiculous on TV. Living down south the grief I get for the empty grounds week after week is non-stop. I am surprised that Sky puts up with the ticketing arrangements for our away games. It does not sell the spectacle and is embarrassing. Surely it would be better for (say) Motherwell to give us a greater number of tickets and fill the ground. Not only would Motherwell benefit directly but I am sure the case would be easier made for a better Sky deal as full grounds make better TV.
Seems to me we the fans in the huge majority allow this to happen in our house, in our Paradise. Wouldn’t happen in my house if a minority came in and started smashing the house up, toilets, seating, furniture, etc.
Seems cowardly to let them do that so maybe we the fans should take good look at ourselves. If we go to the midden and behave like that we get our heads whacked off.
Seems blaming the board is like blaming my dad and mum if we sat by and watched a small minority come into our house and smash it up.
Seems to me the fans in my day would not have allowed them to walk away.
Seems to me we’re all talk and no trousers.
Seems to me we’d rather blame the board for everything as we simply standby apportioning instead of showing up. And I don’t just mean on the pitch.
Seems to me shame should be shared around and we need to look in not out.
If the ultimate belief is we don’t want them in our house, in Paradise, we the fans need to stand up and let our guardians know this can not ever happen again. Or simply stop the cowardly moaning and put up with it
Seems to me we the fans in the huge majority allow this to happen in our house, in our Paradise. Wouldn’t happen in my house if a minority came in and started smashing the house up, toilets, seating, furniture, etc.
Seems cowardly to let them do that so maybe we the fans should take good look at ourselves. If we go to the midden and behave like that we get our heads whacked off.
Seems blaming the board is like blaming my dad and mum if we sat by and watched a small minority come into our house and smash it up.
Seems to me the fans in my day would not have allowed them to walk away.
Seems to me we’re all talk and no trousers.
Seems to me we’d rather blame the board for everything as we simply standby apportioning instead of showing up. And I don’t just mean on the pitch.
Seems to me shame should be shared around and we need to look in not out.
If the ultimate belief is we don’t want them in our house, in Paradise, we the fans need to stand up and let our guardians know this can not ever happen again. Or simply stop the cowardly moaning and put up with it
Damage aside, it was non stop bile from start tae finish. Everythin from the pope, nuns, priests, fenians and of course their favourite subject CA had the treatment throughout. Can ye imagine if they were singin anti- muslim poisinous chants for example. It would rightly be condemned and probably tackled by uefa. It’s a shameful disgrace, that not a word is mentioned by the media. Tho we know that’ll always be the case. Sad indictment of the society we live in. Beggars belief why we let them back.
I’m sure you’ll find that the two O** F*** partners have a reciprocal agreement regarding they each pay the other for any damage that their fans do to the others stadium and as part of that gentleman’s agreement they keep it out of the Media.
You have to recognise that The Celtic Board, annd The Celtic Chairman in particular ( and therefore his Mini Me Mute Mike are fervent and ardent supporters of the O** F*** Brand.