On Sunday the Ibrox club will have no-one else to blame for any disorder.

There is something about this fixture that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, something that makes my blood freeze. This one is doing a lot more.

At the weekend, Celtic will return to Ibrox for the first time since that disgraceful Scottish Cup quarter-final in March, the afternoon when Celtic won on penalties and what should have been remembered as a great Celtic victory descended into scenes of violence and chaos. And now there will be no Celtic supporters inside Ibrox.

Not a single one. I cannot pretend that sits comfortably with me, and I’ve written about it already. Because, apparently, this is the solution.

Take the Celtic supporters away. Take away the Celtic end. Take away the thousands of green-and-white shirts. Take away the voices singing, shouting, celebrating and, most importantly, being there for our own players.

And then send Celtic into Ibrox anyway.

I am sorry, but I have a very bad feeling about this.

On 8 March, Celtic were at Ibrox for the Scottish Cup quarter-final. Around 7,500 Celtic supporters were there, the biggest Celtic following at Ibrox since 2018. Celtic won on penalties. Then the chaos began.

Celtic supporters entered the pitch to celebrate. Ibrox supporters subsequently came onto the field from the opposite end as police and stewards attempted to keep the groups apart. Missiles and pyrotechnics were thrown; people were injured and violent confrontations followed. Police Scotland described the scenes as involving “extreme hostility and violence over a sustained period”.

The independent review which followed was even more alarming. It found serious problems with the planning and preparedness around the game and concluded that the circumstances created the potential for life-threatening violence.

A 10-year-old Celtic supporter was struck in the face by a coin. That alone should horrify anyone who cares about football supporters getting home safely from a match.

There was also a serious assault on a man on Helen Street – the footage is genuinely shocking; I cried watching it – after the game, with three men later arrested and charged, while another man was arrested and charged in connection with an assault involving a Celtic coach and player.

Objects, including pyrotechnics, were thrown. Celtic players and members of staff were caught up in the disorder. This was not some tiny disagreement between a couple of supporters. This was a major security failure at one of the most combustible football fixtures in the world.

The question I keep coming back to is painfully simple: what exactly has been learned? Because I am not convinced that banning Celtic supporters from Ibrox is an answer. It feels like surrender to the kind of thugs responsible.

And I am particularly uncomfortable with the message it sends.

This is not the first time objects have been thrown towards Celtic players at Ibrox. We have seen objects thrown. We have seen unacceptable chanting. We have seen provocative behaviour. We have seen players targeted. We have seen supporters injured. We have seen pitch invasions. We have seen police and stewards struggle to control the situation.

And repeatedly we hear the language of both clubs, both sets of supporters, both sides. Now, I am not saying Celtic supporters are incapable of behaving badly. Of course they are. Celtic supporters are human beings. If somebody wearing a Celtic scarf breaks the law, they should be dealt with.

But there is a difference between saying both clubs have responsibilities and pretending that every individual incident has somehow been created by two identical sides behaving identically. That is where my patience disappears.

Because if somebody throws a bottle at a Celtic player, assaults a Celtic supporter or attacks a member of staff, I do not want a philosophical discussion about the ancient rivalry. I want the person responsible identified. I want them arrested where appropriate. I want them banned. I want them prosecuted where the evidence supports it.

And I want the football authorities to make absolutely bloody sure Celtic’s players and staff are protected. That should not be controversial.

And yes, I want their club to suffer some form of consequences. Only then will it stop.

There is another part of this that makes me laugh, although it is the sort of laugh that comes from sheer frustration. There will undoubtedly be Ibrox supporters who look at the empty Celtic section and think they won something.

Well, congratulations. If that is the victory they want, they can have it.

Celtic supporters did not decide that football should become unsafe. Celtic supporters did not decide that away allocations should become a permanent battlefield. Celtic did not invent the idea that the answer to disorder is to remove the innocent majority from the stadium. So yes, there will be no Celtic supporters at Ibrox.

If some people want to interpret that as a victory, let them. I would rather have Celtic supporters safe at home watching than subjected to the risks that would await us if only 300 fans were in the ground.

But I would much rather have the authorities create an environment in which they can safely be there. And this is the bit that worries me.

What happens when Celtic are playing at Ibrox and there is nobody in the Celtic end? Who is there to support our players? Who creates that wall of noise behind them? Who is there when something is thrown? Who is there when a Celtic player walks towards the corner? Who makes the players feel that they are not alone?

And, perhaps most importantly, does removing Celtic supporters remove the target, or simply remove one group of people from the environment while leaving the underlying security problem unresolved?

I do not know. And that is precisely why I dislike this arrangement.

I am not suggesting Celtic players need to walk onto the pitch surrounded by armed guards like heads of state. But I absolutely believe that the security operation around Celtic’s players and coaching staff at Ibrox needs to be exceptional since there are no fans for the home support to target.

If Celtic win, that anger needs an outlet, and that creates a heightened risk to players and staff, who must be protected properly.

If the route from the dressing room to the pitch needs additional security, provide it. If the warm-up area needs additional protection, provide it. If certain sections of the stadium need enhanced monitoring, do it. If objects can potentially reach the pitch, deal with the people throwing them. Close those areas of the stands for future games; that is, after all, the done thig now.

And if anyone approaches Celtic players or coaching staff in a threatening manner, the response must be immediate.

I do not want to hear afterwards that lessons will be learned. Learn them before the match.

This is what bothers me most.

Celtic supporters are being removed because this fixture has been judged unsafe under the present circumstances. Fine. But removing Celtic supporters does not somehow make every other danger disappear. The players are still going to be there. Martin O’Neill is still going to be there. The coaching staff are still going to be there. The medical staff are still going to be there. And the Celtic players will still have to walk into that stadium and play football.

The independent review identified significant failures in planning and preparedness for the March fixture. It found that Police Scotland’s ability to react was constrained and recorded incidents involving pyrotechnics, missiles thrown towards players and officials, sectarian chanting and other serious disorder.

So, I am asking two very simple questions.

First, have we actually fixed the problem, or have we simply removed one section of the crowd? Those are two completely different things.

Second, in doing so have we made things better … or worse?

Maybe nothing will happen on Sunday. I am praying that nothing does. I want Celtic to walk into Ibrox, play football, win the bloody match, walk back onto the bus and go home. That is my dream scenario.

No missiles. No pitch invasion. No violence. No players being confronted. No staff being assaulted. No children being injured. No police officers being attacked. Just football.

But forgive me if I do not blindly assume everything will be fine. I remember what happened in March. I remember the images and the chaos. I remember players and staff being caught up in it. I remember a child being hit by a coin. I remember people being hurt. And I remember an independent review which made clear just how serious the failures surrounding that game had been.

And the Ibrox club’s behaviour was treated as the same as ours. That scares me more than anything. It refuses to separate responsibility, and viewed with no away fans I am concerned their supporters automatically believe they will never be punished.

I want our team protected. I want our supporters protected. I want Celtic staff protected. And I want every single person attending Scottish football to be able to go home safely afterwards. But I also want responsibility.

Real responsibility. Not endless statements about both sides. Not another meeting. Not another review after something terrible happens. Not another promise that lessons will be learned. I want prevention. If I were marking this situation as an English teacher, my comment in the margin would be brutally simple:

“You have identified the symptom, but you have not adequately addressed the cause.”

Removing away supporters is a measure. It is not necessarily a solution. The solution is creating a football environment in which supporters can attend without fear, players can play without being targeted and clubs can fulfil their fixtures without everybody wondering what might happen next.

And if Celtic have to play at Ibrox without a single Celtic supporter inside that stadium, then I want the SFA, SPFL, Police Scotland, the Ibrox club and everyone else involved to understand something. There is no Celtic crowd there to blame. There is no Celtic end to point towards. There is no Celtic support to accuse of provoking anything.

There is only the match. There are Celtic players. There are Celtic coaches. And there is a responsibility to protect them. So please, do your bloody jobs.

Because on Sunday, Celtic will walk into Ibrox without the thousands of supporters who would normally travel with them.

With the Celtic support absent, I want the authorities watching everything. Every aisle. Every object. Every missile. Every threat. Every pitch intrusion. Every person who thinks football gives them permission to behave like an animal.

Because if something happens to one of Celtic’s players or coaches this time, I do not want another investigation afterwards. I do not want another statement. I do not want another round of finger-pointing.

The blame better get put where it belongs.

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