Turn on Troublemakers
I was impressed by this article from The Times in which the Celtic manager, Ronny Deila, called on the majority of sensible Celtic fans to turn on the anti-social element within the club who regularly brings Celtic into disrepute because of their boorish, costly and occasionally dangerous antics.
Now Celtic have already been heavily fined by UEFA as a result of these idiots setting off flares in a previous Europa Cup game and the same thing happened again in Milan the other day, albeit outside the football stadium according to news reports.
Mobile phones make it easy these days to catch these people in the act, so too with CCTV cameras at home football games, but the fans have an important role to play as well and the sooner they turn on the troublemakers the better it will be for all concerned.
Ronny Deila calls on Celtic fans to root out troublemakers
Deila is keen that Celtic fans police themselves by identifying the culprits that are causing trouble Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
By Paul Forsyth - The Times
Ronny Deila, the manager, has urged Celtic’s supporters to root out the minority whose recent behaviour at European matches has tarnished the club’s international reputation.
As he and his players departed Glasgow airport yesterday for the second leg of their Europa League last-32 knockout tie against Inter Milan, it emerged that Uefa had fined Celtic €10,000 (about £7,300) for “crowd disturbances” during their group match against Dynamo Zagreb in December.
The release of flares by travelling fans in Croatia led Europe’s governing body to fine Celtic for the eighth time in as many years. It fuels fears — shared by Peter Lawwell, the club’s chief executive — that repeated offences could result in more serious sanctions. The possibilities include playing European matches behind closed doors, an unthinkable prospect for the 60,000 fans who made such a spectacle of the first leg against Inter last Thursday. Deila, who had praised them for their part in a 3-3 draw, said he was saddened that their efforts had been spoilt by a tiny percentage of the club’s support.
Asked if he thought that fans should police themselves by identifying the culprits, Deila said: “If we have a discipline problem in our team, I have to take care of it. It’s the same with the supporters. They have to take care of it from inside because it is so hard for the club to do anything about it. This is about values and how we want to be seen by the rest of the world. Last Thursday was unbelievable and that is what we want every time. If we can’t have that, we have to be strong inside the group.
“I get sad when I hear about it. When we are like we were last Thursday, everyone looks up to us and says that it is great and we have the best fans in the world, so we need that more. I think 99 per cent of the fans agree with us that it is something we don’t want. We just have to get rid of the last per cent that ruins the reputation for everyone.”
Deila’s sentiments were echoed by a statement in which the club said it was “extremely disappointed” with the way “only a handful of people” had behaved, particularly with the use of flares. “We have repeatedly called for the use of flares to stop,” it said. “We cannot and will not allow the safety of our supporters or the reputation of our great club to be compromised by the actions of a tiny minority. It is time those responsible understand the damage this does to the club they claim to support.”
As ever, the fans have travelled in healthy numbers for tonight’s crucial match in the San Siro. Kris Commons, who missed the first leg with a hamstring injury, is available for selection, as is Jason Denayer, who was substituted in the match against Hamilton Academical on Sunday.
