Celtic favourite John Hartson reckons Hoops fans would celebrate a late derby winner in normal fashion – despite being told not to stand or sing at matches.
Fans will be in place at two Premiership games this weekend – with Celtic’s visit to Ross County one of the chosen games.
Aberdeen’s clash against Kilmarnock will also have a limited number of home supporters, but they have been told not to sing, shout or stand during the game. (Scottish Sun)
And Hoops icon Hartson doesn’t think such a subdued atmosphere is likely, especially for the big games.
He told the Scotsman: “The way I see it, they are all being told to wear masks inside the ground and are being kept at a distance so I’m not sure what harm can really be done by someone shouting.
“Imagine there is a late winner. How do you physically stop someone from jumping up and shouting ‘yes!’ or whatever?
“Can you imagine trying to do that at an Old Firm match? I can understand clubs wanting to play it safe but are they telling fans to wear gags as well as face masks?
“If I was still playing and scored a winning goal, I would find it very strange indeed to run over to fans and see them still sitting down and not really shouting or cheering.
“It is still better than an empty stadium but it’s still not the atmosphere that we are used to and that makes football so special.”
It’s hard to see fans following some instructions
Other than using the banned ‘OF’ term – c’mon John, you’re better than that – Hartson makes a very good point.
The prospect of getting fans back into stadia is a really exciting one. But if it’s only going to be a few hundred at first, and they can’t even make any noise, is there really much point?
Football stadia are outside so you would think that shouting and singing would be permissible, so long as fans from different households kept their distance.
Wearing a mask even seems a bit over the top, but fans will likely follow that guidance.
No signing or shouting, however. As neat an idea as it may seem from the high powers, you can’t see it coming to fruition. Especially in a heated derby at Parkhead.
In other news, Aaron Hickey says that Celtic provided him with an “appealing” offer this summer
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