Martin O’Neill says Rangers are ‘entitled’ to their Celtic Park ticket allocation for the final Glasgow Derby of the season.
The Celtic boss was asked about the fixture and what it meant for Rangers’ visit to Celtic Park after the top-six split after last Sunday’s Ibrox scenes.
And while O’Neill showed regret at the scenes, the Celtic boss said that despite, the Ibrox club are entitled to their allocation.
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How can we ensure that the Glasgow derby can continue having full allocations after the latest incident?
Martin O’Neill says Rangers are ‘entitled’ to Celtic Park tickets
Whilst we are well aware that Scottish Premiership ticketing allocations were all organised well before Sunday’s game at Ibrox, there should be a rethink despite what Martin O’Neill says.
O’Neill told Celtic TV, “Rangers will be due their allocation, won’t they? And they’re entitled to that as well too.
“It’s a league game, so I don’t think anybody’s arguing about that. The full allocation is something that I feel the fixture, although still a great fixture, has missed in recent years.
“And it looks, because of the happenings on Sunday, I assume that everybody will have a look at it and think, well, maybe it’s not worthwhile.
“It will not be a phenomenal concern to me from a distance, but it would be a shame if that were to be the case.
“It is really because there’s something pretty special about the O-d F-rm atmosphere, particularly when the away fans are in the numbers they were.”
Give Rangers nothing, the safety of Celtic players and coaches should be paramount
The ticket allocation discussion is something that is simply not going to go away after Sunday’s debacle.
However, while we are wary of a knee-jerk reaction, the Celtic Park allocation should be rescinded for the final Glasgow Derby of the season.
Not for the first time at Ibrox, the safety of Celtic players and staff have been threatened and nothing of note has happened to improve that.
Off the top of our heads, here are incidents involving Celtic players and staff where safety protocols have been breached inside Ibrox:
- Scott Brown was attacked by a thug
- Arne Engels was struck by coin
- Joe Hart’s goalmouth was littered with broken glass
- A Celtic coach was hit by a bottle
- Celtic coach attacked by a fan on Sunday
- Julian Araujo was targeted by a Rangers fan while still on the pitch
What will it take to get the message across to Rangers that these incidents will not, and cannot, be accepted by Celtic.
A full ban from Celtic Park should be implemented until Rangers root out the problem at Ibrox that they will not speak about.
And that should start this season for the Parkhead visit with no questions asked.
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