Celtic address disruptive tennis ball protest & 'atmosphere of conflict' as O'Neill pleads for Green Brigade truce
The stand-in Hoops chief is eager to avoid further disruption during Sunday's pivotal Scottish Premiership clash at home to Hibs
Interim Celtic chairman Brian Wilson has issued a plea to supporters to stop the planned protests during Sunday’s Premiership clash at home to Hibs amid renewed calls for more peace talks.
A large section of supporters delayed the start of Thursday’s Europa League play-off first left defeat to Bundesliga side Stuttgart by throwing tennis balls onto the pitch, which is expected to leave under-fire club officials with yet another incoming fine from UEFA
The latest anti-board action came following more talks on Wednesday between senior chiefs and various fan groups, which failed to yield a resolution. And the pre-match disruption led caretaker Hoops boss Martin O’Neill to suggest it had a damaging affect on his side.
With the Green Brigade still banned from attending matches at Parkhead, the Celtic Fans Collective group have laid out a number of demands including the removal of certain board members, regular dialogue with officials and the reinstatement of the ultras group.
Celtic board are ‘aware’ of fan frustrations as more peace talks due to take place
Wilson - who has repeatedly called for unity and vowed to hold further discussions - has issued a fresh appeal calling for a truce during Sunday’s crucial league showdown with David Gray’s men in Glasgow’s east end.
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Wilson insists the board understand fan frustration. but he wants punters to get behind the team during a vital spell of the season in the meantime.
A statement released on Wilson’s behalf by the club stated: “Last night was deeply disappointing for the club in many respects. This started with an orchestrated disruption of the game, causing a delay to an important match.
“Over the past two weeks, I have met with a range of supporters groups and individual supporters. I have met in good faith with representatives of the Green Brigade and was hopeful that progress could have been made; indeed this remains the case.
“I also met in good faith with representatives of the Celtic Fans Collective. When I came into this role, I asked for unity inside the stadium to support the team while trying to resolve other issues.
“I want to see suspensions lifted and differences set aside, but this cannot be unconditional. Last night’s disruption and the reasoning behind it illustrate the difficulty we face and have repeatedly had to contend with.
“This is not intended to deflect from other issues that affect the club and are fully recognised. However, the possibility of further disruptions needs to be addressed urgently.
“Surely the priority must be to give Martin and our players every opportunity to achieve their objectives within the remainder of the season. On that basis, I will continue to seek an end to this debilitating and unnecessary atmosphere of conflict.”
Martin O’Neil seeks a Celtic truce with supporters
O’Neill was left fuming after Thursday’s flashpoint that held up proceedings against the Germans just a few moments after kick-off and insisted the delay had a knock-on effect. But he’s hoping there will be no similar distractions against the Hibees and would love for a truce to be drawn.
The 73-year-old said: “Well, I would hope that, absolutely. Because it could have the same effect. I don’t think it does anybody any good, a disruption of a game like that.
“I cannot stop people shouting whatever they want to shout at the end of the day. But that disrupting the game doesn’t help psychologically or in any other aspect.
“I genuinely don’t know. I know that we’re trying, seriously. Brian has got the club at heart. He’s a really good speaker, he’s a fair-minded man at the end of it all. We thought that we might have been making a bit of progress. The other night might be something separate.
“Again, I don’t know. But all I’m saying is that a disruption really doesn’t help. It doesn’t help because if I’m a Stuttgart player and the game’s disrupted for three minutes I’m thinking, ‘Oh, all’s not right here’.”