Old Firm rivals Rangers and Celtic aren’t exactly famous for seeing eye-to-eye.
The two clubs represent the antithesis of one another and are rarely willing to do any favours should the need ever arise.
In fact, quite to the contrary.
And no more is that bitter contempt better exemplified than in the Old Firm ticket allocation fiasco, with Celtic now banning away fans for the upcoming Scottish Premiership clash on September 1st.
They aren’t the first of course, but plenty hope they will be the last, as Celtic cite the rumbling Ibrox renovation fiasco as justification for pulling the briefs in a fortnight’s time.
This comes after Rangers and Celtic had struck a deal to give up 5% of their capacity on (there is no) Old Firm day following four Premiership matches without away fans last season.
Celtic claim they have begun to put in the necessary safety precautions whilst suggesting Rangers – currently housed at Hampden – are unable to guarantee the same as renovations to the Copland Stand continue to hamstring the Ibrox club this season.
Now, both managers have had their say and there are some contrasting reactions to the situation in Glasgow.
Rodgers riled by big bad Rangers
Contrary to popular belief on Janefield Street, whilst Rangers kickstarted the ticket fiasco in the Old Firm derby, it was actually Hibs who kickstarted the trend in Scottish football.
Under the management of Neil Lennon, the Edinburgh club cut briefs for Rangers fans at Easter Road in 2018.
Since then the likes of Hearts, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen have all followed suit.
Later that year, Rangers cut Celtic’s allocation for a game at Ibrox from 7000 to 800 and Steven Gerrard defeated Brendan Rodgers’ first Celtic team 1-0.
As Rangers ambled their way back to the top of the Scottish Premiership, it is an off-pitch advantage which clearly worked and it’s something which clearly continues to irk the Parkhead boss.
There are other issues associated with Celtic getting the full Broomloan of course, not least the loss of season ticket revenue.
But the Parkhead side continue to campaign for a return to the ‘old allocation’ for a fixture which they claim no longer exists.
Yes, we know it makes no sense.
Rangers have made it quite clear that there will never be a return to the so-called ‘old allocation’.
As a result of this latest fall out, a clearly riled Brendan Rodgers has been beating the Celtic drum to stoke the Parkhead support and once again position football’s most virtuous lot as the victims.
That’s despite Celtic being the ones who have pulled the tickets for this latest fixture against Rangers, even with offers of good faith from the Ibrox board.
To Celtic fans, it’s a justified decision from their holier than thou hierarchy.
For Rangers fans, the Parkhead side smell blood and have used the Ibrox construction fiasco to turn up the heat amid our stuttering start to the season.
For Rodgers however, none of that really matters. Big bad Rangers started it all and Celtic, as always, are the good guys. I think I can hear a violin.
“The club’s job is to protect the support and if there’s not the guarantee that come the second fixture then I think it’s only logical that you wouldn’t reciprocate,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“Celtic have played their part in what they were asked to do. Nothing of this was Celtic’s issue, nothing. When you go back to when all this was started it’s nothing to do with Celtic.
“Celtic gets dragged into this here as being a Celtic-Rangers thing. It’s not a Celtic-Rangers thing, this is a Rangers thing.
“Celtic are asked to have this agreement to make the stadium safe, we plough money into that and we do the work which started months ago. On both parties that hasn’t been agreed. It’s not complicated, it hasn’t been done.
“It’s not great faith if we allow Rangers supporters in then we get to January and our own supporters can’t get in.
“The agreement hasn’t been upheld so Celtic rightly have to defend their supporters and the club, and sadly the Rangers supporters miss out on this game and Celtic in the return game.
“Let’s hope after that we can find a way to get the supporters in.”
Clement evades Old Firm responsibility
Philippe Clement meanwhile has bigger fish to fry than Old Firm ticket allocations at the moment.
The Rangers manager is under a swell of increasing pressure after what can at best be described as an underwhelming transfer window to date.
After giving a bleak transfer update to Rangers fans, Clement also had to wade through this latest Old Firm pettiness.
The Belgian wasn’t exactly issued with an artillery of soundbites or strategic communications like his Celtic counterpart and Clement was quick to shift the responsibility.
The Rangers boss has more important things to worry about but he’ll know that it’s a clear disadvantage to have his inexperienced side go to Parkhead without a single bluenose fighting their corner.
“I’m not involved in these talks, but I hope for football games always that there are two sets of fans,” Clement told the press. “But there are some things from the past or some things now.
“I don’t know all the details about that, so I’m not the right person to comment if it was possible now for these first two games or not.
“But I love to see football where on two sides there are fans. I think it’s always better for the project, for the players, for everybody.
“Yeah, it’s a different atmosphere, yeah. It’s different.
“But, yeah, we need to adapt, like we had to adapt in other circumstances also. So it’s about not putting focus on that. I try to control the things we can control and to put all the effort in that.”
The SPFL have also had their say on the situation and in a statement claim that as things stand, there are away fans scheduled to attend the final two Old Firm derbies of the season.
We won’t be holding our breath…
