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Old Firm Agree Code Of Conduct To Help Rid Derby Of Bad Blood

Discussion in 'Celtic Chat' started by Tir Na Glas, Mar 9, 2011.

Discuss Old Firm Agree Code Of Conduct To Help Rid Derby Of Bad Blood in the Celtic Chat area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Tir Na Glas

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    Ridiculous.Surely asking Rangers to just play the game would be all that's needed!



    Old Firm agree code of conduct to help rid derby of bad blood - Herald Scotland | Sport | SPL | Rangers


    Old Firm agree code of conduct to help rid derby of bad blood

    MICHAEL GRANT CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER MICHAEL.GRANT@HERALDANDTIMES.CO.UK

    9 Mar 2011
    CELTIC and Rangers have agreed to re-enforce a joint code of conduct for their players and management in an attempt to take some of the tension out of future Old Firm derbies.

    A six-point plan drawn up by the clubs themselves and approved at yesterday’s summit with the First Minister, Alex Salmond, in Edinburgh was revealed by Peter Lawwell and Martin Bain, chief executives of Celtic and Rangers respectively.

    The summit was called after Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, and Ally McCoist, the Rangers assistant manager squared up at full-time in last week’s derby, in which Rangers also had three players sent off. Bain had cited extreme verbal abuse of Rangers players by members of the Celtic management team, in previous derbies, as a contributory factor in last week’s indiscipline. The general scenes were too much for politicians and the police to tolerate.

    Ill-feeling between the clubs was impossible to detect as Lawwell and Bain sat shoulder-to-shoulder at a briefing after yesterday’s summit. Lawwell spoke at length for the first time about Lennon’s angry touchline reaction and made it clear their manager was working under incredible stress. Threats have been made and live ammunition and a suspect package sent to Lennon in recent weeks. Bain condemned the treatment Lennon had been subjected to. Salmond described it as “disgraceful”.

    Lawwell was highly supportive of his manager but did acknowledge that he had fallen below the club’s standards by angrily confronting McCoist after the Ibrox No.2 warned him to stop verbally attacking Rangers players.

    “From our point of view, I congratulated our players in terms of their discipline and composure [last week],” said Lawwell. “I congratulated our supporters in terms of their positive, full, dynamic support of the team. In terms of the coach, Neil Lennon, Neil reacted to a particular situation – didn’t instigate, reacted – in a way that he regrets. He very quickly, immediately, apologised to the Celtic board. The matter was closed. He then met also with Ally McCoist and the matter is now closed.

    “Neil slipped below the very high standards we have at Celtic and he recognised that. But in terms of mitigating factors, we can understand in terms of what’s going on in his life at the moment and the pressure he is under. He is a man under enormous pressure to be Celtic manager and to win games; other than that he also has to put up with live ammunition through the post, bomb threats, and 24-hour security measures that the club has put in place with Strathclyde Police. That’s an incredible amount to take on at the moment.”

    Bain was asked if he felt uncomfortable about what Lennon was having to go through. “I would be uncomfortable with anyone in society getting those sorts of threats and messages,” he said.

    On the row with McCoist specifically, Bain went on: “There was an issue and, as clubs, that issue has been dealt with internally. Walter Smith made it abundantly clear that he takes responsibility for the behaviour of his players and Ally McCoist is well aware of the responsibilities expected of him at Rangers.”

    Lawwell and Bain met at Hampden on Monday and jointly presented a six-point “code of conduct” to the summit. Those points were a re-enforced code of conduct for players and officials’ behaviour; the creation of a pan-Scotland police football intelligence unit; greater enforcement of existing legislation to deal with sectarianism and drink-related offences; the establishment of a task force comprising the police, government and club security personnel; launching a detailed academic study of the link between football and subsequent violence in society; and the two clubs working together more closely to encourage responsible drinking.

    The clubs will also agree to be visited, and lectured, by the police before future derbies. That could either mean officers coming to the training ground a few days beforehand, or even entering the dressing-room within an hour of kick-off. “Officers in the dressing room laying down the law is slightly different from an informal briefing at the training ground two or three days before the game to educate the players about what is expected,” said Lawwell. “We would be open to that.”

    Both chief executives claimed they were pleased to be there. “The First Minister asked for firm proposals and I’m pleased to say that, in conjunction with Celtic, we have submitted a six-point plan,” said Bain.

    “What I would say is that there are undoubtedly major issues in Scottish society. With the best will in the world, you can’t blame a football club or be cured by a football club but we will do our bit to help. We look forward to playing our part.”

    Salmond welcomed the Old Firm’s willingness to engage with Strathclyde Police’s Chief Constable Stephen House, who initiated yesterday’s summit, and said the underlying problems were far greater than the specific details of on-field disorder at last week’s game.

    “We deliberately didn’t attempt to replay the 90 minutes from last Wednesday,” said Salmond. “We felt we were dealing with fairly fundamental issues.”

    The chief executives of the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League, Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster and David Longmuir respectively, also attended the summit.

    Both the Old Firm representatives said the general reaction to last week’s trouble had been exaggerated, although they were careful not to sound as though they wanted to diminish their own role in the problems. “I think there was an overreaction, but that is not to say in any way that we do not recognise our responsibilities,” said Bain.

    Lawwell said: “I think there was an overreaction to the event but I don’t think we can lose sight of the main issue, which is the spike in violence and domestic violence after games. Not only our games. One question, though, is how much more can the clubs do? The stigma always attaches to Celtic and Rangers but how much more can we physically do? A lot of good work we do is forgotten.”

    The idea of playing one or more derbies behind closed doors was dismissed. Restrictions on pub opening hours in the vicinity of Celtic Park or Ibrox on match days will be examined though, as will the possibility of moving fixtures.

    The police favour having more midweek games because there is less drinking time and the number of assaults goes down. “We are not unrealistic,” said House. “We don’t expect matches this season to be rescheduled; that’s not possible in a crowded fixture list and the first match is the cup final. But we are pleased that everybody involved understood the importance of looking at the issue of scheduling.”

    Longmuir said small steps would be taken to soften the atmosphere when Celtic and Rangers play in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final at Hampden a week on Sunday. Popular former players from both clubs will take to the field before kick-off and Rangers mascots will walk out with the Celtic players, and vice versa.
     
  2. Scotzbhoy

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    I'm a bit disappointed that Celtic haven't come out and pointed out that we're not to blame. Well done to Lawwell for the statement he put out earlier, but frankly we seem to have been acting recently like it's as much our fault as theirs. That's why it was so foolish for Lenny to react like he did; not because it got him in trouble, simply because it gave everyone an opportunity to deflect attention away from what rangers did.
     
  3. CH4 Gold Member Gold Member

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    it does come across thats its a 2 sided affair.while the huns sit there and half the pressure is off them

    we done nowt wrong..........

    weekdays matches "there is less drinking time":rolleyes: aye right oh
     
  4. Jeannie960 Gold Member Gold Member

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    lets start concentrating on winning the treble :icon_mrgreen: all this stuff is just designed to distract us and make us take our eye off the ball :rolleyes: now now more than ever Lennys focus has to be on getting the job done....don't give them an inch either on or off the field :50:
     
  5. oh bhoy

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    “We deliberately didn’t attempt to replay the 90 minutes from last Wednesday,” said Salmond ???????
    why the * not ,cause it was evident the huns caused all the bother?
     
  6. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    While everyone including Stevie Wonder are aware that the catalyst for all the trouble during that match was Rangers, I do agree with nearly everything that is said in that article.
     
  7. kevski82

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    We're saved!
     
  8. Gabriel Beidh an lá linn Gold Member

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    Bain was asked if he felt uncomfortable about what Lennon was having to go through. “I would be uncomfortable with anyone in society getting those sorts of threats and messages,” he said.

    Could he not use Lennys name. When he refers to any one in society you would think he was refering to someone less deserving of sympathy
     
  9. greengrocer

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    Bain looked disinterested yesterday. You could basically see that he knew it is all their fault and muttering under his breath that we deserve anything we get. Guy is a * and got really shown up by Lawwell yesterday.
     
  10. Tir Na Glas

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    That's why I would have liked to have heard Lawell say as much before entering these talks

    Entering these talks without spelling out why rangers were the culprits has allowed this to become another "old firm" incident when it was caused by nothing more than rangers being afraid to play the game properly
     
  11. Belfast-hoops

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    Absolute white wash. If I have ever seen anything being used for political gain, this would top it. Alex Salmond is a shambolic poor excuse for a political figure. :38:
     
  12. leeso-ardoyne

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    What is the carryon with re-arranging games, is'nt 12.oo on a sunday bad enough and also what about th edrinking part, are they going to ban alcohol after the game's as well , i honestly can't see them doing this one
     
  13. Martin1888

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    If people want to get drunk, lairy and violent then they will, no amount of twelve o'clock kick-offs and closing of pubs will change that. What about the people who enjoy going for a drink and are of no problem whatsoever? They get ignored as usual just because there's a small percentage that are idiots. It's the same with the ten o'clock alcohol licensing up here, absolutely bonkers.

    Violence is no stranger when the Glasgow Derby is on, why has it taken events on the pitch for everyone to suddenly get uppity about it? Everything about that last match was all overblown by the media, the same media that are calling for these changes. Bizzare.

    How about instead of all this * we release a six point plan for Rangers on how to conduct themselves on the pitch and sidelines so that we may see a better game of football than the disgrace we were subjected to by those neanderthals?

    • Try and get out of your own half every so often
    • Stop kicking players because they're better than you
    • Don't touch the referee
    • Keep the bitterness to yourselves
    • Sort your rotten club out
    • Sell Diouf
     
  14. Hooperman67

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    This is a disgrace :47: our bhoys did nothing wrong, while the scum weren't even playing football, just fouling our players.
    Why does it seem like everyone is against us nowadays :54: