Brendan Rodgers: Celtic players not responsible for Rangers fans' behaviour
- Published
Rodgers says he and his Celtic players always acknowledge their fans, whatever the opposition
Europa League: Rosenborg v Celtic |
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Venue: Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim Date: Thursday, 29 November Kick-off: 17:55 GMT |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland 810MW/DAB/online; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website |
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says it is "unfair" to blame his players for crowd disorder after their 1-0 win in the last Old Firm match on 2 September.
An internal police review, external of incidents at Celtic Park states there was a "clear link" between Celtic's 'lap of honour' and a surge forward from Rangers supporters, which impacted on wheelchair users in the away section.
But Rodgers insists it was "not so much a lap of honour" but rather his players acknowledging their fans in the same way they do after every match.
"When I first came into Celtic, I said to the players that what was going to be absolutely critical for us was that connection between them and the supporters; that synergy is vital if we are going to succeed," he explained.
"I made sure that after every game, whether we win, lose or draw, we always acknowledge the support, because they travel from up and down Scotland, across from Ireland and all over the world.
"It is something myself and the players have always done, whether it's against Rangers or away at Inverness or Ross County, or Livingston or Hamilton."
Celtic, who lead their Glasgow rivals by two points at the top of the Scottish Premiership, are considering whether to refuse tickets for the second Old Firm meeting of the season at Ibrox on 29 December for security reasons.
Speaking on Wednesday, Celtic goalkeeper Scott Bain denied that he and his team-mates were "over-celebrating or doing anything wrong".
He said: "We can't walk to here and then walk back round to avoid the other fans, we're just walking round in a circle so I think if you want to thank your own fans you should be able to.
"I don't think there is an issue. The average person is paying their hard-earned money to come and watch us and we want to give back and thank them, so I don't think there's anything wrong with that."