Chapter 1: What recent SPFL decision affects Old Firm ticket allocations?
0141 951 1025 It's time to talk football It's Clyde One Super Scoreboard Good evening and welcome to Clyde One Super Scoreboard as we get set for a blockbuster weekend across Scottish football. As for the title race, Celtic will go first at Hibs with Martin O'Neill saying he understands some of the Easter Road faithful not wanting their side to win.
And then over to the big one, Hearts against Rangers on Monday. The SPFL say Rangers can have their 2,000 plus allocation for Celtic Park, but have backed the home side's condition that no tickets should be sold to members of the Union Bears. And in terms of relegation, it's all about the championship tonight. The second tier season comes to a close. And Livy, can they keep it going?
They're in action against Aberdeen. As if that's not enough for you, you get the thoughts of Scott Allen and Hugh Keevans. The title race has taken everyone to the brink of madness. And that's why I'm here this evening to be the voice of sanity. And I'll start with the ticket allocation story. I think that what the SPFL have decided is actually unenforceable.
How do you prevent members of Rangers Ultras Group, the union bears, from getting their hands on tickets? You simply cannot. And I await Ranger's statement. I expect it to come tonight. I expect it to be of a negative nature. I don't think they'll be happy with this adjudication. And we'll have to wait and see where we go with this story. But I don't like stories like this, Gordon.
This close To a derby match Not after what happened At the last one Well the good news is Scott Allen There is More Good football To get your teeth stuck into Than you could possibly wish for How Big Is this weekend going to be? Just imagine Come Monday night How different the picture could look
Yeah, same as last weekend, we didn't see Merlewell going to Ibrox and producing a performance like that, they did, and listen, Rangers now go to Tyne Castle on Monday, if they were to lose a game it would be the end of their title hopes.
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Chapter 2: How does Martin O'Neill view Hibs' fan sentiments for the Celtic game?
The Celtic and Hibs game through Easter Road throws up an incredible one, purely based on the fact you hear David Gray, Joe Newell the last couple of days speaking about they've got a job to do, professionalism will always kick in from...
from a players and coaches perspective but if you were to ask 98% of the Hibs fans even more than that if they wanted to win the game the answer would be no so that throws up a whole can of worms when it comes to that game and then we've got promotion we're going to know who's won League 1, League 2 and the lower leagues by 5 o'clock tomorrow and then the relegation games tonight on the Championship going to be really interesting to watch tonight So what you're telling us is a Fisco bride chuck it from here we'll never see you on the show again
Only need a point Might not even need that This could be your farewell If that goes wrong You'll only be able to show Your face in public again Football's all about resilience Gordon You're a former Hibs player Who do you wait winning Sunday? Let football be the winner. Is that what you're going to say? Look at that. He's going for it.
He doesn't realise that no comment doesn't work in the punditry game. You need to take him under your wing. Anyway, 01419511025. That is the number that you need. So come on down. There could barely be more talking points if we tried. The latest of them, the breaking news this afternoon.
if you like was that SPFL decision on the tickets this will be seen obviously as having backed Celtic if you like because the condition about no ticket sales to the union bears that won't be overruled by the SPFL that can stay in place but the allocation is there should Rangers want their two and a half thousand or whatever the five percent works out to be they can have it so I guess the ball in Rangers court for now sort of and I'm sure loads of you will have opinions
on that so feel free to share them it would be crazy of us to dedicate the full two hours to it when we've got such big games about to land so all your thoughts there please Martin O'Neill today saying that he doesn't think it makes much difference he's backing the Hibs players and the Hibs management he understands though the Hibs fans don't necessarily want to beat Celtic because that might help hand hearts the title which is the last thing many of the Hibs fans want
So what do you make of that whole situation? We'll press Scott Allen for an answer on that as a former Hibs player as the evening progresses. I know we're a couple of days away from Monday night, but just how good is it going to be? Hearts against Rangers, everything that goes around it. We'll hear from Danny Rule today. Rangers fans, what's on your mind? How do you feel?
Because there was so much disappointment last weekend, seen as a real missed opportunity, a real blow, that defeat against Motherwell. And, of course, on to essentially an even bigger game this weekend. We'll hear from Derek McInnes as well. He says Hearts are still the underdogs going into the matches that they have left.
Jens Bertolascu has been talking about his manager of the year snub and tonight the championship. How good is that going to be? Three teams can all go down and they're all in action at the same time.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the upcoming Hearts vs Rangers match?
We always say, where do you start? Well, never was the phrase more applicable than it is tonight. Where do you start with all of this? A sensational 48 hours Easter road, Tyne Castle. I always like to listen to Scott when he tells me about dressing rooms and the professional insight into the professional footballer's life.
And he was saying earlier on today, when a game starts, the professional instincts kick in. I have absolutely no doubt the Hibs players will try to beat Celtic. No doubt whatsoever. The crowd might be down on the usual number for that fixture because Hibs fans don't want to see Hibs beat Celtic and are not going to the game.
But I think that if Hebs come out and the professional instincts kick in, I'm not sure that Celtic are good enough to win at Easter Road. Far better Celtic sides than this one have gone to Easter Road and failed. It's not a place where Celtic do well. So I think they have their work cut out. I think the best they can get is a draw.
Are your professional instincts hampered, though, when the atmosphere isn't as good as it should be and you've gone with the full knowledge that your team goes on a counter-attack, you expect Easter Road to rise and urge you on, and they all just sit and twiddle your thumbs? Are your professional instincts dampened by that? No, because it's not going to be...
it's not going to be like that we had a Hibs fan phone in last night say if they score a last minute winner they'll sit in silence yeah but what about all the kids that are at the game I'm sure they'll make loads of noise you're backing the 7 year olds to really spur Hibs over the line are you up to the 14 year olds who their team is Hibs and they want to see them beat a team like Celtic come to Easter Road but listen I'm with you as soon as the whistle goes the professionalism kicks in players always want to do well against either of the old firm whether that's Rangers or Celtic
and the crowd can be flat there's cup games are flat sometimes at Easter Road it comes with the job depending on the opposition this is just a completely different outlook because I don't think we've actually seen this sort of narrative before when it's been that long since we've seen a team outside Rangers Celtic go to win a league
So Hibs for them, it would be the worst case scenario to see Hearts lift that title at Celtic Park in a few weeks' time. Because that's the funny thing about it, is yet Hibs can still finish fourth, there's a European place, but a lot of these Hibs fans would go as far as to say, I'd rather not qualify for Europe than watch Hearts win the league.
I've listened to the programme all week and it's been fascinating. Even in my lengthy experience of it all, I've never quite gone through what's going on right now. I think when it comes to the equation, what would you rather have? Qualification for Europe or Hearts not winning the league? 99.9% of the Hib support would say Hearts not winning the league.
Because the bragging rights... It's understandable. It's totally understandable. It's taken Hearts 66 years. They last won the league in 1960, for heaven's sake. So they could end a 66-year wait...
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Chapter 4: How do Celtic fans feel about their team's chances against Hibs?
ban if you like on the union bears talking about security risks and safety risks and that sort of thing I won't necessarily run through the fairly wordy SPFL statement where it talks about independent subcommittees and rules and regulations working groups I don't want to send everyone to sleep on a Friday night but that's the That's the gist of it.
And Frank's kind of core point there, as you can hear Frank say, Rangers fan. He's not a fan of the Union Bears, but he still thinks this is wrong. Doesn't see how it's enforceable. Who's decided this? How does it play out? It's a bit of a mess. Yeah, I'm told privately that Rangers are not happy at all with the adjudication. Well, they wouldn't. be. It's not that they wanted.
The problem is that they cannot appeal the decision. It was agreed from the outset that when the subcommittee made their decision, neither Celtic nor Rangers could appeal against it. Well, Celtic have no need of an appeal because it's basically what Celtic wanted. My point, and I'm awaiting Rangers' statement to see where they stand on this, because they might very well say...
We won't take any tickets at all. I don't think they'll say that because they do want Rangers fans in there because the game could have massive implications where the title race is concerned. But I think they're upset because there's an element of double standards about this because Celtic have had problems with their ultras, the Green Brigade.
but they were they sold them tickets for Ibrox for the last game while they were banned from Celtic Park but that's the point as Celtic would then either imagine behind closed or maybe not even behind closed or say we banned them for five months Yeah, but there's still that element where they've sold them tickets for Ibrox while they were, at that time, banned from Celtic Park.
So Rangers are not happy. We await Rangers' statement. My core point is it's unenforceable anyway because the tickets will undoubtedly find their way into the hands of the ultras group as they would do were the boot on the other foot and it was Celtic and the Green Brigade. So it's unenforceable.
I just wish the matter could be resolved very, very quickly because we're too near a high-pressure fixture. Is there a sort of PR element to this, as there always is when it's these two clubs and want to have your way and not want to be seen to bow to another and that sort of thing? Because the number of tickets that would have gone to the Union Bears was pretty small anyway, wasn't it?
As it would be, it would be a small number. Around 70, I'm told. But then there's like the principle versus the reality of it as well. And I always think kind of doing what is seen to be right for your fans is an important thing for both the clubs in Glasgow. Of course, a bit of grandstanding going on. But we have what we have now.
They have reached their conclusion and it is that Rangers get their tickets. But... to the best of their ability, try to exclude the Union Bears. And I do not believe it's possible for Rangers to exclude every one of them. So Rangers now have to make their decision and make it public. Are you taking any tickets at all?
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Chapter 5: What factors contribute to the unpredictability of the title race?
Or are you taking the tickets under the conditions preset by Celtic and now the SPFL subcommittee? Alan's on the other line. Hi, Alan. Good evening, panel. How are you, Alan? I'm fine, thank you. I hope yous are well. Yeah, thank you. Frank covered it and Hugh covered it greatly. I am disgusted with this decision and it's been covered.
As we know, when Rangers get tickets for their fans, Rangers distribute them. The same with Celtic. And as Hugh says, the Green Brigade were banned for months on police advice, may I add. But Police Scotland allowed the Green Brigade into Ibrox as well. And we all know what happened that day. As Frank says, the Union Bears were 100% out of order.
The Celtic fans coming on the park were out of order. The destruction of the stadium was disgusting. I don't know where we go with this because as a Rangers fan tonight, I'm disgusted with this board. I thought you were only banned from a football stadium on a football banning order. They are basically saying you aren't getting in. Why? And where do you go from here?
I said to your producer, I think after this game, Rangers will come out publicly and say, that's it. You can have phone-ins like I come on to use. You can have press. Celtic fans are never getting back into eyebrows.
That's probably the most pertinent bit, Hugh, is I was going to ask the impossible here of sort of remove yourself from whatever side you're on here, if you can, but maybe a mission impossible here. And think... What does this mean going forward? Is it a precedent that a club can handpick who does and doesn't go to the next game?
That's probably the most relevant bit for us all to think about in terms of where that goes. I know it will be shrouded in tribalism and bias and I'm sticking up for my team and I'm sticking up for mine. But it is quite an interesting ruling in that regard. Does that mean that from now on that's what can happen?
ground around in this because Rangers could start off by saying, right, you can have an allocation of tickets for Ibrox for league matches. They can't dictate who gets into cup matches, SFA business, but they can give Celtic an allocation and then put in their own caveat saying, but no Green Brigade members. But I think it will be more stringent than that.
I think that there's a severe danger that in terms of league matches... Celtic Park will be for Celtic fans only and Ibrox will be for Rangers fans only on Derby Day.
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Chapter 6: How do Rangers plan to respond to their recent performances?
But even if Rangers take £2,500 to Celtic Park next week though? Rangers I think will take the £2,500 because it's too important a league match for them to go there minus any support whatsoever. But... I think that the clubs are entrenched and I think that that will lead to old firm derbies in the league being only for the fans of whichever ground it's in.
I know you thought you were here to talk about midfield playmakers and who was going to pull the strings this weekend, but this is where it's really all about. Scottish football, the madness, the politics. Yeah, when Hugh Kevins comes into his own.
No, I think for me, the most likely thing you're going to see is now tit for tat, you'll go on to the fixtures next year, it comes to the iBooks, Rangers will then come up with their own caveat, as Hugh says.
At the same time, how do we know a lot of the boards on both sides don't prefer just being their own fans because the cost of saving, shutting roads, organising policing, everything in football especially at that level reverts back to cost so it might be in their best interest cost-wise and obviously protecting their fans as they say and that suits them but for us who want to go and watch a game of football with some passion and something that's been the lifeblood of Glasgow as a city with that derby, we want to see fans on both sides but behaving properly.
So Alan, you think that basically going forward next season, no away fans on the back of this? 100%. Apart from the cup game, I wouldn't have went back to it anyway. That's a personal level. I know I've been to O'Fern games for 40 years and it's great having the away support. It brings...
different atmosphere the last one was poisonous as we know but as of now I wouldn't have Celtic fans back at Ibrox on a personal level Thank you very much that was Alan and Falkirk on 01419511025 I'm sure loads of you feel strongly about this and that's what we are here for those strong feelings if you want to get them in do so now if you want to talk about that title race it is the same number we'll call you and we'll speak soon
Tackle the headlines. 0141 951 1025. Clyde One Super Scoreboard.
Hugh Keevans and Scott Allen are here on 01419511025 keep the calls coming you can tweet us we've got all the managers to hear from massive games to look forward to stretches us right through to Monday night as well a bit of a different kick-off time that but I'm sure everyone will be glued trying to find out what's going on at Tyne Castle and what it all means so get the calls in and we'll work our way through all between now and 8 o'clock Hugh Keevans
How do you see this weekend playing out? You want me to predict? I wonder if we should ban you. I'm not going to help you out here because everyone's had their say. As I say, I've listened to the programme all week and everyone has their differing opinion. I think the best that Celtic can get on Sunday Easter Road is a draw and drumroll, I think Rangers will beat Harps at Tyne Castle.
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Chapter 7: What are the challenges of policing during Old Firm matches?
He wants to read Westham. one of them is about Celtic giving 0% chance of winning the league well do you know what on the sweepstake I had 35 minutes past the hour so you've done us Gary I'm glad somebody's brought it up until can I just take that one at a time then Gary you know I said it I'm not going to go back on it and until such time as Celtic have won the league my bet stands
Nah, that's not what it means though. That's not what 0% chance means. So what chance do Rangers have now for you here? 25%. So 75% hearts. But just to clarify then, because we don't know how it plays out, if Celtic don't win the league, that doesn't mean they had 0% chance. That's for me. No, factually it doesn't. I'm not interested in facts.
I think this means he knows, Gary, but much like when the two clubs grandstand against each other, he cannae back down now. Yeah, he's just trying to stick to his guns. But I know, and he knows, that Celtic have a 25% chance. How can Celtic have zero? It's just nonsense.
I'm glad to just forget about that, because if you're not going to play ball with it, then there's no point in talking about it. The other statement you made this season was about the shift in the balance of power in Glasgow. How's that going for you? Well, this is a thing that takes a while.
I look at Celtic and I'd be concerned for Celtic because of the overhaul of staff that is required, playing staff, and they need to make a correct decision on the manager, which is going to be a massive call for Celtic. I think there'll be very few players about Celtic at the moment who'll be there next season. And you have to see how the rebuilding work goes.
My point was based on the fact that Rangers, after years of chaos, now have financial stability. They now have stability within the boardroom after years of infighting. And at Celtic you still have a situation where the fans do not care for Desmond and the way he runs the club. And you've had three managers this season.
And I just think that there is stability at Ibrox, which is not matched at Celtic because there's too much to do in the summertime. Yeah, Celtic are still sitting above them with all this chaos that's raining down on Celtic Park.
Well you're taking a short term view I'm taking a long term view When we spoke about this before because I was the one that phoned you up and kind of told you about that statement and you said you were talking about this season so that's short term you were talking short term because you were like no I'm talking this season Do you look at Celtic as a Celtic fan and think to yourself there's an awful lot of work to be done here
I do, but I'm talking about statements that you've made that are kind of, you're sticking by them just because you don't want to admit you were wrong with the whole 0% chance, with the shift in the balance of power. The two statements are, at this moment, factually incorrect.
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Chapter 8: What are the final thoughts on the significance of the upcoming matches?
Gordon, Hugh's statement was... Shift in the balance of power in Glasgow. No, the balance of power is shifting. There has been a shift in the balance of power. I mean, that's present tense. No, no. It's underway. It's underway, in my estimation. And the reason why you're calling me is because I say things that get you irritated when you get on the phone.
I don't want to hold you to account for silly statements. In your estimation, they're silly statements. The shift is underway. You know that there's more than a 0% chance of Celtic winning that league, especially if you're saying Rangers have a 25% chance.
So let's just be honest about it and just say what you really feel rather than what you've said before and you know you don't want to get back on it. So anyway, we'll see at the end of the season if they're going to shift the balance of power or if Celtic have a 0% chance. Okay, we'll come back to that. Good night now. Thank you, Gary. That was Gary. Sorry, did you have more, Gary?
I'd mentioned to the producer about the whole ticket thing with Union Bears and stuff, and I made the wee analogy, and the producer, when he phoned me back, says, look, you need to use that. Oh, did he? So my idea and analogy was that, obviously, every Celtic party is Celtic's home. Now, if you go to one of your friend's parties...
and there's another group of friends that you don't really know but they're there and most of them are okay like certain group of them who are just causing trouble and mayhem and they're not very nice people seeing your party and the next time you're having a party at your house you might invite some of the other people that you're friends with but you're not going to invite the ones that are causing trouble invite the ones that come to your football ground with knuckle dusters and masks
cause mayhem so there's no moral there's no moral high ground on this one you don't get invited to parties no come on I don't like parties anyway there's no moral high ground on this one Gary because Rangers should be doing more to address the fans who disgraced themselves when they met in the cup tie against Celtic and Celtic do act against the Green Brigade but
let themselves down by giving the Green Brigade tickets for Ibrox for that ill-fated cup tie. So there's no moral high ground here. Both have supporters that bring the clubs into disrepute and Celtic are trying to cleanse, if I can use that word, the game which will take place a week on Sunday. But for me...
What Celtic and the SPFL are trying to do is unenforceable because you cannot stop tickets getting into the hands of people. You would rather not had those tickets. Would you agree? And is that possibly what happened the last time? As part of this, when I was reading it, it was very wordy, the SPFL statement, and a lot of jargon in there.
talking about because the investigation into what happened to Ibrox isn't complete yet there are no there are no learnings from it you know there are no conclusions one of the issues on the day was ticketless fans yeah so we don't yet officially know how that came to be
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