Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has urged his club to turn down a reduced allocation of 300 tickets for next month's cup match at Rangers.
Rangers announced on Friday that away briefs for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final on Sunday, September 13 have been drastically reduced. The decision follows a Scottish Football Association report into crowd trouble during last season's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox in March.
Both Old Firm clubs were ordered to play their next home fixture in that competition behind closed doors and pay £100,000 to the opposition. Rangers cited the need to prevent further pitch invasions as the reason for cutting the allocation for Celtic supporters.
O'Neill, whose Celtic side played in front of 8,000 travelling fans at Ibrox in March, believes returning to tiny away allocations severely damages the Glasgow derby. He stated that he would prefer to have no travelling supporters at all rather than accept 300 tickets.
"We might as well not get any, if that's the case," O'Neill said. "My view, taking off the Celtic manager's hat, and just looking at it from a viewpoint, is that it's one of the great fixtures."
"Even if the teams are not of the standard of, let's say, Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid, it is still a fantastic fixture," he added. "You honestly don't realise how big it is in European games and in the world."
"People talk about it as a great game and the best atmosphere is when the away fans have their allocation," O'Neill continued. "That's been my point the whole way. I thought from a distance, watching games when it was away, that it lost something."
"I remember I came to one of the games here with Celtic and Rangers, and Rangers scored a goal and it was in complete silence, so that's not what you're looking for," he said. "It's still a crowd participation game and that's a shame because it is a fantastic fixture."
"If these are the things that are happening because of it, if we're both having to play behind closed doors for the next game if we're at home, well, I don't know. I'm not contesting that," O'Neill stated. "When we played the league game, where we were 2-0 down, I have not known noise like it at Ibrox for a long time, even in my day. It was phenomenal. Just to be participating in that game gives you goosebumps."
"Very obviously, if they're going to give us 300 tickets, I would rather say no," O'Neill concluded. "And we'll give them one."
Old Firm Ticket Dispute at Ibrox
The rivalry between Celtic and Rangers, known as the Old Firm derby, is one of the oldest and most intense rivalries in world football. Both clubs are based in Glasgow, Scotland, with Rangers playing home matches at Ibrox Stadium in Govan and Celtic playing at Celtic Park. The Premier Sports Cup serves as the national league cup competition for Scottish professional clubs.
O'Neill spoke following Celtic's 2-1 home victory over Falkirk in league play. The result allowed the Scottish champions to recover from a midweek Champions League qualifying exit against Austrian side LASK Linz.
Camilo Duran scored two first-half goals to put Celtic ahead before a second-half own goal from Colby Donovan gave Falkirk a route back into the match. Despite late pressure, Celtic held on to secure all three points.
O'Neill thanked Celtic supporters for remaining behind the squad despite their midweek loss in Austria last Tuesday night. "As we got off the bus, the crowd actually cheered us, which was unexpected and something that we probably didn't deserve," O'Neill said. "So, yeah, I was really pleased."
Midfielder Luke McCowan, who faced heavy criticism following his performance in Linz, received applause when coming on as a second-half substitute. "I don't know where I was at that stage, my head had gone. But that was nice, if that's the case. Really nice," O'Neill remarked.
"It's been a tough four days for all of us," O'Neill added. "Physically, the 120 minutes, the disappointment of losing and the psychological aspect of all of that there was a concern, but it was a good response. I would be disappointed if we had dropped points from the number of chances that we created, but we were on the back foot the last 10 or 15 minutes of the game naturally because of the goal that we conceded."
Player Reactions and Squad Fitness Concerns
Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers confirmed that the positive reaction from supporters provided a substantial boost for the squad. "That definitely helps us," Carter-Vickers said. "One hundred per cent. Even when coming off the bus arriving, there was a good little cheer for the staff and the players. It gave the team that boost and let us know that the fans are behind us, which, like I said, is always a good thing."
"It was nice to get that," Carter-Vickers added. "A really bad 45 minutes obviously dampened the mood on the season so far, but, for the most part, we've been pretty good, so it's just about focusing on the positives and keeping going."
Celtic entered the Falkirk match without captain Callum McGregor, who was ruled out due to illness. Forward Kasper Hogh is currently dealing with an adductor issue that will require management across upcoming fixtures.
Defensive concerns mounted when Kieran Tierney was substituted in the second half against Falkirk with a suspected adductor problem. In addition, Callum Osmand was seen departing the stadium wearing a protective boot after the final whistle.
"Kieran, I thought had cramp, but it wasn't. It looks similar to Kasper," O'Neill explained. "I'm not sure at this minute. I need to find out from the medical staff how that is. Kasper has got an adductor thing at this minute. This was the first of seven games in 21, 22 days, so it's a matter of just keeping an eye on him. I'm hoping he'll be fit for Wednesday. I'm really not sure, but I'm hoping he will be."
Celtic face Aberdeen at home on Wednesday. O'Neill also revealed that midfielder Reo Hatate ruled himself out of the Falkirk match due to injury amid uncertainty surrounding his future ahead of the transfer window deadline. "Reo wasn't fit to play," O'Neill said. "He had strained himself in training and ruled himself out of contention."
O'Neill acknowledged broader fitness struggles across his team stemming from pre-season preparations in Portugal. "When we went to Portugal in pre-season, a lot of the senior players weren't there for one reason or another," O'Neill said. "We had Callum, Carter Vickers, maybe four, and essentially it was the youth lads like young Kennedy and people like that."
"While they got a great benefit out of the pre-season, it wasn't beneficial for those boys who were coming back from World Cup duty," O'Neill continued. "We've really got to hang in until these boys get really true fitness, proper fitness. I thought that we had enough problems last season with it, players going down like Kieran, not finishing games."
Falkirk Reaction to Celtic Defeat
Falkirk manager John McGlynn expressed frustration after his side conceded two early goals to Duran despite delivering a competitive performance at Celtic Park.
"We got off to the worst possible start and gifted them a goal," McGlynn said. "It was a harmless ball that Scotty misjudged and the kind of nightmare start you don't want on the back of Celtic's game in midweek. It was a harmless ball that should never end up in the back of the net."
"We didn't give up too many chances and had some good passages of play, but, then, we got caught," McGlynn added. "We lost two really cheap goals, but we were much better in the second half, so huge credit to players. There was loads of encouragement to take from that second half."
