After a visit to Belgrade that saw scrapping outside hotels and a clear up operation that will require more than a bottle of Domestos and a hose down…
Стока штрокава. pic.twitter.com/rChpdkgNbw
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…Sydney may well be a city breathing a sigh of relief this morning, as Keith Jackson announced in his ‘exclusive’ Daily Record column theRangers may well be reconsidering their place as the support act on Ange Postecoglou’s homecoming Tour to Australia. Jackson has clearly been briefed by an interested party in the shadows or otherwise as power struggles once again commence over in Govan.
“Record Sport understands Ibrox top brass have been considering aborting the big money Australian trip after the club’s fans reacted with fury to the plan. Sources in Australia are adamant Rangers will be clobbered with a massive seven figure penalty if they do plunge the four team tournament into disarray.
Several directors faced a barrage of abuse from furious fans at Dens Park before and after their club’s Scottish Cup quarter final win over Dundee in the latest of a series of bad tempered protests.
And with militant fans groups’ locked in talks over how best to force their beleaguered board into a climb down, organisers of the Sydney Super Cup – who launched ticket sales earlier this week – are concerned that Scotland’s champions may be looking for a way out.
Celtic have packaged the winter tour as an emotional homecoming for manager Ange Postecoglou and the Parkhead club remain fully committed to participating regardless of whether or not their city rivals take part.
But – with plenty of time for a replacement to be secured – the Ibrox club may believe there is a legal loophole which can be exploited to allow them to withdraw without being hit in the pocket.
Fans of both clubs have protested against the historic event ever since it was first announced on the other side of the planet in the middle of night.
Celtic confirmed their intentions to attend the following day while Rangers waited for another 24 hours before finally making an official announcement of their own and sparking outrage among the club’s supporters.”
If the Ibrox club to bend to the will of their revolting support, then it’s not only Sydney that should be breathing a sigh of relief, Celtic too should be considering themselves very lucky indeed to have dodged a bullet they had previously seemed keen to step into the path of.
The decision to attach themselves to a long defunct ‘Old Firm’ brand has not sat easy with the support. There are many at home delighted for Australian based Celtic fans that they would get the chance to see their heroes in the flesh – after years of middle of the night alarm calls to watch the Hoops on television and in supporters’ clubs in Australia – indeed it’s a sacrifice that should be rewarded more often, but to include theRangers in this homecoming tour for Ange Postecoglou was foolish in the extreme.
As we saw with Belgrade last night and George Square last summer, and as both Barcelona and Manchester would attest to, the hordes don’t travel with any pretence to represent their club by exhibiting any semblance of decent human behaviour. Sydney doesn’t need that, and the danger for Celtic has always been we too would be lumped into such behaviour by any press coverage of similar behaviour in Australia. After all, two cheeks of the same backside has always been the way the media sought to add ‘balance’ to such reporting.
Celtic’s reputation as a support is far removed from those we share a city with and we’d be far better off not risking that reputation by being anywhere near a support who have little or no respect for their own home, never mind those they choose to honour with their presence.
Celtic of course should persist with this visit to Australia, it will be excellent for marketing purposes, for income and developing our ‘brand’ – and for someone who has questioned whether we maximise such opportunities I’m all for it – without theRangers attached.
Yet Celtic will still sell out stadiums, we’ll still attract advertisers for the organisers and hundreds of thousands will tune in to watch these games on TV with or without theRangers.
Disappointing to see the mess that Rangers fans left behind in Belgrade…. https://t.co/IB3oNt6QM6
— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) March 17, 2022
U2 wouldn’t halt a performance in Sydney because the support act chucked a strop and pulled out. Instead, they’d add another from the multitude of bands happy to play second fiddle to the main act and the show would go on.
Celtic should agree to do the same and maximise the opportunity that remains in place. Perhaps, given it’s being billed as Ange’s return to Australia, then there is an opportunity to tap into that further and invite a Greek club to fill the void. I’m sure runaway leaders Olympiakos would be happy to take part, or Panathinaikos could be an option to ensure a sea of green. Both clubs have a huge support amongst the Greek community in Australia and both would sell as many tickets as theRangers.
If theRangers are indeed considering flip-flopping on this tour to Australia, and it certainly seems they are, this should if anything be encouraged. Celtic don’t need the association, and Sydney doesn’t need the headache of the songs, the banners or the behaviour we saw exhibited in Belgrade in recent days. Indeed, the best thing for all involved would be for theRangers to announce their withdrawal today and we can all look forward to a party rather than a riot in November.
A £1m penalty to theRangers would be a nice way to resolve this for Celtic if they are ‘too feart’ to take part in the Ange Homecoming tournament as the support act.
Niall J
One of the problems with your piece is the obvious inconsistency of the narrative.You state that you don’t want ‘them’ to take part,which I totally agree with for so many reasons,but you then goad them into taking part by insinuating that they are too feart to play us? Their board could seize on this perception and tell their’support’ that they are taking part because the Tims are saying if we don’t go then we have bottled it.One thing their travelling support is always up for is trouble.Celtic have to be more diplomatic,”Aw naw,you can’t make it,we were so looking forward to a nice friendly game,aw what a shame”.The sh.tebag retoric could massively backfire.