Days after Brendan Rodgers called out theRangers for their lack of action on meeting the conditions of the agreement to restore away fans to the Glasgow Derby matches at Celtic Park and Ibrox, the Ibrox board has acted to belatedly apply for the planning permission to install nets at Ibrox to prevent away supporters being at risk of serious injury due to bottles and other objected being thrown at them from the home support at Ibrox.
The Celtic Star broke the news that the need for netting at Ibrox was agreed by both clubs if Celtic were to accept an away allocation for the small corner. Despite agreeing to install this netting theRangers board have waited well over a year to place an application with Glasgow City council for that to happen.
Of course theRangers Board have had plenty of other matters to deal with concerning their stadium, which has been closed for footballing business this season due to the failures in project management and logistics in carrying out some alterations to their Copeland Road stand.
The boy who the drone coverage on YouTube earlier this week posted his latest video of an Ibrox fly-over to show the slow progress in the works, with just two or three workers seen working in the Copeland Road stand. However there does look like some progress has indeed been made.
A takeaway from these videos is the state of the area outside the stadium, with any maintenance needed being neglected due to the financial woes of the club named on their Ibrox gates which led to liquidation and the new club founded by Charles Green in 2012 having little or no resources to maintain the stadium’s footprint that now reeks of neglect.
A posting on the ‘Building Standards’ section of the Glasgow City Council website shows that theRangers application was made this Monday, 19 August 19, the first working day after Brendan Rodgers called them out.
theRangers application reads as follows: “24/01651/BW | Installation of demountable safety netting system to the corner of the Broomloan and Govan stands (between home and away support) for high risk fixtures.”
The address attached to the application is as follows: “Ibrox Stadium 150 Edmiston Drive Glasgow G51 2XD” and the status of the application is currently ‘Pending Consideration’.
Last Friday at his media conference Brendan Rodgers had had enough and presumably speaking on behalf of Celtic Football Club our manager said this on the ongoing away ticket situation and why Celtic had no choice but to deny theRangers supporters access to Celtic Park for the game a week on Sunday, despite Celtic having done all the agreed work at the away section around Paradise.
“If there’s not that guarantee that come the second fixture, then I think it’s only logical that you wouldn’t reciprocate. So, I think Celtic have played their part in what they were asked to do.
“Again, I go back, nothing of this was Celtic’s issue. Nothing. When you go back to when this all started, it’s nothing to do with Celtic. Celtic gets dragged into this here as being a Celtic-Rangers thing. It’s not a Celtic-Rangers thing. This is a Rangers thing.
“So, Celtic, when even they’re asked to have this agreement to make the stadium safe and everything else, we plough money into that, we do the works, which started months ago. “That, like I said, on both parties, it hasn’t been agreed. So, it’s not complicated.
“It hasn’t been done. So, good faith, whatever way you want to put it, there’s still an agreement for both, right.”
The reaction to this from theRangers support was muted to say the least. They knew that Rodgers was 100% correct and the decision by theRangers Board to act pretty much immediately and begin their own part side of the agreement.
The failings of theRangers Board this season have so far prevented their own support from attending games at their own stadium and next weekend will prevent around 3000 of theRangers supporters attending the Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park.
It all goes back to Brendan Rodgers taking Celtic to Ibrox in March 2018, twice being behind but getting two equalisers before getting a player sent off.
Then Rodgers made a change bringing on Odsonne Edouard to play up top alongside Moussa Dembele and those two Frenchmen combined for Eddie to score a sensational winner that broke theRangers support seeing yet more Celtic celebrations in the Free Broomloan Stand.
Odsonne Edouard scoring the goal which some think triggered the decline in ticket allocation to away fans in the derby. A fine goal it was too. pic.twitter.com/IHKrIdGhUm
— Lisbon Lion (@tirnaog_09) August 19, 2024
Last week we carried an article from the Daily Record Podcast where the plan to reduce the Celtic allocation at Ibrox was all explained.
Odd reading the Daily Record making a meal out Rodgers comments on the ticket issue, sharing blame and expressing concern for fans.
Odd, because here is their Podcast from August 2017… championing Rangers desire to cut allocation:pic.twitter.com/L80x6y65pP
— 🍔 Gastro Celtic 🍀 (@Gastro_Celtic) August 17, 2024
Would prefer Rodgers to be actually making some decisions about trying to finalise our 25man squad moreso at present, than getting caught up in issues that have nothing to do with us?
With only a week left now in this window, the only decisions I am currently seeing from Rodgers is about reducing the playing squad at present?
Part of the job required from Rodgers to be making upon the decision making process involved admittedly?
But yet nothing concrete in regarding the identification process as to what players that he actually wants to bring into the squad still?
There were numerous positions that needed to be addressed well before this window even opened, and yet with only a week to go, this waiting game remains in operation?
Again another week passes, and more movement upon the outgoings than the incoming that’s required still?
Maybe we have got everything under control in the background, but far from convinced that it is at this stage?
Playing the waiting game is a dangerous game to be playing, even if potentially more players do start becoming available?
The inquest into the workings of how this whole window has been handled, stands to be potentially even bigger than what has gone on with the scum over the summer?
Yet haven’t a clue why we are even considering to be putting our club in such a position, when there isn’t an excuse available for such a thing currently happening?