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Brendan Rodgers has damaged his silence on the rift between Celtic and the Green Brigade by backing the club’s resolution to ban the group of rebellious fans.
Rodgers spoke after a heated general meeting on Thursday, when supporters and shareholders discussed the resolution to shut down Parkhead’s North Curve segment. The arguable ultras have threatened to stage “a day of action” around Celtic Park on Saturday when Rodgers and his players take on Motherwell in a bid to extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points.
And while the coach admits that the sanction has altered the atmosphere of the match inside the stadium, he insists that the movements of the activist fan organisation cannot go unpunished after compromising the club’s values. At Thursday’s meeting with shareholder leader Michael Nicholson pointed to a long list of recent flashpoints, adding incidents at Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Hibs, a break-in at Celtic Park and a pro-Palestinian demonstration that earned the club a huge fine from UEFA.
Against this backdrop of chaos and turmoil, Rodgers is focused on his side’s merit at the top of the Premiership and expects the atmosphere on the pitch to be quelled today, as was the case when his side crashed six goals against Aberdeen ahead of the international break. But he insists it’s a value worth paying for.
Rodgers said: “It’s about values. It’s a bigger vision, the values of this club, which are above all respect, integrity and everything else. It goes far beyond anything else, and if those values are compromised in any way, then we, the club, will look into it.
“If someone, or people, have misbehaved, you can’t settle for that just because it improves the environment. We all live by safe values and I hope we can find a solution because, as I said, I think the enthusiasts have behaved badly. It created a very clever atmosphere.
“My personal opinion is that this is not a political area. Football is football, and you come to the team and enjoy their game. Especially when we played like we did against Aberdeen and scored.
“I hope we can find a solution to this problem, but in the meantime we’ll continue to do what we’re doing, which is stay very focused. “
Rodgers, however, showed that his players had noticed a drop in help as they raced toward that dramatic win over the Dons. He said: “The team was certainly brilliant against Aberdeen because there was a fun atmosphere. Hats off to them at the end I told them that they were surely wonderful because you have the local audience that is really with you, you know?
“But what I will say is that from a football point of view we will continue to focus. The club works with the other factions of the aid base. Ninety-nine percent of the help base is there with the team, and there’s this little aspect factor that I hope we can fix sooner rather than later.
“Because obviously we are much more powerful as a force when we are all together. The narrative can be built around the fact that we’re not together. Not so. We are on a wonderful stage as a football club and as a team. “, and I know they’re only going to get better.