ian1964

Same for me

Rangers 0-4 Roofe FGS

Celtic have condemned the Green Brigade's decision to unveil a Palestinian flag display - and it has been removed from the stands. The club opened its gates to fans to pay tribute to captain Scott Brown who will play his final match for Celtic at Parkhead this evening against St Johnstone. Displays have been erected around the stadium in support of the outgoing midfielder. But when North Curve Celtic posted on social media that they had taken the opportunity to drape Palestine flags at the safe-standing area, the club immediately went about shutting it down and accused the fan group of acting outwith the 'good faith' shown. A statement read: "We had invited supporters to pay tribute to our Club captain, Scott Brown, by giving them the opportunity to display their own banners in the stadium. "Unfortunately a small group, which was given access in good faith, has attempted to exploit this opportunity, taken advantage of an occasion intended for our Club captain, Scott Brown, and used it for a different purpose. "Clearly this is unacceptable and the display was immediately taken down by the Club."

POLICE Scotland have been blasted for lacking transparency after releasing 17 pages of redacted documents about Rangers fans' celebrations. Gers supporters took celebrations to George Square and Ibrox Stadium in March after the club won the Scottish Premiership. The fans - who trashed memorial benches during their celebrations - were condemned widely for their behaviour from senior officials, who described the scenes as "disgraceful" and "shameful". John Scott QC, was commissioned to review the approach by Police Scotland and found officers had acted proportionately. Now, 17 pages of emails have been released by Police Scotland included discussions between Superintendent Stephen Dolan, director of operations at the SPFL Calum Beattie, and an unnamed Scottish Government official. Some of the emails were sent on March 4 and were titled 'Urgent enquiry regarding COVID compliance and the potential for the SPFL Premiership title to be decided on 07 March'. However apart from introductory and concluding lines the bulk of the emails were redacted. Responding to the original request, a Police Scotland official said the information would be kept secret due to concerns releasing it would “compromise operational policing”. Police Scotland refused to answer whether the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council or Rangers FC had influenced the policing decisions around the celebrations, the Scotsman reported. Supt. Dolan described himself as having “responsibility” for the policing operation on Sunday, March 7, when the celebrations of Rangers fans were at their peak. Liam McArthur, the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s justice spokesperson, said the handling of the Rangers celebrations “seriously undermined public confidence” in the pandemic restrictions. He said: “There is a real public interest in establishing why that happened. "That means being upfront and accountable about decisions that were made. "Needless secrecy won’t help those efforts." A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “It is all too typical of the SNP Government that correspondence is redacted or is failed to be released. “While decisions on policing gatherings like this are ultimately a matter for frontline officers, the public were rightly concerned at the way these crowds were being dealt with. "They have a right to know how closely the SNP Government were involved in these decisions. “That can also help to give confidence that these sort of scenes will be avoided in any future celebrations.” A Scottish Green party spokesperson said: "Transparency is essential to aiding the public understanding around the use of policing tactics. "Publishing pages of redactions helps no-one and reinforces the impression Police Scotland has something to hide." Responding, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We would not release information which would compromise operational policing and provide those intent on committing offences with details of how events may be policed.” A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While the policing response to events and incidents is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, the Scottish Government has continual discussions with Police Scotland about public safety, particularly around high-risk events like some football matches, and we fully support their actions to keep the public safe during the pandemic.”

Can't help themselves!

RANGERS fans have been fired a warning against marching to celebrate trophy day by the city's top cop. Fans are planning to walk from Ibrox, along Govan Road to George Square this Saturday to celebrate their side lifting the Scottish Premiership cup. The Union Bears shared the plans on their social media today after the club clinched their 55th cup victory, their first big win in 10 year's time. But Chief Superintendent Mark Sutherland, above, the divisional commander for Greater Glasgow warned Light Blues supporters not to go along for the party. He said: "Under the current restrictions no-one should be gathering in numbers of more than six at the stadium or any other location and Police Scotland supports the club in urging its fans to do the right thing and follow the coronavirus regulations around gatherings." The city's top brass have a policing plan in place to "minimise any disruption to the community, he added. He reminded fans of the "sacrifices people have made" to allow lockdown restrictions to ease and urged the public to stick with the rules. Thousands of Rangers fans who broke lockdown rules to gather in the city centre square earlier this year were widely condemned after riotous scenes saw memorial benches trashed. https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19291436.glasgows-top-cop-fires-rangers-march-warning-fans/