Jackson tries to blame the Green Brigade for Sunday’s violence, when he has little or no evidence the Celtic Ultras were present at Ibrox

Keith Jackson is really stirring the pot in the Daily Record this morning.

He wants all Ultras banned from Scottish football.

Jackson is also going into overdrive with the cheeks of the same arse argument when it comes to both sets of fans.

Let’s get one thing straight here, and we got it straight last night on the Trinity Tims podcast, so I’ll get it straight on here.

Up and down the UK, fans invade the pitch in celebration when their teams win big games.

This is not a rare phenomenon.

What is clearly evident from Sunday is that the Celtic fans who entered the pitch did so in celebration of an unlikely victory.

There is no doubting the Ibrox fans would have done the same.

They were already preparing to do so when they though Emmanuel Fernandez had scored a goal with both of his hands.

Celebration is the key word here.

Look, I get that it is not legal to enter the field of play at any time, but fans get carried away, it happens.

Are you telling me that if Hearts win the League next May that on the final day of the season, their fans won’t enter the pitch in celebration?

Come on!

What the Ibrox Ultras did on Sunday, was enter the field of play in a state of rage, with the intention of hurting and maiming Celtic fans.

That was not done in celebration.

After all, they had nothing to celebrate, so their only reason for invading the pitch was to get at Celtic fans.

They carried weapons, and flares.

They had only one intention, and that was to hurt people.

The Celtic fans did not, and I repeat, did not enter the field of play with the intention of hurting anyone.

While that still doesn’t make their actions right, there are two starkly different motivations from both sets of fans here.

Jackson today chooses to focus on the Green Brigade.

When he has little or no evidence to prove that substantial numbers of the GB were at Ibrox at all.

Instead, he decides to run his mouth off, and say that it must have been the GB who charged the turnstiles in the Broomloan end.

He has no evidence that it was the GB.

Yet he makes the assumption that it was.

This is all designed to ensure the GB are lumped in with the Onion Bears as one and the same.

Yet many Celtic fans are saying the GB had very little presence at Ibrox on Sunday due to not having tickets.

There is no doubting a pocket of them might have got in, but to say that they instigated everything that was wrong when it comes to the behaviour of our fans is pure speculation.

Basically, Jackson just wants all Ultras banned.

Celtic’s Ultras should suffer for the sins of the Ibrox Ultras.

As if they hadn’t been punished enough already by our own gutless board.

Who seem to have no problem welcoming the Onion Bears to Celtic Park with open arms.

But this particular part of Jackson’s article has to be read to be believed:

There will be a backlash if the game in this country should choose to grow some balls and stand its ground. Just ask Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and the rest of the red-ringed faces in Celtic’s boardroom.

It took them longer than it should have done to pick a fight with their own ultras but the reaction to laying down a few ground rules and asking for decency and decorum has been feral.

It’s actually quite astonishing that, although the North Curve at Celtic Park has been shut down this season, the Green Brigade was still able to bring its banners into the away end at Ibrox at the weekend.

The reaction has been quite feral, has it?

I’m not sure how you equate feral to making constant attempts to initiate dialogue with the Celtic Board with a view to resolving the ongoing issue between the board and the Green Brigade.

The GB has made repeated attempts to engage with the board, who have consistently ignored them.

Nothing feral going on here.

And as for our board having balls?

Seriously Keith?

They are the most balls-less group of individuals ever to occupy a Celtic boardroom.

The simple fact here is this, on Sunday, one group of fans entered the pitch in celebration.

They took selfies with the Celtic players, and had no intention of hurting anyone.

The other group entered the pitch to teach those Celtic upstarts a lesson.

They entered it with the intention of causing bodily harm and a fracas.

That is what this boils down to.

No matter what Jackson says.

Yes, both sets of fans were wrong.

But the intentions of each group were fundamentally different.

The Ibrox side has backed their Ultras all the way.

Lets see how much they’re willing to back them on this?

I don’t expect anything from our own board.

They’ll probably see this as an opportunity to ban the GB permanently.

Even if there were only a few of their members at Ibrox on Sunday.

They are, after all, the masters of collective punishment.

Aren’t they?

Key Takeaways

• Keith Jackson argues for a ban on Ultras from Scottish football, blaming them for violence and chaos at matches.
• He distinguishes between Celtic fans, who entered the pitch in celebration, and the Ibrox Ultras, who sought to cause harm.
• Jackson’s claims about the Green Brigade lack substantial evidence and seem speculative.
• The article criticizes Jackson’s intent to lump all Ultras together for the actions of a few, suggesting it unfairly punishes innocent fans.
• The motivations behind the pitch invasions were fundamentally different, with one group celebrating and the other seeking confrontation.

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