Defiant Martin O’Neill has refused to condemn the supporters who shamed Scottish football by invading the pitch in Celtic’s title decider against Hearts on Saturday — despite the Parkhead club having already spoken of their ‘regret’ over the matter.
Hundreds of Celtic fans streamed on to the playing surface when Callum Osmand netted in the eighth minute of stoppage-time to put the Parkhead side 3-1 ahead and effectively seal the championship.
Several ran towards the crestfallen Hearts players, with the visiting squad and staff members swiftly escorted out of Celtic Park and back to Edinburgh amid safety concerns.
Hearts later released a statement noting ‘deeply disturbing reports of serious physical and verbal abuse towards our players and staff, both on the pitch and elsewhere’.
When it was put to him in an interview on talkSport yesterday that the Tynecastle club had stated that the situation had ‘embarrassed Scottish football’, Celtic boss O’Neill said: ‘As they might do. Well, I don’t believe that, I just don’t believe it, I think it’s nonsense.’
When host Jim White suggested that the scenes had shown a ‘lack of class’ and tainted the image of Scottish football, O’Neill replied: ‘I’m sorry, I totally disagree with that. I don’t know about the confrontations in terms of the Hearts players, and there’s a lot of hyperbole about that, let’s find out the real picture.
Martin O’Neill was fiercely defensive of his club’s supporters in a talkSport radio interview
Hearts players had to be shielded from the invading supporters and led away from the pitch
‘The fact is that when we scored the third goal, the game was essentially over, there were about eight seconds left, or whatever the case may be.
‘The referee has claimed that he had blown the final whistle at the end. And then there’s obvious excitement, we have scored to win the league.’
White then suggested supporters should not have come on to the pitch, to which O’Neill said: ‘Well, start telling that to every single football club.
‘I assumed that the final whistle had gone at exactly the same moment that we put the ball in the net for the third goal. It’s a home game and we’d just won the league, and the fans have come on to the field, all right? Okay, so they should stay put then?’
O’Neill’s comments appear at odds with a statement released on Sunday night by Celtic saying that ‘the club regrets that our victory over Hearts was followed by a number of individuals entering the field of play’.
The statement continued: ‘We again emphasise that there is no justification for this behaviour which, for the vast majority of Celtic supporters, only detracts from the joy of such occasions.
‘We also apologise to Hearts for the situation encountered by their players and staff at the conclusion of the game, and for the fact that these events prevented them from saluting their own supporters at the end of an enthralling campaign, to which they have contributed so much.’
In an increasingly stormy on-air interview, White refused to back down over O’Neill’s defence of the behaviour of the errant supporters.
He said: ‘I can’t let this go. It seems that in certain quarters within the stadium, all discipline was lost and it was a free for all.’
O’Neill hit back, saying: ‘How? What do you mean a free for all? How do you know it was a free for all?’ To which White responded: ‘Those who fancied going on, went on.’
O’Neill then said: ‘Was it not seen at Ibrox when both sets of fans came onto the pitch?’ White replied: ‘We called that out as well Martin.’
The seemingly irritated Celtic boss then said: ‘Yeah, alright, well done. Well done. Let me have a look at the picture. Let me have a look as if I was judge and jury.
A large security presence was required to retain order after the ugly scenes at Celtic Park
‘Let me see the scenes at the end of the day and I’ll come back to you.’
As Police Scotland investigate the post-match scenes in conjunction with the two clubs, PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart issued a statement on Monday which read: ‘The circumstances at the weekend cause us to restate our view that PFA Scotland should be part of a review into the regulatory framework applied to unacceptable conduct to ensure the interests of the players are paramount and that their safety must be the number one issue when independently regulating these challenging issues.’
Meanwhile, former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has insisted clubs should incur points deductions if their supporters invade the pitch in manner seen at Celtic Park on Saturday.
Speaking to the BBC, Smith — who was in charge at Hampden between 2007-2010 — believes it is time for a more hardline stance to be taken. He said: ‘I do feel the best way to do it is that the fans know that by doing it they are getting their club punished. I think that would maybe make a difference in terms of their behaviour.
‘I would say if its a league game they should have points deducted from them or whatever. So that there is a punishment there that is actually a very, very crucial punishment.
‘That means the fans themselves would know that this could have a major effect on their team.’
