Lennon: No dispute with Brigade

Neil Lennon wants to ward off "unnecessary conflict" between Celtic and the Green Brigade fans' group.

Last Updated: 18/02/13 at 19:50 Post Comment   

Green Brigade: Passionate supporters

Green Brigade: Passionate supporters

The Parkhead club have had at times an uneasy relationship with the vociferous and political section of the Hoops support, who boycotted Saturday's 6-2 Scottish Premier League win over Dundee United at Parkhead, due to what they claimed to be "the continued police harassment of our members".

The fans' group released a lengthy statement airing their grievances which they say has led to a situation where "any relationship with the club has completely disintegrated".

Within the statement was criticism of Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and Hoops boss Lennon for allegedly not addressing their concerns.

The Parkhead club responded with a statement which promised that "each incident or complaint will be investigated" while also saying: "Accusations suggesting that the Club is in some way involved in targeting supporters are ludicrous.

"These accusations have absolutely no foundation whatsoever and, of course, are very disappointing."

Ahead of Tuesday night's visit to St Johnstone in the SPL, Lennon, who has often backed the Green Brigade for the noise and colour they bring to home games especially, was looking for resolution.

He said: "I have had no direct contact (with Green Brigade). We did make an offer to speak to them a while back but they never came forward.

"There is no need for all this unnecessary conflict between any group of supporters and the club because we are moving well on and off the field.

"The club have always maintained an open stance on it, that if anyone has a legitimate complaint the club will look at it and deal with it as best they can and that has never changed.

"They (Green Brigade) are an important part of the club, they have brought an energy and a freshness to the stadium and I have been quite supportive of that.

"However, there is no collusion between the club or any of the authorities to dampen that.

"Our main concern is health and safety within the ground and, as I said, if anyone has a grievance, write to the club, who have helped in the past as best they can and have helped in a lot of ways and that stance remains open to the Green Brigade."

Strathclyde Police are aware of the Green Brigade's complaints but have yet to respond.

While Lennon was conciliatory in his approach to the Green Brigade, the Northern Irishman was unimpressed with reports which claimed UEFA were "irritated" by his threat to send a DVD of complaint about Spanish referee Alberto Mallenco.

The Celtic manager was raging at the official for not punishing severely enough the Juventus players who manhandled his men during the first leg of the Champions League last-16 clash at Parkhead last Tuesday, which the Italians won 3-0.

"I think it is a load of rubbish myself, there is no direct quotes from UEFA so I would disregard that story," said Lennon.

"We may not (send a DVD). We have compiled something but we might just do it through a phone call.

"All I want is clarification. If that is allowed in the game then fine, we will start doing it, or were UEFA happy with the referee's performance and some aspects of the game? That's all."

Lennon revealed skipper Scott Brown will see a specialist to ascertain whether or not he is to go under the knife.

The midfielder sat out the United game at the weekend with an abductor problem and will miss the trip to Perth.

Brown, however, has been bothered by an ongoing hip problem this season which was thought at one time to require surgery, but both problems are to be addressed.

Hoops manager Lennon said: "Scott will be seeing a specialist regarding his abductor and we will wait on the outcome of that.

"We will have a look at what he had before and he might require surgery, we are not sure yet, we will see what the specialist says but hopefully that won't be the case."

Celtic are 18 points clear of Motherwell at the top of the table but Lennon insists complacency won't be a problem.

He said: "We want to keep the run going.

"There has been no signs of complacency, we have our targets to reach and some players might have targets so we are pretty focused."

Strathclyde Police later responded to the fans' accusations.

Deputy Chief Constable Ruaraidh Nicolson said: "We are aware of claims by a specific group of Celtic fans of police harassment.

"We would actively encourage anyone who thinks they have been unfairly targeted to report their concerns to us and be confident that a thorough investigation will be carried out."

Football365 Facebook Fan Page

The Football365 fan page is a great place to meet like minded people, have football related discussions and make new friends.

Related News

Sky Bet

    • Retrieving latest Sky Bet odds

Most Commented

Readers' Comments

I

m curious as to what image Real Madrid are trying to re-establish as I always thought their pre-Jose image was one of a bunch of a classless bullies tapping up whoever they wanted while living it large on borrowed money they're never going to pay back.

john matrix
Perez Will Spend Big To Forget Jose...

A

t the start of the season, after the RVP transfer, I confidently claimed that Arsenal would finish above United. I now regret it immensely.

Fuzzy_Dunlop
Reflecting On The F365 Pre-Season Predictions

D

aniel Storey generally did very well, going against the City won it last year so they're bound to win it this time grain. As for John Nicholson, I wouldn't trust him to predict correctly what day of the week it will be tomorrow.

Griff
Reflecting On The F365 Pre-Season Predictions

Footer 365

Bastian Schweinsteiger aiming to treat Wembley to footballing perfection

Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger aims to treat Wembley to footballing perfection in the Champions League final.

Pardew to remain at the helm

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will remain in charge at St James' Park after holding talks about his future with owner Mike Ashley.

LB: Toffees won't come unstuck

Leighton Baines insists the upheaval of losing manager David Moyes to Manchester United after 11 years in charge will not derail Everton.

Mail Box

More Scared Of Losing AVB Than Bale...

We thought we would have to resort to another mailbox about maths but we've had some grand opinions about Man United, Newcastle, Tottenham and more. Oh and maths...

An Ode To Rafa And Loads More Mails...

We have one Chelsea fan who recognises the job done by Rafa Benitez while there's maths from Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester. And Shawcross to Arsenal? Nah...

© 2013 British Sky Broadcasting Ltd. All Rights Reserved