Is it that time of the year already? It doesn't seem like a year ago since the Green Brigade decided to stage a walk out during the St Mirren game last season after Celtic were requested to display a Poppy on the Hoops in honour of those service men and women who lost their lives on the Battlefields of Europe. Alas however it is that time of the year again and the hacks in the media are already sharpening their crayons awaiting the fallout.
One such hack is Gordon Waddell, who has firmly rounded on the Club in his column in the Sunday Mail, stating that the SPL's decision to not comment on Celtic's request to have the normal minutes silence turned into a minute's applause is 'claptrap' and that the beaks should have "the balls to take responsibility" for the actions of Celtic supporters should anyone disrupt any moment of remembrance.
This is a difficult situation for Celtic. Whilst my own personal opinion is that remembrance Sunday is about celebrating the sacrifice given by members of the Army in two world wars and is therefore valid, there is a justifiably uneasy relation between Celtic supporters and any connection to the British Army due to many an atrocity that has occurred in various conquests over the years. Leaving Irish politics aside the Socialist element of the Celtic support cannot quite reconcile itself with any connection to the British Army.
So how do Celtic deal with this highly emotive issue? Well it would appear to be a lose-lose situation for the Parkhead Club whose attempts at Firefighting thus far have already caused consternation in the written press who deem political protest higher on their offence-o-meter than they do racism or sectarianism.
Whilst I fully agree that any disruption of any remembrance scenario is inherently wrong and in many cases contradictory, is it with moral hand on heart that our detractors pontificate?
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt