Celtic told what the SFA will ‘never’ do after Rangers incident, amid claim ‘all hell will break loose’

Celtic are already champions, so that perhaps took the sting out of last week’s game, as Brendan Rodgers’ side recorded a 1-1 draw against Rangers.

One of the headlines to come out of the match was a bottle being thrown in the direction of Viljami Sinisalo in the second half at Ibrox.

Sinisalo has shared that more objects were thrown than the one the TV cameras picked up – with that one object then being picked up by a Rangers substitute.

The issue here is that this isn’t the first time Rangers have been caught under this umbrella, including against Celtic.

Rewinding back to the turn of the year, Arne Engels had a coin thrown at him towards the end of the game, as Philippe Clement’s Rangers beat Celtic.’

• READ MORE: ‘Out of order’ – Michael Stewart blasts Rangers fans for ‘distasteful’ Celtic incident at Ibrox

SFA won’t bring in ‘strict liability’ after Rangers bottle-throwing incident against Celtic

At the end of the day, idiots will always exist in society, and that includes football, regardless of whatever rules you put in place.

But that doesn’t mean that the powers that be shouldn’t be doing as much as possible to try and stop these types of incidents.

It was discussed on BBC Radio Scotland that the SPFL and the SFA should introduce ‘strict liability’ to try and stop such incidents, like the bottle throwing.

Journalist Tom English shared that the clubs, the boards, such as the SFA and SPFL, would never introduce such a law.

“The clubs need to vote for strict liability, and there is no sign that they are ever going to do that,” said English.

“I think some might, because some have no issue in this area, so it’s no skin off their nose to vote for strict liability. Some will not because they can’t trust their own fans, and then the club might get in trouble for the actions of one or two fans.

“I think a form of strict liability, I have been calling on the SPFL and the SFA to bring in a form of strict liability, like a bespoke Scottish version of it, for years and years. It ain’t going to happen.

“So, we are going to have these incidents repeating on a loop. We have had tons and tons of them, and we will continue to have tons and tons of them, because they are very hard to stop.”

What happens to the ‘bottle throwers’?

In the modern world and game, there are cameras everywhere that can spot a supporter’s every movement from the stands.

Journalist Tom English shared that such incidents, where missiles are thrown onto the pitch, are ‘caught by the police’.

But English warned that one day a player will get hit by an object and ‘all hell will break loose’.

“Thankfully, in most cases, I think, certainly what I am told, is that bottle throwers or missile throwers, normally are caught by the police, and they are charged,” added English.

“So, that’s the SPFL’s get-out, ‘this is a police matter. This is a criminal act’. Therefore, ‘it’s not for us to get involved’. Some might say, ‘that’s a bit of a cop-out’, but that’s their view. ‘This is a criminal matter. It’s over to the police’.

“If you look at it, through the internet, you will find multiple examples of people being charged for throwing missiles at grounds.

“We want to get to a stage where no missiles are thrown, so nobody has to be charged. That’s where football authorities need to get their heads together and see what they can do. One of these days, it’s going to happen: a player is going to get hit in the head with a bottle, and all hell will break loose, because that player is going to be seriously hurt.”

The 21-year-old joined Celtic with a lot of noise around him because he became the club’s record transfer at £11 million.

Added to that, Matt O’Riley had left for Brighton, so one of the key players from the double campaign was out of the picture and it needed to be filled.

When you look back on the overall picture, Celtic as a whole filled that void, from Nicolas Kuhn to Daizen Maeda.

But a lot of eyes and talk have been around Engels this term, especially with that price tag, and it’s fair to say that he has divided opinion.

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Rating Arne Engels’ debut campaign for Celtic

Pat Bonner has watched Celtic up and down the land this season, including in the Champions League, so he would have seen Engels up front.

The legendary goalkeeper stated that he would rate the young Belgium star’s season seven out of ten.

But the one critical point Bonner wanted to make was that he wants Engels to step up in the ‘bigger games’, as he told BBC Radio Scotland.

“I think seven is what I would give him,” said Bonner. “I think he has got all the qualities. He is just learning how to play in a team that dominates.

“But when it comes to those maybe crunch times, maybe against the bigger teams, can he step up and be the difference. He has great qualities. A good passer of the ball. Makes good runs and set-pieces, he has that quality also. Fires in that ball.

“So, all of those good things for a young player are evident.”

Engels’ stats for Celtic this season

Many Celtic players have proven that, if you give them time, then they will eventually go to that next level in the colours of the Scottish champions.

That’s probably what Engels needs, so the critics should save their voices for next season where you should properly judge him.

But, for this current campaign, WhoScored have rated his Premiership performances at over seven, including 6.68 in the Champions League.