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Ross County Manager Stuart Kettlewell has called the scenes of disorder outside Celtic Park after the victory of his team by 2-0 Sunday “despicable”.
The county brigade needed a police escort out of the stadium hundreds of fans gathered call for the removal of Celtic coach Neil Lennon.
Kettlewell hopes it will not deter the Scottish government from allowing more fans in despite Covid-19.
“You have to realize that we are in the middle of a global pandemic,” he said.
“If we look at the bigger picture outside of football, we have the police fighting people who could potentially have the virus and they are properly putting themselves on the front line to try to contain a situation.
“And some of the scenes that I see sitting on the bus, watching the police fight and doing everything they can to keep the guys from breaking the perimeter barriers that they set up, it was just despicable.”
Three policemen suffered minor injuries, while Celtic players and management also required an escort from the stadium while being hit by missiles following the champions’ Scottish League Cup second round defeat.
“I can only speak from sitting in that parking lot waiting to get away from Parkhead and there are no scenes that any of us want to see in Scottish football,” Kettlewell said, adding that he had soured a “bright day” for his own club. .
It comes at a time when several leading figures in Scottish football have reiterated their request that fans be allowed to return to the pitch in greater numbers.
Under the guidelines set out in the Scottish government’s tiered framework for tackling Covid-19, only a few areas of the country are deemed safe enough for spectators in stadiums, a maximum of 300. With the Highlands as one of those regions, the county is currently able to host a limited number of fans at its home games.
“I hope it doesn’t have an impact,” Kettlewell said. “It looks terrible at the time, of course it does, I’m not moving away from that fact, but I just hope we can attribute it to the crazed emotion and just a moment of utter madness from a small group of people.
“Hopefully we can see the good work the football clubs have done and the good work the people who come to the football clubs have done lately. If I explain it to ourselves, to everyone who has come to our field lately. , the 200/300 followers have behaved brilliantly. “
