Pat Bonner has delivered his instant reaction to Celtic banning the Green Brigade from Parkhead.
The Celtic Ultras have fallen foul of the Parkhead board after the club alleges the Green Brigade were involved in a fracas in the Parkhead concourse leaving two police officers and a steward injured.
Indeed, the fan group denies this, as the Green Brigade published their own issues with Celtic Park security prior to the incident in October.
And now, Celtic hero Pat Bonner has delivered his verdict on the ban as he sends his old club a stern message about keeping the Ultras locked out.
Photo by BO AMSTRUP/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty ImagesPat Bonner warns Celtic that fan lockout affects the players
Bonner was speaking about the Green Brigade lock-out when he said that Celtic could harm their team performance on the park with their ban of the Hoops supporters.
Bonner told BBC Radio Scotland, “Listen, players aren’t immune to those types of discussions. So it doesn’t help the team in any shape or form.
“And when your confidence is down, then it’s a real problem. A real, real problem. And it is about performance.
“Listen, they played decently well against Rangers, especially in that first half. They got away with it in the second half, and they got the result.
“And that you felt that put a smile back on people’s faces. But then when you come into the next game and you get well beaten away from home, and then all of this happens again.
“Then that’s the pressures that you don’t need.”
Bonner tells Celtic that players want the fans inside the stadium
Bonner then went on and expressed his concern about how the players would feel as he reinforces how important the Celtic fans are to the team.
Bonner continued, “As a player, you want to come and enjoy your football. And most of the fans throughout the world, different cultures all over the world, they want to come and see their team perform, and play and enjoy the games.
“That said, they don’t want to get caught up in any other issues. Obviously, everybody’s got a right to do whatever they want, but I know from being a player myself, you want to get on and enjoy your game and get out there and win games, and that’s the focus.
“And that has to be the focus for the management and the team and forget everything else, if they can. But that’s not easy.”
This story is likely to run on during the international break but the ban is unlikely to be lifted as the rift between the Celtic fans and the board grows.