Neil Lennon urges fans to stop tarnishing Celtic’s image

CELTIC manager Neil Lennon has urged supporters not to spoil the club’s reputation after reports of trouble at the Boxing Day clash with Dundee.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell issued a swift apology to Dundee and promised strong action after a number of supporters were ejected from Dens Park during the evening encounter, which Celtic won 2-0.

At his pre-match press conference for this afternoon’s SPL match against Hibernian, Lennon said: “We have a fantastic reputation wherever we go and we are very proud of that and we want to preserve it.

“Don’t tarnish the reputation of the club please.”

The manager told supporters intent on causing trouble at matches to stay away. “If you are thinking about doing it, then we would rather you didn’t come,” added Lennon.

Dundee operations manager Jim Thomson said there was “serious disorder” in the stadium concourse on Wednsday night and “widespread” drunkenness. Police reported five supporters, including four away fans, to the procurator fiscal, while the home club said many more were ejected.

“I have never seen anything like the behaviour of the Celtic fans in the 20 years I have been running games at Dens Park,” Thomson told reporters. “The situation was almost unmanageable and I have never seen so many people drunk.”

Lawwell had apologised in a statement, saying: “We have received a number of complaints from our own supporters about the conduct of this minority. We cannot allow our supporters’ enjoyment of our matches to be affected in this way and we will not sit and allow the club’s reputation to be damaged.”

Celtic defender Kelvin Wilson, meanwhile, faces a two-match ban after being issued with a notice of complaint for an alleged elbow on Dundee striker John Baird during the match at Dens Park.

Scottish Football Association compliance officer Vincent Lunny yesterday charged the centre-back with violent conduct “by striking an opposing player, namely John Baird, with his elbow”.

Wilson has until 3pm on Monday to respond to the charge with a hearing pencilled in for next Thursday if he decides to challenge the ban.

Wilson is available to Lennon, who is without injured defenders Adam Matthews and Charlie Mulgrew, for today’s 3pm trip to Easter Road.

The incident happened off the ball just before half-time in the Dens Park clash with referee Iain Brines taking no action.

Baird was initially angered and needed treatment, but later accepted Wilson’s explanation and did not want retrospective action. Baird said after the game: “He has clocked me but I think it was accidental. I thought I had lost my teeth. It was an elbow but I have to stress I think it was accidental. I have pulled him and he is obviously getting his arm out the road. I spoke to him as I was going up the tunnel and he said, ‘you were pulling me’. It’s just one of those things.

“I think if someone pulled me, my first reaction is to get your arm out the road.

“It’s not as if he has come over and said, ‘here, take that’.”

Wilson would miss SPL games against Motherwell and Hearts if he accepted his ban on Monday or lost his fast-track tribunal hearing.