KENNY Shiels has condemned the bigots who use Scottish football as a vehicle to deliver hate-fuelled sectarian messages.
The Kilmarnock caretaker manager, who hails from Northern Ireland and whose younger brother, Dave, was killed during the Troubles, believes the problem with sectarianism is worse now in Scotland than in his homeland because of those who belt out their songs of hate yet know nothing of what they are singing about.
“Times are good in Northern Ireland now. Belfast is one of the nicest cities in Europe, everyone is visiting it, it’s fantastic. But people here use football as a vehicle to deliver hatred. What are they going to do in the summer when football isn’t there, in Glasgow or Edinburgh?
“I don’t think sectarianism is prevalent in society here, it’s just been taken into football and they use it because there are big crowds and lots of people watch the games.
“It’s not there in Northern Ireland, which is good, even though there’s isolated incidents. I don’t see how it all adds up here. A lot of these people have never been to their roots, the ones going to the games. On one side, they sing about the Boyne and places like this -- they don’t even know where it is. The Sash my father wore? My God, they haven’t got a clue.
“They just use it as a social vehicle, after a few drinks. It’s about insecurity and creating a bond between other fans. It’s not worse than I thought it would be. We had a great game against Celtic here last week, which was a great advert for Scottish football, as was Rangers against Dundee United on Tuesday.
“The good supercedes the bad. But when it’s bad, it explodes out of all proportion. And at Tynecastle, that’s as bad as it gets. The publicity the SPL has had this season has been enormous, between the referees’ strike, Neil’s situation, a player being accused of trying to get himself sent off. Then there’s the football after that.”
Shiels described the hatred towards Neil Lennon as poisonous and insists his countryman’s only crime is being passionate towards the club he loves.
“It was a disgrace what happened to Neil. I don’t know how it’s allowed to come into football, it shouldn’t. I think it’s Neil’s profile. There’s now an element of hatred towards him in Scotland.
“If it wasn’t happening to Neil, we probably wouldn’t talk about it, because it doesn’t deserve the coverage.
“We have a great product in Scotland and people should be talking about the football. Celtic and Rangers are having a fantastic battle to win the league but it’s all been about external things this season.
“People keep saying it’s about his [Lennon’s] personality but all he’s trying to do is manage a football team. He should be commended for that”
Shiels hopes Lennon doesn’t walk away from Celtic. “If you’ve been in football all your life, like Neil has, you don’t walk away from it. It’s a drug, it’s an addiction. Sometimes you’ll feel in the heat of the moment you want to jack it in when things are going bad. But Neil has stickability.
“Whether he goes to another country for football, I don’t know. But I can’t see him walking away from his passion, that won’t even be a consideration for him.”
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