Celtic and Rangers may be struggling to compete at a decent level in Europe these days, but when it comes to whataboutery their high heid yins and supporters remain world beaters.
Fans of the Parkhead and Ibrox clubs stopped wailing about the Champions League and Conference League play-off defeats their teams have just suffered at lunchtime today when the SFA announced the outcomes of the disciplinary hearings which were held into the crowd trouble at the Scottish Cup quarter-final in Govan back in March.
They quickly started venting about the injustice of the punishments which the governing body had hit them with – they will each have to play their next Scottish Cup home game behind closed doors and pay their opponents £100,000 in compensation and will also have the same suspended sanction hanging over them - and ranting about why their city rivals had deserved to be dealt with more severely.
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The argument broke down like this. Celtic supporters claimed that Rangers should have been hammered because their balaclava-clad fans had invaded the pitch in large numbers, physically attacked a coach and stewards and thrown a lit flare into the crowded away end.
Rangers fans maintained the unrest had only occurred because Celtic supporters had invaded the pitch en masse to celebrate after the penalty shootout and had therefore been the instigators of the appalling scenes.
The “but they started it” line is real school playground stuff and would be thrown out instantly if it was used as a defence in a court of law.
However, they also pointed out that fire exits had been forced open in the Broomloan Stand, dangerous levels of overcrowding had occurred, sick graffiti about the Ibrox Disaster had been daubed on walls and electronic scoreboards had been trampled and destroyed.
Nobody responded by saying, “What happened was an absolute outrage and everybody involved disgraced themselves.” But somebody really should have. It was the worst crowd violence witnessed at a match in this country since the Scottish Cup final at Hampden in 2016. It was a miracle nobody was badly hurt, or worse. Who was more to blame is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
The Celtic hierarchy, who have been getting it tight in the wake of the LASK collapse on Tuesday night, were hardly going to come out publicly and praise the SFA for cracking down on hooliganism in the current climate.
Doing anything other than expressing their incredulity about the heavy-handedness of it all would simply have intensified the already considerable pressure on them.
They rushed out a statement which read, “We are shocked by this disproportionate punishment for a relatively small incursion by Celtic supporters at a moment of emotion and celebration.
"Our club has never defended supporters entering the field of play and we have repeatedly taken action when it occurs. However, we understand the part emotion plays in football and would have expected the context and distinction in behaviours to have been taken into account by the panel.
"Another important distinction is that, on this occasion, Celtic were not the home club, responsible for stadium safety arrangements. We will study the panel’s report and reasoning when it is available and will thereafter consider our next steps.”
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Rangers reiterated their concerns about having to give Celtic fans 8,000 tickets for the match in a missive which was posted on their official media channels last night and confirmed the visitors would only be given 300 briefs for their Premier Sports Cup tie at Ibrox next month.
It read, "Risks identified by the club were not, in our view, given sufficient weight, including in relation to the increased away allocation for the March 8 fixture. Rangers will not be deterred from taking decisions it believes are necessary to protect our club, our stadium and our fans."
The devil, though, is in the detail here. Both clubs were found to have breached SFA disciplinary rule 37 by failing to ensure good order and security and not preventing unacceptable conduct among their supporters. So they have to receive the exact same penalties under the guidelines as they are laid out.
Those Celtic and Rangers fans who shamed themselves and their clubs with their actions will be dealt with by the courts in due course. A total of 43 people have been arrested by Police Scotland for a variety of offences to date. Custodial sentences may well be given out in the worst cases.
The independent review into the quarter-final crowd trouble that was led by Mark Blackbourne found the events which unfolded were the result of a significant failure of planning and communication. There were faults on all sides, among the clubs, security contractors, the football authorities, the police.
Important lessons need to be learned about access routes, turnstile arrangements, crowd segregation and policing levels going forward. But one point contained within the 37 page report has already been taken on board.
Blackbourne concluded that there was no deterrent for troublemakers - a direct result of SFA member clubs rejecting the governing body’s proposal to introduce strict liability way back in 2013 - and suggested that far more meaningful sanctions need to be in place.
By ordering a cup home game to be played behind closed doors and demanding that £100,000 compensation is paid out to their opponents, the SFA have sent out a strong message.
By threatening to take the same severe measure if there is any further repeat of antisocial behaviour by Celtic or Rangers fans in the competition in future they have perhaps heralded the dawn of a new era in Scottish football.
The directors at the two big Glasgow clubs, despite public pronouncements which pander to a certain partisan element among their fanbases, despise sectarian chanting, pyrotechnic use, missile throwing, racist abuse, pitch invasions, tailgating, face coverings and offensive banners.
They may well have grievances about how they have been dealt with by the independent judicial tribunal. But privately they might also be a little bit relieved that somebody has finally taken a firm stance against the ne’er-do-wells.
They certainly do what they can when they can. Celtic locked The Green Brigade ultras group out of their games for the majority of last season after a number of them were involved in a terrible incident involving police and stewards at a Falkirk match.
But clubs really need the SFA and the SPFL – who have reduced ticket allocations, issued fines and ordered sections of stands to be shut down following mass pyro displays at their matches in the past couple of seasons – to step up and assist them.
In this instance they very much have. It may just be a taste of what is to come in the seasons ahead.
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