Hardhats at the ready as new foes prepare for SPL showdown

MOIRA GORDON

JUST as Rangers and Aberdeen seem destined to be ever embroiled together, linked by one tackle that was the cherry on top of years of growing antipathy, the last-day events of the 1986 season have cast a shadow over subsequent Celtic v Hearts tussles.

As the latest head-to-head approaches, the hatches are being battened down and those charged with keeping order on and off the pitch are at a heightened state of readiness. Like a cornered snake, this is a match which can suddenly spring up, emitting enough venom quickly to kill off the notion of sportsmanship.

In the past couple of seasons, police horses have been necessary to quell crowd trouble in the streets of Edinburgh following one match, arrest figures soar as so-called fans become obsessed with swapping terrorist vitriol and then there is the saliva and the coins which are lobbed and gobbed at players with thought for neither safety nor decency. Matches have even been held up as police are called in to deal with the kind of crowd interference which makes taking a corner and keeping the head nigh on impossible. And that's just off the pitch.

Whether that's what transmits to the players and dug-out personnel or not, something seems to shred the nerve endings. Normally sensible exponents of the game have seen red, both the mist and the card, and referees have had to have eyes and ears wide open to quash physical and verbal barbs. Even then they still miss out on incidents which evoke confrontation in the dug-outs, in the tunnel and spill over into media outlets and angry phone exchanges.

"I'll be honest, I hated those games," admits Tom Purdie, Hearts' former security chief. "They were even worse than derby matches and I spent more time preparing and worrying about those games than any other. It might not be as bad on Saturday because the game is at Celtic Park and the fans are further from the field of play there but the atmosphere is still poisonous and I know a lot of decent Hearts fans who just don't go to these games."

The actions of the players and managers in recent years have not thrown ice water on the smouldering disdain either.

For a certain element of each fanbase, the only excuses needed for antipathy are sectarian-based, the Red Hand of Ulster and Union Flags an antagonistic red rag to the Tricolor-waving Celtic fans. Throw in the UVF salutes and the pro-IRA chants and it is a combustible mix.

On the pitch, it is actions which so often speak louder than words but not so in these fixtures and certainly not in recent times. While there was a double sending off for Hearts two seasons ago and then a red card for Steven Pressley in May of this year, all doled out by referee Willie Young, he says it was the verbal rammies between opposing managers, which were played out in the press, and then the on-field verbals which proliferated during those matches, that made them more difficult to regulate.

The on-field clash between John Hartson and Andy Webster was the cause of heated debate, video evidence and then further angry exchanges. The fact that it was the managers, Martin O'Neill and Craig Levein, who publicly stoked the fires while players, on the whole, were smart enough to keep schtum was all the more remarkable. It spoke volumes of two clubs suffering almost irreconcilable differences.

"I think a lot of it comes down to frustrations," says Young. "There's always going to be some idiot in the crowd who is willing to throw a coin but the good thing is that at Celtic Park they are further away so unless someone is across taking a corner then there is less chance of the missile actually reaching the intended target. But I do remember having to hold up a game at Tynecastle because the abuse being hurled at Stan Petrov was unacceptable. A fan was leaning over and was right in his face so I asked the police to intervene. I thought the player showed extreme restraint because that situation could have turned ugly but he is only human and bound to be worked up so it was my job to have a quiet word with him and remind him not to take that out on the next player he went into a 50-50 tackle with.

"But that's something you have to be aware of in these games because it is usually the players who are constantly trying to wind each other up.

"Historically, there may be resentment between fans and there are maybe different reasons for the problems in the stands and in the streets at these games but on the pitch I think it comes down to the fact that Hearts have been a lot more competitive in recent years. If you look at the results from a few years ago, the games were fairly one-sided and there were not the same number of flashpoints but in the past couple of seasons there has been very little in the games and that leads to frustrations."

Although some of the personnel are similar, the greater emphasis on passing play imposed by the two new managers, and a greater reliability on skill rather than physique, means that Young is hopeful of a more sporting contest. Hopeful but not necessarily expectant.

Taken from the Scotsman