Bullish Chris Sutton has demanded that Rangers chiefs "get their finger out" as he provided his take on the ongoing away ticket allocation row.
The former Celtic striker has weighed in on the recent decision which has resulted in the next two Glasgow derbies being played with any travelling supporters.
Celtic claim they were willing to accommodate Rangers fans for the September 1 clash, but that offer wasn't guaranteed to be returned by their city rivals, who are currently playing at Hampden Park because of Ibrox's ongoing construction works, on January 2.
League matches between Celtic and Rangers have been lacking a packed away end since 2018, and Sutton reckons at a time where Scottish football is trying to showcase itself in a positive light, recent developments such as this current ticket fiasco aren't a good look for the game up north.
Writing in his Daily Record column, the Hoops hero said: "The latest battle in the Celtic and Rangers away ticket war has led to the usual finger pointing and blame game.
"It’s a shame we are back in this mess again after getting the hopes up this fixture was returning to some sort of normality. Yet, here we are, facing another away fans shut out at Celtic Park next month and the same again at Ibrox at New Year. It’s far from ideal, but I’ve got to say I can see where Celtic are coming from over this.
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"If Rangers can’t be straight with their own fans, how can they take their word at face value when it comes to Celtic supporters? It looks to me the agreement reached last March was on the provision that certain safety measures were made in the wake of previous problems. Celtic have held up their side of the bargain and got the planning permission and the work done ahead of the first derby. But what about Rangers? I get the fact the return game is months away and there’s still time to sort it.
"Unless there are plans set in stone, though, then how can Celtic know for sure they will be carried out? After all, this is a Rangers board who can’t even tell their own supporters if they will even be back at Ibrox by that point. So they’d be telling the Celtic board, ‘trust us, it’ll be alright on the night’. I don’t think so.
"Everyone knows my stance on all of this. I’d like a return to the traditional allocations because it’s the atmosphere created by the fans that makes it as a spectacle. It’s taken a hit in recent years and at a time when Scottish football is fighting for attention, we shouldn’t be damaging the product.
"We just need to hope Rangers get the finger out and get the work done and we can at least get going in the right direction again. In the meantime Celtic fans are taking great delight in the mess over at Ibrox, with the Champions League exit to Dynamo Kyiv and all the other issues, while they are splashing the cash to bring back Adam Idah and boasting about how much money they have in the bank."
