Motherwell are set to pack out the away end at Celtic Park with 750 fans, their full allocation, for this Saturday's Scottish Premiership match.
Although the Well have likely fallen out of the title race now after their recent 2-1 loss to Dundee, three points are a necessity for Celtic. Martin O'Neill's side are only five points away from Hearts, but any dropped points would likely see them fall away at this point in the campaign.
Motherwell aren't far off, sitting on 53 points in fourth place, and although they lost recently, they aren't to be underestimated. Celtic will need to be at their best if they want to get anything from this one.
We will be able to rely on in-form players like Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren, but injuries could see players such as Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney miss out. They'll be a big hit, especially considering midfielder Arne Engels is already sidelined, but hopefully, players like Reo Hatate finding their form can make things easier for us.
Sadly, it appears that the crowd will be without the Green Brigade ultra group again, with no end in sight to the current ban. Fan media are still locked out as well, despite staff at the club claiming in recent weeks that they have "no idea" who imposed it in the first place.
In a recent post by a representative from the Celtic Fans Collective, as posted by The Celtic Star, they revealed the true reasons why the ban is still in place:
"No end in sight. Deflection over to SAG and, in particular, the police. The club is now content to manage the Hargreaves issue separately, so it has no bearing on the collective ban now apparently. However, the club's position now is that the SAG (particularly the police) is vetoing the suspension being lifted. The police aren't satisfied that there has been a change in [the Green Brigade's] behaviour and are unwilling to accept the suspension being lifted until they see that.
The police apparently want to impose conditions before they will consider a return, which will include attitudes towards police and anti-police sentiment, i.e., on banners and social media. If conditions are accepted, the police will then form a policing/stewarding plan, which we must accept.
The club has the authority to lift the suspension for Saturday [against Motherwell]. SAG is nothing but a smokescreen."
Disappointing news, but no surprise
It is very disappointing to hear this news, especially if the details about police sentiment are true.
Whatever you think about the Green Brigade or other ultra groups, the police trying to control the narrative surrounding them is disturbing, to say the least. We have seen many examples of how heavy-handed stewards and police can be with fans, young children especially, and trying to control the attitude of fans towards that is concerning. After Sunday's game, they are trying to shift the blame onto away fans as well, which is wrong on many levels.
The club need to take a stand and do what is right for fans. Supporters have been wrongfully locked out of the stadium for some time now, and the Celtic Park atmosphere has taken a massive hit because of it. If it's true that the club have the final say on things, they need to act.
That won't happen though. The board are sadly stubborn in their ways, and until real change happens in the hierarchy, fans will continue to suffer for no good reason.