Lennon Calls For An End To Offensive Chanting

the war is over. times have changed. it's no longer acceptable to sing rebs at the games. as lenny says those participating are embarrassing the club. he couldnt have spelled it out any simpler.
keep the rebs for the pub and sing songs at the match that will motivate the players and not embarrass them, the manager, the club and the vast majority of the support.

 

I dont think Hibs should be criticised. The reality was the Irish in Edinburgh were smaller numbers, they mainly came in the 19th century and by the laws of averages most have married in to non-Irish lines several times and are now more Scottish in blood than Irish in most cases. It would be silly for people like that to maintain a separate identity. It wouldnt reflect reality. I think Hibs and Dundee United are as they are now because of the successful integration and blending into the Scottish population that happened in those towns where sectarianism was only a small fraction of that further west. Hibs simply reflect the reality of the last few generations of supporters. There is no longer separate local and Irish communities in those towns except in the minds of a few weirdos. I dont think Hibs or DUndee United should in any way be reprimanded. Its Celtic whose culture reflects a more disfunctional experience of Irish immigrants in west-central Scotland where sectarianism has led to more of a ghetto mentality and mutually antogonistic subcultures. In short, the Irish who settled into the east had a happier experience in the long run and there is no identifiable division within the population any more.

 

you are not celtic. as lenny says you and others that continue to sing the rebs are embarrassing the club. the war's over. sing songs will motivate the players not shame the club.

 

Your wrong, Neil did not state any specific songs and I believe he was not talking about Irish Republican songs ( old or new ). I think he was talking about the I - I - IRA chant against the diet huns.

If your embarrassed you need to get out more....have some self esteem lessons. The huns may be right....some of my fellow Celtic fans are very easily offended.

The songs I listed are motivational. What do you mean "I am not Celtic" ?

That is a disgraceful, offensive comment and completely incorrect.

 

you said we are celtic and we will sing what we want. well your not singing on behalf or for the great majority of the celtic support.
a poll on here recently showed more than 70% wanted the rebs to be dropped. your living in the past and in denial.
how are the rebel songs motivational to the players exactly? the war's over and the rebel songs should not be sung as the club have requested time and time again. it's pathetic.

 

the only fair way to settle this debate,i feel,is to ask fans who were attending games when celtic were averaging sub-20000 crowds what songs they were singing.my reasoning is simple.if we win * all for the forseeable future crowds will plummet and only the hardcore fans will still go to games-any hardcore fans on the forum want to have their say?

 

Right, I understand...that was obviously a poor attempt at humour.

What is pathetic is Celtic supporters who are embarrassed by the Irish Republican movement. I am attempting to safeguard our Clubs heritage and part of that is a link to the Irish Republican movement whether you are aware of this or not. If the vast majority of Celtic fans are against singing Republican songs then I fear the Club will lose it's unique identity. Pop songs are all very well to lift the atmosphere these days, in the past we did not require these songs to regain some atmosphere as it was never lost.

This is maybe the problem these days.

Thats a no brainer. I supported Celtic all through the worst time in our history, regularly finishing behind Motherwell, Aberdeen and the like. We sang Irish Republican songs almost exclusively along side Celtic songs. I don't want to force fans to sing certain songs, its all about freedom of choice. If your offended then don't sing. I for one am not ashamed of the IRA or the Republican movement however the songs we are talking about are about a war long finished and the very nature of them were designed to increase morale and motivate people....Irish People to be fair however I am sure none of our players are offended by any song we sing.

 

Don't talk rubbish. If the majority that attended games didn't want the rebels they would be shouted down or attacked as soon as they started singing.

 

the republican links have nothing to do with the club even although there were individuals involved in the club who were involved in the movement....during the war!
it goes without saying that since the bulk of the support is irish/irish scots and during the war naturally there was strong vocal support for the movement. the war is over. it's time for peace and singing the rebs keeps us attached to the past (something we laugh at the huns for) which has no relevance to the present. the ira has declared the war over. songs glorifying the ira at football matches just antagonise our fellow scots and dont do anything to positively portray the image of a modern irish scot living in the present. keep the songs for the pub and do the club a favour.

 

mate I am from that sort of east coast famine Irish background and every thing I said is true and based on personal experience. I am talking about the big Irish migration of 150 years or so back. Not people with Irish parents or grandparents - they are a tiny number compared to those whose Irish ancestry is more like seven generation back and are now through intermarriage far more Scottish in ancestry than Irish. I have an Irish name and the family was catholic but through intermarriage with Scots over 7 generations in Scotland I only have one Irish catholic descended grandparent and even he had a Scottish prod mother. So, with only about one eight Irish blood I can hardly be expected to have an Irish identity. I think my family are pretty typical of Irish in a lot of the east (bar maybe the old industrial towns of Fife which seem a bit west-like).

 

I agree. Its a s highly offensive comment.

 

that explains why hardly anyone sings the rebs at celtic park then. those attending the away matches should remember they are representing the club. the club and the manager are embarrassed by the songs. it couldnt be any simpler. keep the rebs for the pub and sing songs that will motivate the players.

 

with you bro,and i would bet a pound to a penny if the worst were to happen and the huns dominate for a few years,the board wouldnt give a fiddlers fart what we were singing as long as the season book money was coming in

 

Firstly, I didn't realise you were the spokesman for Glasgow Celtic F.C, Peter Lawwell and Neil Lennon.

Secondly, where did you pull the first bolded comment from?

 

many celtic fans have varying degrees of irish ancestry and many have none at all. the club welcomes anyone of any faith or creed and if we are truly to embrace that ideal the time has come, now that the war is over, to stop singing rebel songs. the majority of celtic fans dont want to hear them being sung at foootball matches and the rebs should be kept for the pub.

 

I know a good few Hibs fans who are just as proud of their Irishness as I am. One of the most vociferous defender of Irish Republicanism I know is a huge Hibee. My own grandmother was a Hibs fan and a Irish Republican, whilst her husband was a Celtic man.

I might have been a bit OTT with the offence reference .....sorry! I do however think labelling people "weirdo's" is a wee bit out of order?

I do agree that the Celtic fans in the West are dysfunctional though!!

 

It's sad, there seems to be a section of fans that think all rebels have no place in the Celtic crowd. That opinion has to be respected but I find that sad because it seems to be the direction we're heading in. The fact there's a decent number of these fans is worrying.

In saying that though, I would say well over 3/4 of our away fans still sing these songs loud and proud. The travelling support seem to be the people that realise, our rebels can't be compared with the huns songs, we should be under no pressure to cut them from our song book.

I'm not even Irish but I hope there's a massive section of our support, that pass these songs, history and meanings onto our future supporters - no matter which nationality they may be.

This quote from Lennon's speech is very true, despite this latest article:

“We as a club this season have nothing to reproach ourselves for whether it be the board, the supporters or the players."

I know he's not talking about singing from the stands here but the quote sums up our support this season and throughout the years, the problem lies with the other team from Glasgow.

 

your living in denial if you think rebel songs are sung by anything other than a small minority at celtic park.

 

Another comment pulled out of thin air.