STRACH IN WARNING OVER TITLE CLINCHER

GORDON STRACHAN admits he has sympathy with the SPFL administrators who are deliberating over whether or not to allow a potential Old Firm Premiership title decider to go ahead next weekend – pointing to the infamous 1999 ‘ Shame Game’, in which referee Hugh Dallas (inset) was struck by a coin thrown from the Parkhead stands.

With Celtic and Rangers set for a Scottish Cup and league double header over the next fortnight, officials have been mulling over safety concerns surrounding the powderkeg fixture.

And with last week’s ugly scenes at Anfield, when the Manchester City team bus was attacked by fans before their Champions League kick-off, offering a stark reminder for when supporters’ emotions spill over, the former Parkhead boss was cautious about the idea of a derby decider.

He said: “The Liverpool and Man City game was wonderful but what we

end up talking about was a bus getting attacked.

“It was a horrible sight. It wasn’t a surprise to me because I was on a bus which was attacked with CS gas at a Manchester United v Liverpool game.

“And I got a brick thrown at the bus. I’ve seen it before and it’s frightening when it happens.

“Nobody knew it was coming last week and if you take it for granted then something like that might happen here.

“I hope that never happens here but it can and that’s why the Government and police think we maybe can’t take that gamble.

“I can understand where they are coming from.”

And while Strachan, who led Celtic to three back-to-back league championships, knows the attraction such an important fixture would provide for the game in Scotland, he is adamant the safety of everyone at the ground comes before any grandstanding for the broadcasters.

The so-called “Shame Game” on May 2, 1999, when Rangers clinched the title at the home of their bitter rivals for the first time in more than a century with a 3-0 victory over Jozef Venglos’s (below) side, is something the former Aberdeen and Scotland star hopes never to witness again.

“Yes we want to promote the football, but the scenes in 1999 when the ref was hit with a coin were ones that went round the world and we don’t want that again,” he said. “Have we got better? I don’t know. But when you see the Liverpool scenes you think, ‘I don’t want that from my country’.”