Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell feels Celtic manager Neil Lennon deserves to be treated with more respect after Hoops fans gathered outside Parkhead to demand his sacking.
County’s 2-0 Betfred Cup victory on Sunday sparked angry scenes outside the ground after the game, with supporters turning up to vent their anger at the club’s players and staff as they departed.
Three police officers were injured in the exchange, as some of them tried to prevent fans breaking down a security barrier which had been assembled.
Despite frustration at Celtic’s recent form, which has seen them win just two of their last 10 matches, Kettlewell feels Lennon deserves better treatment given his long association with the club as player and manager.
Kettlewell said: “It’s magnified when it’s Celtic and it’s such a massive club with a passionate support which we saw spilling out on Sunday night, but I have massive sympathy.
“I understand sometimes it doesn’t always go your way – all managers have had tough situations.
“When people knock their pan in and do so much for a club, as a player, a captain and a manager, and lifted so much silverware, if it was ever to end you would always like to think people still had the respect for what they had done for the club.
“It takes so much sacrifice from your family and personal life, and your emotions. It can become a lonely place.
“I think people need to respect that aspect of it. Nobody is intentionally going out to do badly for their club, and especially people that maybe have a 10 or 20-year history with a club and have done so much.
“These are the factors I look at as somebody that’s somebody so passionate about football. People probably need to remember it means as much if not more to them as it does to some of the supporters with how much they have given.”
Kettlewell has condemned the unsavoury scenes that followed the Staggies’ triumph, and praised the police’s actions in safely escorting the Dingwall club’s players and staff from the ground.
Kettlewell added: “I think it’s absolutely despicable, the whole situation soured what was a great day for our football club.
“We understand what it means to Celtic and how despondent they will be.
“But we have to remember we are in the middle of a global pandemic here and some of the scenes I saw sitting on the bus, watching the police fighting and trying their damndest to stop guys breaking the barrier was despicable.
“If you look at the bigger picture outside football, you have police wrestling with people who potentially could have the virus.
“They are putting themselves properly in the front line to contain a situation.
“The police were excellent, we did have to get a police escort out of Parkhead and onto the motorway.
“They dealt with the situation really well. They wouldn’t have got up on Sunday morning expecting to deal with that.
“Hopefully it’s an isolated situation and we don’t see it again.”
Kettlewell had backed under pressure counterpart Lennon in the build up to Sunday’s game, and he revealed the Celtic boss acknowledged his comments.
Kettlewell added: “I spoke to Neil very briefly after the game.
“I know what happens on this side of the park stays on this side of the park, but he whispered in my ear before the game to thank me for my words in the press this week.
“I know I had spoken fondly of him and the work he has done, and I meant every word of it. It’s not for effect or so I can try and get my name out there.
“That probably shows the class of the man.”