Tonight, Celtic released a statement condemning Hearts’ decision to cut our away allocation at Tynecastle by around 20 per cent, leaving just 508 Celtic supporters able to attend the game later this month.

James has written about this subject many times.

I have written about it many times too.

Scottish football does not respect away supporters.

It does not care enough about the away supporter experience, and sometimes I genuinely wonder whether parts of Scottish football would happily see that experience disappear altogether if they could.

But there is something particularly frustrating about this latest decision.

Celtic have made clear that the allocation is “outwith our control”.

And technically, of course, they are right.

Hearts are the home club. Hearts decide how many tickets Celtic receive.

But when you do nothing, and when you are prepared to do nothing, “outwith our control” becomes a very convenient sentence.

Having said that, I don’t particularly want to blame Celtic for Hearts cutting the allocation.

Because the immediate responsibility for this decision belongs exactly where it should.

With Hearts.

The explanation they have given is security.

Hearts say they have increased the segregation inside the Roseburn Stand to ensure the match can be managed safely and effectively.

In other words, whether they use the precise expression or not, this fixture is now being treated as higher risk.

And that is where I have a very serious problem with Hearts’ position.

Because if this fixture has become more hostile, if the atmosphere surrounding games between these clubs has deteriorated and if greater security is now supposedly required, Hearts should perhaps spend a little time considering the part they themselves have played in creating that atmosphere.

This is a club which has repeatedly indulged conspiracy theories around Celtic.

It has encouraged the idea among sections of its support that Celtic somehow receive preferential treatment, that decisions are somehow tilted in our favour and that our success should always be viewed with suspicion.

You cannot spend your time feeding resentment and then act shocked when resentment creates consequences.

You cannot pour petrol onto something and then complain about the heat.

Either Hearts genuinely believe the situation has become sufficiently hostile that additional segregation is necessary, in which case perhaps they should examine the role their own rhetoric has played in creating that hostility.

Or they have simply found a convenient security argument which allows them to achieve something they wanted anyway: another reduction in the Celtic allocation.

Neither possibility reflects particularly well on them.

The frustrating part for Celtic is that there is no sensible option now except to accept the 508 tickets.

I wrote earlier today about how ugly things around Celtic have become, how important this football family is to me and how much being part of it inspires me.

I meant every word.

And I cannot imagine Celtic players walking onto that pitch at Tynecastle without our supporters behind them.

They need those voices.

They need that colour.

They need that support.

So Celtic should not reject the allocation entirely in protest.

Doing that would punish Celtic supporters twice.

It would disenfranchise the 508 people who can still attend and deprive the team of what little backing Hearts are prepared to allow through the doors.

But accepting the tickets does not mean accepting the principle.

And this is where Celtic have to stop pretending that “outwith our control” means there is absolutely nothing they can do.

There is an enormous difference between something being outside your immediate control and being powerless to influence the wider situation.

Celtic cannot force Hearts to hand over more tickets for this particular fixture.

Fine.

But Celtic can lead a discussion about away allocations across Scottish football.

Celtic can demand that the SPFL addresses the issue.

Celtic can ask why away supports are being gradually squeezed out of grounds across the country and whether a guaranteed minimum allocation should be introduced for league fixtures.

Celtic can build support among other clubs whose fans are also affected.

Celtic can act.

What this requires, in my view, is a meeting of the SPFL clubs and a proper discussion about what Scottish football wants the future of away support to look like.

There should be a guaranteed minimum allocation.

There should be consistency.

There should be an acceptance that travelling supporters are not some inconvenience to be tolerated until the home club discovers another few hundred seats it can sell itself.

Away supporters matter.

They improve games.

They improve atmospheres.

They create colour, noise and rivalry.

They are part of what makes football worth watching in the first place.

And once again Celtic could have been leading that conversation.

Instead, we seem content to release another statement telling supporters that the situation is outwith our control.

This club does not get everything wrong.

I have never claimed that it does.

But things like this are so basic that it becomes depressing when we do not even appear willing to try.

Because if clubs know Celtic will complain publicly, accept whatever allocation is offered and then move on, what incentive is there for anybody to behave differently next time?

Hearts certainly seem perfectly comfortable continuing down this road.

And Hearts themselves should not escape criticism here.

This is a club currently dealing with enough problems of its own.

They have entered the international break after a dreadful run of results, including three consecutive defeats, and there is already pressure around the direction of the team.

So forgive me if I cannot entirely dismiss the possibility that another row involving Celtic supporters is rather convenient for them.

Nothing redirects anger quite like giving supporters somebody else to be angry at.

I cannot prove that this decision was made as a distraction, and I am not pretending that I can.

But I can look at the timing, look at Hearts’ current circumstances and ask the question.

Either way, the end result is the same.

Only 508 Celtic supporters will be inside Tynecastle.

The rest will be excluded from a fixture they desperately want to attend.

And Scottish football will once again shrug its shoulders and behave as though the gradual disappearance of away fans is simply one of those unfortunate things that nobody has the power to prevent.

It isn’t.

It is a choice.

Every time a club cuts an allocation, it makes a choice.

Every time the authorities refuse to establish minimum standards, they make a choice.

And every time Celtic says something is outwith its control without trying to change the system which allows it to happen, we make a choice too.

Hearts have made theirs.

It is long past time Celtic started making ours.

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