Brendan Rodgers has leaped to the defence of his Celtic supporters following claims made by Aberdeen defender Shay Logan that he "expects" to be racially abused by some Celtic fans.
Logan was sent off in Aberdeen's 1-0 win at Parkhead last season, and celebrated the result as he made his way to the tunnel. As he made his way off, Logan claims that he was racially abused by a minority of Celtic fans.
Logan has a long history with Celtic: In 2014, then-Celtic player Aleksandar Tonev received a seven-game ban for racially abusing Logan, with a section of the Scottish team’s support allegedly targeting the defender ever since.
Speaking to the Evening Express, Logan says that he now "expects" abuse from Celtic fans.
Listen there was, but at the end of the day I expect it now.
It’s so forgotten about that it is just the way it is.
There’s no crying or moaning about it, at the end of the day I’ve got three kids who love me.
I deal with it, let them say whatever they want, we move on, there’s other games in the future.
Brendan Rodgers, however, has responded to Logan's comments ahead of Celtic's pre-season friendly with Shamrock Rovers this afternoon.
It’s not something that we would ever want to see anywhere. There’s always been an ongoing thing with young Shay since an incident I was made aware of when I came in. But the Celtic supporters were voted the best supporters in the world. I think that says it all in terms of the ambience around the stadium and how they behave themselves.
It’s not something we want to go into and it’s not something the Celtic supporters are ever talked about or renowned for. It’s a wonderful atmosphere at Celtic Park, of course, and you probably don’t help yourself if you walk about after the game and do all sorts of gestures. The Celtic supporters have been given a title last year and there’s a reason why.
