Linfield chairman Roy McGivern has accused Leigh Griffiths of provoking his supporters.
In the type of comment that is similar to the ‘whataboutery’ from Ibrox the Linfield supremo has pointed the finger of blame at Griffiths for the missile throwing incidents that is likely to see the club hammered by UEFA.
Rather than admit to a complete lack of police officers around the corner flag or explain how highly trained stewards from the Orange Order are for dealing with fan violence McGivern opted to blame Griffiths.
Speaking to the Daily Record he claimed: “As a club we did all in our power to prevent any incidents happening, having teamed up with the PSNI and the Stadium Security team.
“There were things that went on that helped provoke a section of the crowd, with certain players making gestures, but that’s not an excuse. Regardless of any provocation, the bottle throwing shouldn’t have happened.
“We condemn the actions of a small number of people and when we gather the evidence and the television footage and the culprits are identified they’ll be issued with a life ban.
“Our genuine fans really got behind the team and also showed their disgust by booing the people responsible for the bottle throwing incidents.”
At the corner flag that Griffiths was attacked at there was at least half a dozen missiles thrown at the Celtic striker.
Close to 100 Linfield fans were involved at that section of the stadium with no evidence of the good supporters trying to restrain those involved in the assaults.
In most UK football matches whenever a missile is thrown onto the pitch that area of the stadium is usually swamped with security.
Having banked close to £1m from the match against Celtic McGivern is probably regretting not recruiting properly trained stewards to handle the people he was happy to sell tickets to.