O'Neill cancels Christmas at Celtic

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has decreed there will be no more Christmas parties for players as long as he is manager at Celtic Park.

O'Neill yesterday broke his silence on the allegations that a photographer had had his equipment forcibly removed and damaged by Celtic players after he had taken pictures of them emerging from a Newcastle nightclub.

Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and Bobby Petta all spent Tuesday night in a Tyneside jail after police made arrests.

The trio have been bailed without charge until March while Neil Lennon was released without charge after he too was arrested.

O'Neill was quick to give the players his public backing, but he also made it clear he regarded the allegations of the utmost severity and as a result had imposed a ban on future revelry in public.

O'Neill made the comments in a light-hearted way but there was no mistaking how seriously he takes the issue. He said: "There will not be a Christmas party again as long as I am at the football club.

"Nor an Easter one. And if we ever win another competition, if there is to be a party at any stage in the next 10 years we will do it as privately as possible.

"And where there is a group of five or more Celtic players gathered together in Glasgow I will call that an illegal gathering. It has been an horrendous couple of days."

O'Neill confirmed the players had taken advice from lawyers. "Very serious allegations have been made and this is no run-of-the-mill, high-jinks affair," he said. "It is a police investigation and inquiry. The three players are strenuously denying these allegations and are going to take advice on how to clear their names. It is about an alleged robbery and an alleged beating-up of a cameraman and these things are not to be treated lightly

"I have absolute and utter confidence all three are innocent of the allegations which have been made against them. I'm not saying that as a football club manager backing up the players. These are people who happen to be footballers and have to be treated as such. I have asked them individually (what happened) and I believe them.

"I have total belief in them and time will tell who is right and who is wrong. Innocent until proved guilty is the old adage and if I am proved wrong that is another issue. The club will come down very heavily on any player found guilty - if that's the case."

Yesterday, player Momo Sylla was allegedly caught spitting at a camera crew at Parkhead yesterday.

O'Neill, who will not punish any player so long as the investigation is active, said: "You have got to be on your best behaviour all the time. I have spoken to Momo about it. I haven't seen the particular incident but obviously it has been reported.

"The people were 50 yards away but that doesn't matter. I will not condone spitting in any way. He should know better."

Captain Paul Lambert issued an apology to fans who had been upset at seeing their favourites involved in such a controversial situation.

He said in a statement: "We went out to Newcastle on Tuesday evening for the players to have a social night out in much the same way as groups of colleagues do across Scotland at Christmas time.

"It was never our wish to cause any upset or embarrassment to anyone, whether in Newcastle or back in Scotland. We appreciate the press reports may have caused upset and embarrassment to both the club and the supporters.

"The players take their own reputations and that of the club very seriously and, without in any way commenting on the accuracy of the press reports, the players wish to apologise for the fact that a perfectly innocent club night out has caused the club and its fans to be disappointed."

Celtic, meanwhile, have the chance to cut Rangers' lead at the top of the table to a single point by beating Dundee at Parkhead today.

Mjallby is close to a return following knee surgery but goalkeeper Robert Douglas has been asked to play on despite needing a hernia operation because Magnus Hedman is still not fully fit.