Celtic were absolutely right to make the call last night to close the Green Brigade section of the stadium for the next two games. And Peter Lawwell is spot on when he says that the GB are tarnishing the reputation of the club.

Once again Celtic find themselves in the dock with UEFA following the display of illicit banners on Wednesday night.

The Green Brigade are besmirching the name of the club with these kind of antics and for the sake of Celtic and its reputation, it needs to stop.

Apart from the fines – and given the frequency of the offence, the danger is that sooner or later that escalates to a penalty more grave than a financial one – I don’t believe that the views are shared by the vast majority of those who are in the ground.

We are all Celtic fans and we are entitled to be proud of the Irish roots of the club. We should take pride in that and the social values of the club, of the Irish founding fathers, but banners such as those that we watched unveiled on Wednesday evening are not those aspects to which they refer.

It has nothing to do with the club and has no place at Celtic Park.

I have praised the Green Brigade in the past from bringing noise and colour and atmosphere to the ground with displays and songs that back the team, that back the club. But I have been critical too when they have damaged Celtic’s reputation with incidents like this.

It must stop. It has to.

If you want to celebrate the club’s heritage, few would object to an Irish ballad. There is no offence to be caused with that but the same cannot be said for songs and slogans that are designed to offend, to provoke a reaction.

It is pre-meditated, it takes a lot of planning and a lot of work to go to such lengths before the game. But if the club are continually hammered by UEFA, then it needs to reach a point where the banners are vetoed by the club beforehand.

If they are Celtic supporters, then the reputation of the club and how it is perceived by those on the outside looking in has to be taken into account. These views are those of a minority but if it is allowed to continue then it besmirches everyone who backs Celtic. If they really support the club then this nonsense has to be left at the door.

The club have made a move to deal with it and we'll see what happens next. But something had to be done.