Warren Farrell

Strap yourself in, Alan Reynolds has hit back strongly at Stephen Bradley following Monday's Dublin Derby.. "We sit down with our players at the start of every season and tell them not to antagonise the opposition fans. We want our players to celebrate with our own fans - the people who pay their hard-earned money travelling up and down the country every week to support them. “For whatever reason Rovers players don’t do that. I’ve no issue with an individual player celebrating a goal and giving a bit of lip or whatever back to fans who’ve given them stick, they’re only human and we’ve all done that at some stage but this was much more than that. There were 10,000 people in the stadium and instead of celebrating with the 8,000 or 9,000 supporting Rovers, there was a deliberate attempt by their players to incite the 1,000 or so in the Bohs section. It’s a lack of basic respect, it’s designed to provoke and it’s an attitude that comes from the top. “We’re not the first team who has had that lack of respect from Stephen Bradley or his players. I’ve been involved in this league for a long time and Stephen always appeared to get on well with me, but something seems to have changed this year, maybe because he finally saw Bohs as a threat. “Last year, we played Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, and came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, the first thing I did after the game was to go and shake hands with the opposition management staff as it’s the first thing we do after every game, win, lose or draw. “They came to Dalymount this year, beat us with a late goal and there’s no sign of any of their staff shaking our hands, none. On Monday, I shake hands with Stephen and tell him that it's nice of him to shake our hands and show a bit of respect, and then Glenn Cronin then gets himself involved. “Yet all you hear from Stephen after the game is a personal attack on my staff. In football, any manager will have disagreements with the opposition all the time. That’s fine, it’s part of the game and then you park it there, you keep it between you whether you win or lose. I always have in the past, but I won’t stand for my staff or our fans being insulted in interviews by him or anyone. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen Stephen Bradley has decided to run his mouth off and insult the opposition to distract from the carry-on of his own club. He did it with Dundalk and Ciarán Kilduff when he wanted to distract from Rovers supporters getting on the pitch to attack Darryl Horgan, and now he’s doing it with us to distract from his own players looking to start a riot, and I won’t stand for that nonsense from the likes of him.” “There has been a lot of talk here about fair play in football across the water but we have to look at our own league first. There has to be a level playing field here too. For all the resources Stephen Bradley has at his disposal, he doesn’t need the league to be giving them another leg-up. “Ultimately a game was brought forward by the league that gave Shamrock Rovers an extra 24 hours’ rest before a massive game against us. It’s not right. It’s not right for Bohs, it’s not right for St Pat’s and it’s not right for anyone who believes in a level playing field. “When both clubs have a two-day rest in between matchdays and the league turns around and decides to give one of them an extra 24 hours, that’s just not on. We’re not talking about one club having five days and the other having six days or whatever. The smaller the gap is, the bigger the advantage an extra day gives. “And it’s not the first time that Shamrock Rovers have had a game rescheduled this year to their advantage under questionable circumstances either. The pitch in Tallaght being mysteriously overwatered during a rain storm at the start of the season led to a game being rescheduled to their advantage.