Tuesday 19 February 2019 16:58, UK
Neil Lennon fears supporter behaviour in Scotland may be getting worse following the latest coin-throwing incident in the game.
Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd was hit by a coin in their 1-0 defeat at home to Celtic on Sunday, while Lennon himself suffered the same fate while he was manager of Hibernian.
Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos recently had missiles thrown at him at St Mirren, while an assistant referee required stitches for a cut head when an object was thrown at him at a match between Livingston and Rangers.
Asked whether fan behaviour in Scotland was getting worse, Lennon told Sky Sports News: "I think, in general, you have to possibly say yes.
"Over the last couple of years you have seen a bad element creep back into the game and that's something we don't want to see when the game is on its way back.
"It's far more sexy, there are a lot of good managers and great, competitive games.
"Hopefully the CCTV cameras pick them out and [they] apprehend them and humiliate them. We don't want to see it. The game is great up here and is on the way back.
"There are so many great things that we want to talk about [other than] the coin-throwing thing."
Despite the recent problems, Lennon is not convinced that 'strict liability' laws, forcing clubs to take direct responsibility for the actions of their supporters, should be adopted in Scotland.
"I think strict liability is a very vague area and it would be very harsh to come down hard on the clubs for the actions of a few unruly fans," he added.
"There is a lot of self-policing within the support but you have to stamp it out.
"The authorities will hopefully come down hard and find the perpetrators and make an example of them.
"Players, managers and officials are there to provide the entertainment for the supporters and they have to be protected."
