Steven Gerrard and other Scottish football managers want tougher punishement for fans
Steven Gerrard and other Scottish football managers called for harsher punishment for misbehaving fans as the prospect of strict liability becomes more real.
Rangers boss Gerrard - whose captain James Tavernier was confronted by a Hibernian fan on Friday night - fears a player will be seriously hurt if a string of missile-throwing incidents and pitch invasions is not halted.
Gerrard said: "We are talking about fan behaviour, stuff getting thrown on the pitch, people entering the pitch and striking players, which is a huge concern. For the image of the game, it's not right at all.
"Fans have to take responsibility and think before they do these type of things, because if it continues someone is going to get hurt and hurt badly, and no-one wants it to get to that stage."
When asked about strict liability - which would hold clubs liable for their fans' behaviour - Gerrard said: "I don't agree with that. I think that the police should come out and say the next person to enter a pitch without permission, gets a very, very strict sentence in jail. The only way it will stop."
Partick Thistle manager Gary Caldwell was himself targeted with missiles by Hearts fans last week.
Caldwell said: "It is getting ridiculous and the authorities need to make the punishments severe to stop this happening.
"I am looking forward for the fans to be vocal, to be a bit of banter from the fans, but once it crosses a line and it becomes too much and we have to try and get rid of it in football north and south of the border.
"It has become commonplace now, people see it and think 'I will do that as well.'
"Somebody is going to get seriously hurt and then it is going to be too late, so hopefully something gets done before that happens."
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes echoed those views.
"We need to make sure the most severe punishments should be dealt out," he said.
"It is not enough to ban someone or throw them in the cell for the weekend and then they get a six months deferred sentence or whatever it is.
"There has got to be strong leadership otherwise the government will get involved.
"And whether it is going to lead to punishment for clubs - closed doors, deduction of points and all that nonsense. I think we are a long way from that but we are on our way if we don't act now."
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster and a Hibernian fan, raised the prospect of strict liability.
Blackford, the vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Football Group, told Press Association Sport: "We have to accept that we have a real problem in football at the moment and we have to deal with it. There has been a decline in standards that I'm afraid to say can be seen in society in general.
"I was very pleased to hear Hibs chief executive Leean Dempster speak out against what happened at Easter Road on Friday but if football cannot deal with these issues - and we have witnessed an increase in the number of sectarian incidents, too - then we might have to consider fresh legislation.
"We cannot just stand by and not take this seriously. We are talking about player safety here.
"I am old enough to remember non-segregated crowds in Scotland. I remember going to Edinburgh derbies in the 60s with my uncles who supported Hearts. I know why that had to change but there is something very wrong if going to watch football cannot be a safe and joyful occasion for everyone.
"The clubs have to accept responsibility for how fans behave at their games. I know why clubs and the football authorities don't want to do that but it is time to talk about strict liability for clubs. That is how behaviour will improve."
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