Hopefully meeting is a good start rather than token gesture

Celtic football club has at long last held out an olive branch of sorts to fan organisations by offering an invitation to attend a meeting scheduled for this coming Monday, 6 October, with discussions to be held over ‘ongoing concerns’ about the running of the club.

In conjunction with the Celtic Fans Collective, supporter organisations have gladly accepted the invitation which will include the likes of Michael Nicolson and Chris McKay representing the club as those representing the supporters groups aim to air their concerns over the way the club is being run, specifically around the lack of ambition, the failure to back the manager, the continual Champions League play-off calamities, the state of the stadium and the manager’s contract plus no doubt many other matters.

The news was greeted with great optimism amongst supporter groups with the planned 29 minutes silence at this evenings clash with Braga being postponed as a result. has pointed out something that Brendan Rodgers said to The Celtic Star at his media conference last week about the importance of communication, even if the message is harsh, and he worries that this was a heads up about what to come.

Clearly from his responses at his last two media conferences Brendan has been well aware that these talks were coming. It’s going to be a crucial week for Celtic supporters and with the unity the Celtic Fans collective provides we have a strong and intelligence group who will certainly hold those running the club to account.

We can all agree that last night’s developments and the club’s offer of a meeting  is a welcome move, but it’s only a small step, and the club need to genuinely listen to the supporters concerns in fine detail and take on board our valid concerns.

Personally I, like plenty of other Celtic supporters, have reasonable doubts over whether the board share the same ambition as the supporters, and reckon that this meeting is merely token gesture to appease the supporters amid talks of widespread boycotts. If that is the case it certainly won’t wash and the protests will escalate.

This meeting is a start, but it’s far from over. We do have to hear what the club has to say and review it all collective before any further action if required is agreed upon. The collective power of the Celtic support has never been stronger than it is at the moment and together we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.