Opinion – Nicholson showed Celtic support nothing but contempt

A read through the minutes of Monday night’s meeting in the Jock Stein lounge at between the Celtic Fans Collective and members of the Celtic FC hierarchy, is all that was needed to highlight the contempt the Celtic Board holds us in, not that we didn’t know already.

The meeting in my view turned out to be  nothing more than a mere token gesture, and Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson who was present along with Chief Financial Officer Chris McKay proved just that as he came across as a man who couldn’t care less about the entire debacle currently surrounding our club.

Not only did he insult those present and the majority of the fan base by stating ‘you don’t speak for all supporters’ he also smugly shrugged his shoulders when asked about Brendan’s truthful comments about certain signings being made above his head.

It’s okay Michael.  You could have given a straight answer, it’s not as if we were oblivious to the fact the likes of Kwon, Yang, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Maik Nawrocki, Marco Tilio, Luis Palma, Hayato Inamura, Shin Yamada, Callum Osmand, and Jahmai Simpson – Pusey were all signed without the manager’s approval or latterly outwith his plans for this season.

As for his claim that the supporters groups present at the meeting don’t speak for all supporters, well he’s kidding himself on if he believes that. Yes there are some Celtic supporters who are happy to back the Board and their current policies and that’s their prerogative. However you have to accept that the Celtic Fans Collective speaks for ALL the supporters association,  a huge number of CSCs, the Celtic Trust and the vast majority of Celtic fan media with their combined huge audiences.

The Celtic Fans Collective will meet next week to discuss the way forward following the meeting and it looks like there will be calls for further protests. These will be discussed and agreed democratically. Let’s say one CSC doesn’t agree with the plans but everyone else does, including the Celtic Supporters Association, Affiliation, AICSC and so on. Will Michael Nicholson dismiss these protests too as ‘not all Celtic supporters support your actions’. 

Things have to change at Celtic, this is not a reality that has sunk in quite yet but with the Celtic support determined then the club will ultimate have to yield to the collective will. The longer they fail to see the need for change the higher the cost this process is going to be.

It’s time to ramp up our efforts and let every single one of the Celtic Board know just how strongly the support feels about this.

Supporters talking to them on Monday night won’t be enough for folk like Michael and Chris, who will feel that they have successfully ticked the fan engagement box. Hitting them in the pocket certainly will get their attention.