Brendan Rodgers didn’t miss his target at today’s press conference.
In front of the cameras for the first time since the transfer window closed, there was one issue everyone wanted addressed – last week’s anonymous attack on the manager from somewhere on high at the club.
“Cowardly action” was how Rodgers described the below the belt dig that appeared last Saturday in the Sun, the newspaper almost universally despised among football fans, especially those with Liverpool connections.
He then went on to mention his strong relationship with Michael Nicholson and Dermot Desmond and also mentioned Chris McKay. The Chief Financial Officer at any club isn’t normally name checked in a press conference.
That left only one person in a position of power at the club unnamed. Very telling.
Brendan Rodgers is very skilled in his dealing with the media. He almost never says something he shouldn’t, or leave anything out by accident.
On Sunday’s 12th man protest Rodgers said: “The support has the passion and the commitment and the drive and that’s what keeps us honest as a team and as a club because expectation us every day is to come in here and to improve and get better.”
For the fans however, this changes very little.
The call has already gone out for the removal of Nicholson, Lawwell and Desmond – regardless of whether or not Brendan Rodgers has a good working relationship with either of them.
The leak to the Sun just demonstrates how dysfunctional the club really is and that is exactly why so many fans have come together to demand change.
The clubs many failings pre-date Rodgers’ arrival and will continue afterwards unless there is a clear out at the very top of the club.
We now have the farcical situation where tens of thousands of fans have come together to ask for the removal of Desmond, Nicholson and Lawwell while our manager is calling whoever leaked to the Sun a coward.
And the “Anonymous Source” is undercutting the manager.
Soap opera stuff at the very highest level of the club – enough is enough, they all have to go.
Quite how the “Anonymous Source” can look himself in the mirror and think he’s making a positive contribution to Celtic is baffling.
The 12th man protest on Sunday was raised with Callum McGregor today.
“I understand the frustrations and the plans, which is fine, everybody has got their own opinion and their voice and that’s absolutely fine by me”, the captain said.
“I can understand it, its the supporters that make the club what it is, its so special it’s synonymous with the support that they back the team, they’re putting their hard earned money into the club so of course I understand it, they want to see the best possible team on the pitch.”
Recognition of the fans contribution from the team captain is welcome, we know nobody else at the club will acknowledge us.
And so with the media sideshow over, its on to Sunday and the beginning of the campaign to get this whole mess cleared up, hopefully on the back of three points on the road.
Hopefully most fans with a ticket for Sunday will support the action that has been called for by tens of thousands of Celtic fans.
The 12th man message has gone out and has spread amongst the support, there can’t be a match attending supporter who isn’t aware of what’s planned on Sunday.
This is a fan movement.
We don’t need the endorsement or backing of anyone to move forward, we haven’t needed any publicity from the mainstream media to spread the word.
We have our own agenda, our own media and our own mechanism for deciding how best to move forward.
The need for unity is key, we know there are people just waiting and hoping for division amongst the Celtic support, the usual suspects.
Everyone should respect the choices all fans make at Rugby Park on Sunday.
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