After Saturday’s 12 minute silence against Hibs the Celtic Fans Collective should be assessing the effectiveness of their action.
At Firhill six days earlier the protests were very visual and effective, unfortunately the action taken against Hibs didn’t have the same impact.
With similar, extended silent protests planned for two more home matches this week it seems like time for a change in direction.
The Collective is a newly formed group, they don’t have any similar experiences to call on, they don’t have a catalogue of fan protests to draw on but three matches after formation it looks like a review is required in tactics deployed.
SUCCESS RATE
Two out of three successes is a good strike rate, far better than Michael Nicholson in the transfer market, admitting that the silence against Hibs wasn’t as impactful as intended would be a strength rather than a weakness.
After basically a month the Collective has made huge strides forward, emphasising the Back The Team aspect will maintain the momentum created with an international break coming up to consider tactics going forward.
The Celtic AGM towards the end of November is a platform that should be targeted, as we know the only strategy that the club deploys is one of silence.
At the AGM there is a 45-60 minute slot to ask questions, Nicholson tends to deflect every question away from himself or alternatively play the ‘Penalty to Rangers’ gag loved by by peers on the podium.
Some well reasoned points can be highlighted around the AGM but as Nicholson and Chris McKay consult their phones a broader campaign needs to evolve.
One fairly easy hit seems to be matchday incomes. Although badly under utilised Celtic do make significant sums on matchdays.
The Kerrydale Suite is open to fans, there is also a Sports Bar as well as the overpriced food outlets that serve up sub-standard food and drink to hit at the tills.
There is also the Windfall Tickets, the matchday programmes and the in-house bookmakers that all rely on income from supporters,
Compiling a list of these, and alternatives would be a quick route towards the only action that gets noticed in the Celtic boardroom, a downturn in income.
IMAGES AND PROJECTION
It won’t be dramatic but it will be more than a stunt. The matchday protests can continue and will continue, so far they have made a great impression, the images of Nicholson and McKay awkwardly looking at their phones was priceless. Premier Sports knew exactly what they were looking for.
The collective is newly formed, democratic and up against a mighty opponent that has taken contempt and arrogance to new levels, outscoring the Kelly’s and White’s of the early nineties.
Over the next two weeks Celtic’s full accounts will be published, shareholders will see how much Nicholson and McKay ‘earned’ during the 24/25 season, the rarely seen Chairman may also have been given a raise on his ceremonial role. Nicholson could have taken out £1m…
The Celtic board will continue scoring own goals, the AGM and another transfer window are looming, on all past form we know that their usual standards will apply.
By standing back from the in stadium silences planned against Braga and Motherwell the Collective can take a huge step forward.
They have the backing of over 400 fan groups and the backing of the vast majority of Celtic fans. No one is on a salary, expenses or using the Collective as an ego trip, they are fans that know that doing nothing is no longer an option.
Retaining that support, carefully selecting their targets will retain that backing and show that the Collective is listening and responsive- two of the many failings of their stale targets in the Grey Brigade.
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1 Comment
by Stevie Bhoy
As we usually lift the roof off stadium when the CL theme starts, why not drown out the Europa League anthem with boo’s and banners. Followed up by chants of Lawwell GTF and sack the board forbthe entire first half then back the team second half