The attacks on Celtic fans were ramped up again by a desperate board of directors at the weekend.
Demonstrating once again that nothing is as important to them as their own salaries, the latest attack came on the eve of our new managers first game.
Surely no manager has had less support at the beginning of their Celtic career as Wilfried Nancy.
CEO Michael Nicholson had already handicapped Nancy by banning the Green Brigade from the Frenchman’s first game.
The negative impact this move has on the match atmosphere matters not a jot to our CEO.
He hired Mark Hargreaves in the summer to achieve this goal.
CELTIC AND SPECIAL PARTNERS
And if that wasn’t enough, the club decided to launch a fresh attack all Celtic fans on Saturday night with some help from their friends at the Sunday Mail and Daily Record.
It was time for another anonymous briefing.
Only this time it wasn’t Brendan Rodgers getting the blame for all the clubs ills.
No, this time the club branded fans who may or may not have put up a poster as “disgusting and cowardly”.
Apparently they felt the poster was “intimidating”.
Even the institutionally racist Police Scotland will struggle to justify battering in the doors of Celtic fans for allegedly putting up a poster.
But then again you never know.
Given the reputation of the Daily Record/Sunday Mail among the Celtic support, this latest attack caused barely a ripple.
CELTIC SOURCES, INSIDERS AND SPOKESMEN
Just like the anonymous briefing against Rodgers to The Sun, it has rightly been viewed as just another sign of desperation from an increasingly rattled board.
The Sunday Mail attack came out just as the Celtic Fans Collective were preparing to assemble at St Mary’s in the Calton to march to Celtic Park.
Just as dozens of members of the Green Brigade were preparing to collect van loads of food for society’s worst off.
Not very intimidating behaviour.
Nicholson and co must have been devastated when they learned that the Collective and the Green Brigade were planning to honour the roots of our club on Sunday.
It makes it all the harder for them to present both groups as scary and intimidating.
CLOSING THE DOOR ON FANS
Last Friday the club withdrew invites to fan media to attend Nancy’s first pre match press conference.
This is no longer a club open to all.
Nancy was not afforded a press conference to introduce him as the new Celtic manager.
Instead he only got a club video showing his arrival at Lennoxtown where he was greeted by a casually dressed Nicholson.
Cue the most awkward hug since Godfather 2 when Michael Corleone hugged Fredo while signalling to Al Neary that he wanted his brother killed.
Nicholson’s presence in a crowded room has been compared to that of a broken plug socket.
No introduction to the fans, no Green Brigade, fan media banned as well, the Sunday Mail attack, the board done everything they could to hinder Nancy for his first game.
COLLECTIVE STRENGTH
Despite this, the Collective march from the Calton was a great success, as was the Green Brigades food drive.
The attempts to paint the Collective as scary and dangerous were again evident on our arrival at the stadium.
Commemorative plaques remembering loved ones were behind security barriers again, no explanation given of course.
Because there is no explanation.
There is no threat and no danger but the club want everyone to think there is.
Nancy would greatly benefit from working with a board of directors that didn’t treat Celtic fans with utter contempt.
He would also be far better off with a Head of Football Operations at the club that could stay awake for an entire game.
Being anointed Dermot Desmond’s favourite lap dog has clearly gone to Tisdale’s head already.
But this is the hand Nancy has been dealt. Despite that us fans, knowing how hated we are in the boardroom, we will back the new manager 100 per cent.
We will give him the support the people who appointed him have not.
Both Nancy and us fans will do all we can to make his appointment a success. Knowing full well we are both handicapped by a board who care for neither of us.
It’s all we can do for now until the board call off the attack hounds and try instead to focus on supporting the first team and us fans for a change.
