The nightmare month of September is almost over with the image of Celtic taking a battering from all angles.
The club that likes to project the image of being one of the best run and most admired in Europe has been shown up and exposed at every turn.
While the August transfer window was shocking there is a small element of requiring others to play ball but it is clear that clubs, players and agents would rather deal with professionally run clubs like Copenhagen and Club Brugge that the bluffers in and around Celtic.
September’s problems have been wholly self inflicted.
THE NIGHTMARE WEEKEND
With the transfer window closed senior figures inside Celtic thought that it would be a wise move to brief someone close to Roger Hannah of The Sun that the problems inside the club were all down to Brendan Rodgers leading with the claim that the manager was trying to engineer his exit.
Rodgers has no need to engineer his exit, his contract expires in June 2026 at which point he will move on. Clearly Celtic have no interest in retaining someone that has ambitions above finishing in front of the 2012 Tribute Act formed by Charles Green.
Following the story in The Sun Celtic opted to come out with a statement to explain to supporters that everyone at the club is working brilliantly but a combination of issues has left the squad much weaker over the last two transfer windows.
For added indulgence they claimed that their plans were being hampered by UEFA Financial Sustainability Regulations! All fans in Scotland know that Celtic are the most compliant club in European football, hundreds of other clubs will be in the firing line before UEFA start to probe into Celtic’s spending levels.
THE OPEN LETTER
With one in-house nightmare following another an open letter led by the Green Brigade suddenly gained momentum, over 400 groups put their name to it with a public meeting held that has quickly evolved into a movement with purpose and direction.
Rather than hoping to tough things out using the same old tired tactics that Iain Jamieson and Sharon Lyons deploy in every situation the club has brought in outside media handlers to combat the impact of the Celtic Fans Collective.
They will have to be really good at their job because the early days suggest that the Collective is a slick and efficient operation, they are running rings round Celtic through effective communications that answers rather than creates questions.
Tonight’s statement from Celtic on the Fairhurst Report answers nothing, it only creates more questions especially the suspicious timing of publication.
PLANTS AND CHEERLEADERS
Getting Charlie Mulgrew and Neil Lennon out to lecture to entitled customers isn’t working, neither was the attempt to split the Collective by inviting certain supporter groups in to see the Fairhurst Report alongside tea and biscuits.
In contrast the messaging from the Collective is working perfectly, they have 20 fan media outlets primed to provide reach.
Releases at 11am, 1pm and 3pm today dominated the agenda, Brendan Rodgers was questioned about it at his lunchtime media conference and admitted that he was unaware of the 12 minute silence for the match against Hibs. Jamieson and Lyons still failing miserably to do the basics of their job.
Of course there is absolutely no need for the current situation at Celtic.
Supporters want to support their club, vocally and financially back the club and see the best possible product on the park.
CULTURE OF CONTEMPT
Unfortunately a culture of contempt has set in over the last decade with the origins in the summer of 2012 when every director at the club became compromised as they trotted out one particular line that was far from truthful.
Since then things have gradually drifted, there was unrest under Ronny Deila and Neil Lennon but a brilliant, forceful and successful manager like Brendan Rodgers or Ange Postecoglou can always bail out the multiple failings of a boardroom completely detached from supporters and modern football.
There is no need for Celtic to being paying out for outside media handlers to try and polish their side of the story through dirty tricks.
The Collective has shown how the power of a unified Celtic support, their volunteers have a wide range of skills on tap for the benefit of the club.
Sunday’s visual protest at Firhill shamed Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay into looking like old fools as they pretended to engage with their phones as the placards were raised calling for their removal.
SILENCE MEETS SILENCE
Celtic are now facing a silent start to their next three home matches, something that could harm the team but not as much as Nicholson’s mission to sell off Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah without bothering about bringing in replacements.
Having dug in so deep with their attitude of complete contempt there is no way out of this for Nicholson, McKay and their mentor Peter Lawwell.
Fresh faces and ideas are the only way forward, if someone inside the club can see that they can turn the Collective into an ally.
If they want to deploy media handlers to try and break the Collective then they’ll be digging an even bigger hole than whoever decided to get in touch with Roger Hannah’s pal at The Sun.
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2 Comments
by Dan
The collective are just another disruptive crew who put themselves before the players on the pitch
Why dont the leaders make themselves known to the public and lead their sheep to demonstrations outside the stadium where it will have no effect on the players on the pitch?
And you wonder why players wont come to play for Celtic when there is a percentage of the fan base who have their own agenda and it is not supporting the bhoys on the park
by Ulyssesgunt
Ok Peter …