By disengaging from their dictated terms and refusing to be pacified by Haughey’s two-hundred-pound-a-head bounty, the support controls the tempo.
Then John Beaton arrives as VAR. McLean cites defenders. Beaton dismisses it — “I know, I know, I know” — before McLean finishes speaking.
On one hand, corporate Celtic is damaging the club from the top down. On the other hand, here’s the smiling photograph while the title race falls apart around them. That’s the optics; that’s the reality.
The man who arrived that October 2003 came from Clydeport. A ports and property company. Before that, Scottish Coal. ICI. Hoffman-La-Roche. Lawwell is an accountant. A capable, driven, intelligent accountant. But an accountant.
We go into Sunday’s game six points behind. Twenty-two games played each. When O’Neill first arrived in October, it was eight points. These aren’t insurmountable gaps. They never were.
And still, their floor has kept them level with Hearts’ ceiling. I am not being arrogant. It’s history, data, and lived reality. Even when Celtic aren’t right, they’re relentless in a way no one else in this league can sustain.
A fan when it’s handy, a fan when it makes him look good, a fan when it protects his little kingdom. But step out of line? Question what he’s saying? Criticize what he’s doing? Suddenly, the fan disappears. And the man, untouchable, remains.
Let’s be absolutely clear: Dermot Desmond is not the owner of Celtic. He’s not the chairman, not the CEO, and not an elected voice of the support. He’s an unelected, unaccountable figure who’s somehow decided that Celtic exists to serve his ego.
Failure born from a decade of short-termism, underinvestment, and a boardroom that treats football as an inconvenience to its balance sheet. This is Celtic.
Later that season, when Celtic won the league, Santa was wheeled out again on trophy day. The crowd laughed, applauded, played along. Harmless fun? Not quite. The joke’s target wasn’t Santa — it was the fans. The message: You booed when told to clap. Now you’ll clap when we tell…