A lot had been made of the meeting that took place on Monday between the Celtic board and the Fans Collective, amid the ongoing dissatisfaction amongst the supporters about how the club has been run in recent times. There is no official word has come out regarding what was discussed during it but that has not stopped whispers and murmurs from doing the rounds.
CEO Michael Nicholson and finance director Chris McKay were set to meet the Celtic Fans Collective on Monday. And with the supporters looking for answers, this was a major step in finding out where things stood.
Unfortunately, it does not look like any of those questions were answered if what we are hearing from multiple outlets this morning is true. Instead, it almost feels like an in-person repetition of the statement that had been put out by the club a few weeks back.
Celtic AM put out a video, sharing a message received regarding what had been said in the meeting. According to that, the board don't accept that the club is not moving forward. they don't accept that the windows in recent years have been a failure, they don't accept that the way they do the transfer business needs to be overhauled, they don't accept that the club lacks ambition, they don't accept that they spend only enough money to win in Scotland and they don't accept that there is a disconnect with the manager.
What the Celtic board said during Monday's fan meeting
Well, it looks like the board spent a few hours not accepting anything, by the sounds of that. Of course, we would like to repeat that no official statement has been put out by the club or the Fans Collective regarding the meeting until now.
But to be very honest, it would not come as a surprise if that is how things did go. That has been the consistent message for several years now, although results on the pitch have suggested otherwise constantly.
When was the last time Celtic managed to get past the Champions League qualifiers? Even worse, when was the last time they showed ambition by spending significantly to make sure that they did get past the qualifiers?
The recent fan dissatisfaction has not cropped up out of nowhere. It is not a result of what happened just this summer. It has been brewing underneath the surface for a long time now. Automatic qualification for the Champions League for three straight years might have pushed it back but the cracks were always present.