“Celtic supporters want to be proud of their Club. That’s all they want. It is what they deserve,” Fergus McCann.
It’s got the feeling of a new era beginning at Celtic together. In a few hours from now new manager Ange Postecoglou will meet both the mainstream media and the fan media alongside the club’s new CEO Dom McKay at Celtic Park.
A few hours later the season ticket deadline for the new season will pass and we’ll get to know how many season ticket holders from last season have decided not to renew. Ticket sales had been sluggish as you’d expect given the delay in replacing Neil Lennon as manager and all that went on last season, no need to cover that again as we’ve all probably suffered enough.
Eddie Howe deciding against taking up the challenge of managing one of the biggest football clubs in World football added further delay but that decision perhaps gave an insight into his strength of character – or lack of it – that suggests we had a luck escape.
The decision to widen our horizons way beyond the cash-corrupted English Premier League was sensible and the appointment of Ange Postecoglou has slowly but surely got the support cautiously excited. The Australian shouldn’t regard that as a criticism of himself personally, but if he’s going to be a successful Celtic manager he’s going to already have a decent understanding of the problems that built up at Celtic over time that all came to the boil last season when the club hit turbulence much worse than anything he’d have experienced flying into London from Japan.
Postecoglou needs time but his job will be made so much easier if he can hit the ground running. He’ll need the support behind him and the CEO backing him in his decisions over the coming weeks and months as he re-shapes the Celtic side, while clearing out those who don’t want to play for Celtic.
There will also be players that don’t fit into his plans or are deemed by the new manager not to be up to scratch and again they must be moved on.
Dom McKay taking over from Peter Lawwell is another sign that there’s a new era kicking off at Celtic and he’s going to be doing things differently. His way, not Lawwell’s. Today when both men meet the Celtic fan media – including The Celtic Star – they will face questions from supporters and for supporters, thus getting closer to the fans than at any time in the previous era.
Neither Neil Lennon nor Peter Lawwell ever did what Postecoglou and McKay will do today.
It’s also a big day for the fan media itself. There’s no collective agenda or voice from this group, all we have in common is we’re Celtic fans. Someone once said to me if you put two Celtic fans in a room to talk about the club you’d have an argument with at least three different opinions and that’s just about sums it up. But collectively the Celtic fan media today must represent the support and ask the questions that need answered, not snide questions like we sometime hear from the hacks but nevertheless unafraid to seek the answers that the fans deserved and have been denied.
Hopefully the correct balance is achieved and it something that can continue on an ongoing basis in good times and bad with no barriers ever again being erected between the club and the Celtic support.
Have you renewed? Many are still probably undecided even as today’s 5pm deadline approaches. Celtic have said there won’t be an extension this year, as circumstances have delayed the entire process anyway, so those on the waiting list will get their chance while others who have renewed will be looking to relocate to get a better seat.
The history books will eventually tell us that Celtic were one game away from winning Ten-in-a-Row. Had we won this game then Celtic would have been Champions and the ten would have been ours. Watch for yourselves…
Still over the last decade we have won 9 from 10 titles and have one truly memorable season – the best since Lisbon – and one terrible year – the worst since probably 1977-78 when we failed to cope with losing Kenny Dalglish.
We failed to develop as a club with genuine European pedigree over the last decade, with one or two honourable and memorable exceptions but that has been in retrospect a bigger disappointment than losing just one title. It’s Glasgow though and we all know what it means. Rather than them being honest with themselves and celebrating Stopping the Ten as we did in 1998, they opted for their big 55 lie, something many fans reckon Celtic are complicit in. That though is down to Peter Lawwell and not Dom McKay and he’ll have to be judged on his own decisions, actions and outcomes.
Whatever we say about theRangers support, their bile, bigotry, racism, aggression, hatred, their failure to save their old club when it hit the buffers and went out of business, there is no doubt that since Charles Green got his show on the road those supporters have shown remarkable loyalty to back the new club through the lower divisions, numerous hammering from Celtic when they made it into the top division and through a decade with no major trophy wins at all.
Last summer Celtic sold 60,000 season tickets despite there being no guarantee that we’d see any games but they sold 40,000 too. Given our success one the past decide and their troubles then it has to be said that their numbers were just as impressive as Celtic’s.
“Over the four years we have made massive progress: winning the League Championship (97/98); building the largest club stadium in the UK (60,000 seats); having the largest support (52,000 season book holders) of any club in Britain. This has been achieved by everyone who cares about Celtic working together towards a shared vision of football success and pride in a club which is part of our culture, open to all and a responsible member of the community working to help others where it can,” Fergus McCann
Fergus McCann created a strategic advantage when he insisted on a 60,000 all-seater stadium sold via season books. Provided he could sell the ticket there was little that David Murray could do about it, other than spend other people’s money before escaping the sinking ship like the rat he is.
“It would’ve cost less, and left the previous owners with nothing, to go into liquidation. But it would also be humiliating for Celtic. So we paid all the bills. Celtic means the same to me as it does to other fans. I identify with the club and wish to be proud of it,” Fergus McCann
We’re about to find out if because of one dreadful, Covid influenced season – one were the likes of Juventus, PSG, Barcelona, Real Madrid and a fine Liverpool side all joined Celtic in failing to win their leagues – that strategic advantage is to be surrendered by the Celtic support.
Yet those who don’t renew won’t stop being Celtic Supporters. It’s not that easy. Like changing your mobile phone or broadband provider because of poor reception. You simply change and never look back. You can’t do that with Celtic, it’s in your blood, it’s with you forever folks.
I renewed my two tickets this week. I normally do so just before the deadline and never considered abstaining due to any of the factors we all know about, but was determined to be involved in the fight for change. The boardroom needs fishing up, too many have been there way too long. Many reckon that the only way to make these changes happen is through withholding funds, and that is a valid position for those at the end of their tether.
However I’d rather give McKay the chance to ‘surprise and delight’ the Celtic support, I’d rather be back at Paradise with 60,000 fellow Celtic Supporters early in the new season cheering on a group of player selected by Ange Postecoglou all of whom want to play for our club. I’d hate for the support to tie one arm behind Ange’s back when we could instead see the best from him straight away.
And I’d rather not pass our strategic advantage across the city to perhaps give them a lifeline that they certainly don’t deserve. But you need to make your own decision.
