It’s always been true that the easiest thing in Scottish football for anyone to do and get away is criticising Celtic fans.
It’s easy. It’s a cheap shot which gets headlines and makes a lot of people feel morally superior, no matter what the context is.
One of the snarks we often have to endure is this one about “faithful through and through” and how we can’t really be that if we’re moaning. We’re told that the “best fans in the world” status does not apply if we criticise the way the club is run.
It’s as if loyalty and passion and commitment to our club has to come with lobotomy scars. Where does it say that you can’t be fully invested if you can see where things are wrong, and where problems have arisen?
I think that’s the proof that you are invested, and being willing to do something and say something about it is the proof that you are committed too.
Celtic fans care about their club. They care about its future.
There isn’t a single one of us with any goal other than the wellbeing of Celtic.
Nobody can argue, successfully, that the current state of affairs at Celtic is good, or that we are run by people who are not arrogant and out of touch.
Yes, we’ve been very successful on the pitch but we should have built something to last, not something that has fallen apart in the space of a campaign. If we were run by the geniuses some people think we would not be facing a summer of chaos and uncertainty.
There are those both inside and outside of our support who seem to think that our role is to be unquestioning cheerleaders, whatever the circumstances.
What a ridiculous idea.
I know of one club whose fans behaved exactly like that … they follow a different club now because of it.
Unquestioning blind loyalty leads to disaster.
It encourages bad leadership.
So the next time someone sneers at you because you dare to voice criticism, remind them that this is how healthy institutions work.
Faithful through and through is not a suicide pact.
It is about standing by the institution in the hard times, not tolerating incompetence from its leaders or allowing it to slip into crisis.
We are the best fans in the world because we care.
And because we care, we complain.
We want Celtic to be at its very best, not this pale imitation which has limped its way through this awful campaign.