Last night, Celtic published the final results of the voting at the AGM yesterday and what it shows looks, on the surface of it, like a landslide victory in all cases for the board.
Actually, it’s a tainted triumph rammed through by a handful of shareholders who control our club for the benefit of God knows who. Certainly not the supporters.
This saddens me. It saddens me because this trashes the legacy of one of the best men in the history of our club. It is a repudiation of his stated intention that no individual or small group of them would ever control the destiny of Celtic again.
Fergus McCann did not want this for us. He fought to grab this club out of the hands of old, tired men who lacked strategic vision. He did not do it so that we could be here, back where we were before his arrival, with the fans shut out and their will ignored.
And it’s worse than it seems at first, because Desmond is on the record saying that he wants to hand over his shareholding to his children; we are back in the days of the Kelly’s and White’s here, except that they live in Ireland and only deign to set foot here once in a blue moon. That’s a shocking thing to ask Celtic fans to accept.
Is this really our future? To have some Irish dynasty run us from afar, offering no leadership or expertise but hand-picking paid toadies to make all the decisions on their behalf? In some ways that is worse than what we had before; at least the White’s and Kelly’s were here, and they were at Parkhead every day and attended every match.
They had very real skin in the game.
Would Desmond even miss the money he’s sunk into Celtic? It’s chump change to this guy, and yet he pulls the boardroom every which way as a consequence of having his shares.
And this is meant to go on and on.
We have perhaps the most out of touch chairman in the history of the club, still in office by the votes of a man who can’t even be bothered to attend the meetings and a faceless band of others who hide behind a corporate shell.
It is unconscionable.
Fergus must be horrified watching this.
His greatest wish for us was that the fans would be in control of Celtic forever.
He must be appalled by how we’ve ended up here.
In no way is the current situation worse than THE CELTIC FOOTBALL AND ATHLETIC COMPANY LIMITED, 12 Apr 1897 – 15 Dec 1994. Those were the days when the ground would be packed and the official attendance was 29,000. The days of Terry Cassidy whose great vision was to flatten Celtic Park and have us move to a toxic wasteland in Cambuslang (people from Rutherglen insert your own joke here). The days when the big investment during the close season was painting the stairs or a new pie stall in the “Rangers” end. The days of Jack McGinn (say no more).
I said it in the comments section on yesterday’s piece (Our Sneering Rivals Have Failed To Understand That Celtic Fans Care For This Club) which seemed to be informing us that yesterday’s “disturbance” was like some massive shot across the bows of the Directorship. It was nothing of the sort. I would care to bet on whether Dermot Desmond was even made aware of this minor skirmish.
The ONLY way to make these people pay attention is to hurt them in the pocket. The chances of that happening are basically zero as there are way too many Celtic fans to replace any “malcontents” (a Jack McGinn blast from the past in his days as Celtic chairman).
You either like it or lump it. Or form a new team in protest just like Man Utd fans did. Or turn up wearing original pre Hoops kit as a means of protest. Not that the board would care. It’s their baw, you either play by their rules or get yer ain baw.
Roonsa ,you hit the nail bang on the head there, unfortunately, you are right nothing will change as long as Celtic is owned by these majority shareholders.
We don’t tolerate the current leadership but there’s bugger-all we can do, and it would be the same with a Fergus-type in charge. Our opinions don’t matter, just our cash, and as long as there’s enough fans who only care about results on the pitch our voices would be just as ignored as they are now!
It’s “Movember” but there’s one moustache I’d like to see removed….
The situation requires a change in Constitution whereby the largest shareholder may only have 33%. This doesn’t seem likely but, if possible, it is something to work towards.
‘We have perhaps the most out of touch chairman in the history of the club, still in office by the votes of a man who can’t even be bothered to attend the meetings and a faceless band of others who hide behind a corporate shell.’
agree board are out a touch but showing age if think that worse board we have had
I just wish that people who claim to be Celtic supporters would have some respect for those who are presently the major shareholders and management of the club.
Disagreeing with a person, group or management body does not give anyone the right to denigrate those of that grouping doing what they perceive to be in the best interests of Celtic Football Club.
Criticism, yes, but the venom of some of those, against people who are obliged to respond on behalf of the club in a measured fashion, is to myself insufferable.
I’m not in the owning or managing groupings that I mention but I gave my vote to the board because I believe that the best interests of Celtic are different from that which the zealots and anoraks perceive it to be.
In essence, like the overwhelming majority of Celtic supporters – and believe you me, that is what we are – this obsession with conspiracy theories and wrongs to be righted are of no interest whatsoever. Zilch. History is just that and dragging things on to re-write it is futile.
The team doing well on the park is the be all and end all. Playing well, providing entertainment and winning games of football is all that concerns the vast majority of supporters, whom I believe think like myself.
Purists, fundamentalists and those of principles – take a hike. Why don’t you try to discover the joy of supporting the CELTIC FOOTBALL TEAM on the park and let those performances be the topic of your conversations.
You never know, you might even become an asset to the club, instead of part of the baggage that weighs it down.
We’ll have respect for them when they have respect for us. It’s just that simple.
On top of that, your comment is essentially nonsensical and utterly gutless.
I am tired of people like you – cowards like you – telling the rest of us that we are focussed on irrevelancies and that all you want to do is “watch the football.” Then go and watch it, but stop pretending that you put Celtic first because nobody who puts Celtic first should be content to see this club exist in the environment that it does.
The problem we have with the “history” is those who deny it and lie about it. You would rather live in shit than work a shovel; that’s entirely your own affair. Do not criticise those of us who want to clean up the mess.
You leave the real work to those of us with the stomach for it. You can bitch from the sidelines – that is your right – but don’t tell me that “faithful through and through” makes you a better supporter than me. I give more to this club than you can ever fathom. My refusal to sit down, shut up and enjoy the show is all the evidence of it I need to produce.