On Sunday afternoon, I was still recovering from a bout of flu when a guy from the supporter’s bus popped down to mine to share some interesting news.
He had attended a meeting of delegates of the Celtic Supporters Association and there, at the top table, was the Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson.
Aside from some low-key sits down with members of their executive and a few tea-and-biscuits sessions with the Celtic Fans Forum this is his first proper encounter with the rank and file of our support. All told it went well.
I wish I could tell you that earth-shattering motions were debated and that big things were discussed. If you’re a member of a supporter’s bus – as I am – you’d have been encouraged by updates on the bus park situation and the traffic flow around Parkhead.
If you want to know what our policy on the media is, Nicholson repeated the age old nonsense about how we do things behind the scenes in a non-public way.
So nothing that many fans would regard as substantial. And yet …
The fact that the man turned up at all was substantial.
The fact that he’s come forward and put himself in front of fan reps, no matter how taken by surprise and thus unprepared they were, feels like a significant shift in policy. And it’s a positive one.
The longer he’s in the job, and we see that things are being done differently at Celtic, the more I wonder if perhaps his low-key approach is not actually perfect at the present time.
It does seem as if we’re using our influence at the SPFL in a better way, and letting Ange effectively act as the front man of the club is genius. The system is working.
Still, it is great to hear that he is getting out and meeting more of the fans.
I hope that he keeps on doing so, and that the Association publicises his attendance in advance as I have no doubt people would have come with questions had they known he’d be there.
What’s more impressive again is that the Celtic Fans Forum had a meeting with him yesterday and the rough minutes of that have been published here for anyone who wants to see them.
This is positive. I hope that it’s the beginning of some further engagement, and not just a one off. This is the way to handle real outreach with the fan base.
I’ve had dealings with Michael Nicholson since 2013 on Res12 and can separate the man from the responsibilities he carried as Company Secretary
A good man who wants better relationships with the support.
There is a bit of a way to go to build mechanisms that make the process smoother, the up coming survey being a move in that direction and face to face meetings help build trust.
With regard to under the radar approach Michael Nicholson as CEO stated in the latest financial report that Celtic worked closely with UEFA on the new Financial Sustainability Regulations.
One of which makes a repeat of the UEFA Licence 2011 deception nigh impossible helped by evidence of corruption provided by Celtic shareholders to UEFA and Celtic under Res12.
Better than that is the new regs limiting spend on playing squad to a reducing % of football earnings.
This makes unsustainable spending transparent which stops the reckless spend policy of Rangers that creates a moral hazard for Scottish football.
That could be a game changer and credit to Celtic for their work on it via UEFA as SFA/SPFL had no stomach for it.