KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Celtic fans with a banner protesting against the board during a William Hill Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Celtic at the BBSP Stadium Rugby Park, on September 14, 2025, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
The most famous song ever written about poker is Kenny Rogers’ outstanding masterpiece The Gambler, whose most famous lines lay out the cardinal rule.
If you’re going to be successful at the table, “You’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money while you’re sitting at the table. There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done.”
Know when to hold them. Know when to fold them.
You know what that means? You know what it really means? I play poker in my spare time. It means you don’t let your ego get in the way of your common sense.
Ego has lost more people money at the card table than all the bad hands in the world. This is because a bad hand is only as bad as the money you throw at it. If you have a two and a four, and you’re waiting on the flop before you make up your mind what to do, you may as well be donating money to charity. You don’t chase cards with a hand like that.
You pack it in and you wait for the next one.
And that ancient wisdom that if you can’t spot the sucker at the table, then you are the sucker? That’s just common sense. I wonder if the people involved in this little game of eyeball-to-eyeball with the Green Brigade have spotted the sucker at the table yet. Because it seems to me, they’re as blind to that as they are to many, many things. This is a fight they don’t want and can’t win. All that’s driving it is ego.
The Green Brigade responded last night to Celtic’s statement, and their response said it all. The fan group has tried to negotiate this. They’ve given all sorts of assurances. The Green Brigade have asked for meetings. They asked if they could have a legal representative at the Safety Advisory Group meeting. However, they were told that was not going to happen.
I don’t know whether the club vetoed it or whether the advisory group did. I don’t think either has any just cause for denying that request. It reeks of a predetermined outcome. If you choose not to hear one side in the discussion, you’re making the decision before the meeting even starts. That tells you some people were never interested in discussion in the first place.
The Green Brigade is trying. The Green Brigade continues to try.
Their response yesterday was angry and frustrated. Once again, they repeated that they are willing — indeed eager — to sit and talk to the club and come to a resolution. The club’s own statement says it wants such a resolution.
The Green Brigade has held out its hand.
It is now up to the club to take it. And if the club doesn’t want to take it, then you have to ask what the real agenda is. Because it has nothing to do with supporter safety and nothing to do with damping down anger at Celtic Park.
These people have to get a grip.
If they care about unity — if they care about what’s best for the club — they will talk to the Green Brigade. Going to war with one of the largest fan groups is a disaster in the making for everyone concerned. Nobody wins. This is nuclear brinkmanship. It isn’t even poker; it’s mutually assured destruction.
And there is no way anyone can argue this is in the best interests of Celtic. The Green Brigade has been clear that the allegation they will not follow stadium regulations is absolutely false. If that’s a bluff, then the club should call it and they get what they want. If it’s not a bluff, then the club itself is acting outrageously if it choose not to engage.
The club may think it holds the advantage here, but the song says you never count your money while you’re sitting at the table.
That literally means you don’t start thinking it’s over until the game is actually won. And this one hasn’t even started yet. The club holds a lot less than it thinks it does. It has fewer cards than it imagines.
It’s not just the Green Brigade the club will be declaring war on here — it’s the support as a whole. And there’s only going to be one winner in that.
They may win a short-term victory over the Green Brigade and get the fleeting satisfaction of seeing that end emptied. However, there is no positive outcome here.
Right from the start of the Collective, one thing has been clear: only one side was interested in positive dialogue, and it wasn’t the club. When the club appeared to offer an olive branch, the Collective cancelled its planned protest and went to the meeting — only to be subjected to contemptible behaviour.
Since then, things at Celtic have only gotten worse. Now, the board is trying to use a good man as a human shield. With Martin O’Neill in the dugout, they drag their feet on hiring a new manager.
Friday’s AGM looks like it will be an explosive affair. Every moment we spend on issues like this is a moment the club isn’t spending on other important matters.
The club appears determined to push this all the way to the line. The only question is whether they are reckless enough to go over that line and see how the fans respond. That is a Year Zero moment from which there will be no coming back, and it is horrendous that we have landed in this spot.
The Green Brigade has done its best. It continues to hold out its hand for the club to take. It continues to ask for talks to sort this out. The club appears hell-bent on a completely different course of action. We can only hope that sanity is going to prevail. But I have to be honest: at this point, I have my doubts.
The last meeting between the collective and the board was a con job from the board and DD . DD was in Scotland, St Andrews,Carnoustie and kings barns over that weekend was there a possibility of a protest or something unsavoury at one of these golfing venues ( high possibility) that’s why the con job meeting was arranged for the Monday after as no embarrassing issues for DD on the golf course . ie white sheet with his face on it red line and all.
I don’t always agree with the Green Brigade, particularly when it comes to the use of pyro at games, but, in this case, they are 100% the ones in the right. If anyone in the support doesn’t realise that this is an attempt to weaken the Collective, they’re obviously tapping into the same deludamol that the fans across the city have been mainlining for the last decade.
I sincerely hope the board get an absolute roasting tomorrow, but I don’t have much hope of them actually being booted from their posts, despite that being the single most urgent issue facing our club
You are right to say the club sticking by the decision brings no positive outcome but the one thing you don’t address is this board couldn’t give two tosses about what any fan or fan group thinks.
As bjm says, the meeting with CFC looks to have been a ploy to quell the ire while DD toured Scotland.
I’m not a big fan of the GB but appreciate they bring the noise.
One thing I would say is you say the GB have said they will adhere to stadium policies but they have on countless occasions used pyro, smoke bombs & sang pro IRA songs. Now to be honest none of that bothers me at all. I think the pyro adds to the atmosphere & I enjoy a good rebel song. (folk who know my views on other things might be baffled by that). But they are at the end of the day all breaching stadium guidelines.
It’s like if Ibrox came out to tell the Union Brats not to sing there hateful songs. Would anyone believe them if they just said ok yes we’ll do whatever you say?
Not a chance! The GB through countless decisions to do their own thing despite instructions / recommendations or requests from the club have likely used up any goodwill they had. This isn’t the Gambler it’s the bhoys who cried wolf.
What we do know though is this board don’t have any backbone & so this will all fall away again once the suspension is over.
If they are trying to break the collective which seems to be the plan, I don’t see it working at all but this does raise the point that banners need to be up all round the stadium. Instead of hanging which supporters bus you are on. Hang sack the board or DD out banners. When it’s all round the stadium it becomes far clearer that the GB is only a part of this & not the leaders.
But as I say the GB put the marker on their backs with their previous decisions to ignore club requests / advisements. They cannot be surprised that a suspension was implemented with the hours of video evidence of them breaching stadium guidelines. They don’t have a leg to stand on. Actions have consequences & you can’t spit the dummy when the consequences come knocking.
This goes for the board too, ineptitude in your role will see you gone!
You seem unaware of what the word rebel means.The Green Brigade are the beating rebel heart of Celtic from its songs to its charity work in Scotland and in Palestine.It brings the colour,the ethical messages that fight against oppression and for the oppressed and stands unashamedly for the proud and brave Republican movement who took on the biggest empire in history and won.
The Green Brigade ARE Celtic, to fans of other clubs all over the world.
They represent anti- fascism to anti- fascist fans worldwide.
They support the weakest,poorest and most oppressed.
They bring the fighting rebel spirit against colonialism and keep alive it’s memory.
They are the public face of Celtic and THE reason thousands, nay millions of people worldwide want to side with us.
Because they fight against all oppression in this world and oppressed people love that.And are drawn to that.
Remove the Green Brigade and you kill all of that for millions of oppressed people worldwide and ruin our image.
I didn’t state at any point what a rebel is or isn’t.
I simply said I don’t mind rebel songs… jumped there pal.
As for the GB being Celtic. Not in a million years do the GB represent my Celtic.
They are trouble as simple as that. THey support a terrorist organisation using innocent people as human shields.
I’m not even getting into that. That’s opinions & it will never be agreed upon because it’s all about who wants to go further back in history.
What the GB do for charity is hugely commendable but Celtic as a football club should not be supporting political causes. Supporter groups want to do it then fine but that expectation should not be on the club.
If Celtic are literally reduced to being considered the Green Brigade then even more so they need to hold themselves to a higher standard because they are supposedly representing 1000k plus fans when there is about 1000 of them…
I would be pretty confident that what the GB have done for the oppressed & the allegedly oppressed is pretty minimal in the grand scheme. Flying banners at games that are watched by Celtic fans (who you say they represent entirely) so they already know the message. Then to the people who watch highlights on BBC or wherever who again are probably also Celtic fans fairly reaching a new audience with their message.
Celtic is massive. We are a global club. Things like the GB are not global. They have a reputation amongst football ultras & fans but I’ve never heard a single opposition fan give them anything other than contempt for their actions beyond making a good noise.
To Sophie – I never said regulations. It’s likely a stadium policy based on the club statements that Pro-Ira songs are not welcome at Celtic Park & condemned those who sing those.
‘I’ve never heard a single opposition fan give them anything other than contempt for their actions’
Is your dislike of Celtic Fans driving you to deliberately lie or don’t you pay attention to what opposition fans say about Celtic fans,even recently?
Here’s an example spread all over the world,as was the Green Brigade’s campaign.
https://www.celticway.co.uk/news/24952225.galatasaray-banner-thanks-celtic-group-support-palestine/
Yeah that’s just daft wee neds that do that eh Jay ?
And daft wee neds who create charity drives every year eh Jay ?
Ps. You want to speak of atrocities?The ‘terrorists’ you mention freed Ireland for the first time in 300 years from British occupation which included the genocide of children,women and men in the 1850s.
The affects of which are still evident today as Ireland is the only nation with less population than it had in 1850.
Not really a football related approval though is it. It’s a pat on the back for having the same political views as each other. I assume there are plenty clubs who could post banners calling us the scum of the earth for the political views.
But fair play it’s approval none the less.
Also you won’t find the word Ned anywhere in my posts. That was someone else.
I also don’t hate Celtic fans. I’m just not a fan of some of the stances the GB have taken & as I said they aren’t an innocent group that have never done wrong. So they can’t play the victim here but I will give them credit that they are trying to have progressive discussions with the club but you can’t blame the club if they are too late. The GB have taken liberties for years it’s a fact. Now the club are pushing back they want to make peace but do you think it will really go on with no controversy beyond this.
How long before the club consider them to have stepped out of line again.
It’s ok, all your Palestine mates will be over soon enough to boost the population of Ireland. See how much you support them & their beliefs when sharia law takes over.
Final point, I commended the GB for their charity work & I would never knock anyone for doing such but that doesn’t make them angles does it Volp?
They still set off pyro don’t they volp?
Members had altercations with stewards in the stadium didn’t they Volp?
But they do charity so lay off them right Volp?
Or maybe look at it outwith football & see them for what they are when they are in their group.
A bunch of NEDs who allow mob rule to run them. Go watch Derren Browns special on how people act in mobs. You’d maybe see that individually they aren’t bad but the mantra of the GB ultras blinds them in their wee group
What regulations are in place to stop singing rebel songs ??
Whit?
None.
Who said their was ?
No one.
So what are you on about?
I wrote of some of what the Green Brigade do and represent which would be gone if this anti- Celtic board ban the Green Brigade for good.
Delusional hogwash, Volp. You are insulting Celtic fans everywhere if you think the GB are Celtic. The levels of ignorance displayed by this group are a source of embarrassment.
Mate i have something in my golf bag that might get rid of that knot
What ignorance would that be ?
What is ‘delusional’ or ‘hogwash’ from what I wrote?
Let’s start this discussion now
100% agree Jay.
The club are trying to divide the support, nothing will change til lawwell and Co are gone. Good old divide and conquer
BR asked for a meeting to thrash out a future for club,manager and board result he was bulleted out of his job.
GB need be careful asking for a meeting with these charlatans
The Green Brigade are the sons and daughters of The Jungle, which I remember vividly in the 70s 80s and anyone who messes with that is not a representative of Celtic but some corporate clown who thinks they are better than us punters.
Aye kill the pyro for health reasons and they’ve complied with that but that’s it.
Hands off the Green Brigade !
Was part of the jungle. Works for me volp
What school did liewell and the lawyer go?
It didn’t start with St. That’s for sure!
Neither of them are tims!
Never in a million years!
Are you implying that no-one that isn’t Catholic should have any association with Celtic? That strikes me as a bit backward.
@ Mk67, Who gives a damn what School they went too? That’ sort of question is more suited Ibrox!!!
Hear Hear.
Memories from the jungle at the halfway line.
Cunts pissing intae beer cans, missing and pissing down the back of supporter’s legs .
I always joined in , singing the rebs songs
I was home on leave and wearing my camo jacket and one wee twat said, look, he’s a brit. Mibbees it was the short hair that gave me away.
I turned to challenge him and he shat it , my old man laughed so hard,
Always have good memories of the jungle. Never wore my camo gear after that
I think the board have fucked up on the GB, they bring life to stadium, the noise, the colour, the fantastic tifo’s.
But, if individuals, attack stewards and the cops then the individual should be prosecuted, there are enough cameras to assist in identifying said individuals.
Just saying, as my old ma used to say, if you fly wae the craws, ye git shot was the craws
At the end of the day the Green Brigade are entitled NEDS who are more interested in posturing as IRA rebels than supporting Celtic.
Let’s be clear their actions alone have hurt Celtic and damaged our reputation ,repeatedly.
They don’t want Stewards, or Police in their area.
So how do you manage , control the MOB because thats how exactly how they reacted at the latest incident …MOB rule. Just let me wear my mask and I’m invisible and can do what we like.
I would restrict access , reduce the numbers in that area make it more manageable and visible. Let’s not kid ourselves it’s a magnet for the worst elements of our support that just want to cause mayhem ..
Rebels my arse !!!
100% JohnC well said.
Divide and Conquer – It’s the fuckin Brit way and Brit loving policy innit…
All Brit Butchers Apron loving bastards on the board – Wilson the token Brit Loving Butchers Apron loving bastard as well…
Their policy is beautifully coming home to roost as it stands for sure…
Tomorrow will be interesting – Very fuckin interesting me thinks !
Edit – All TORY Brit Butchers Apron loving bastards on the board – Wilson the token Brit Loving LABOUR Butchers Apron loving bastard as well…
Lol, the GB are a bunch of lawless bullies who should’ve been banned years ago. Celtic fc are a sports team for sports fans, not some crazy political organization. The GB don’t follow rules and laws, causing the team penalties and peaceful supporters grief. Kick ’em out and leave ’em out. Most people are sick of these assholes and just want to watch their team in peace.