DUNDEE, SCOTLAND - APRIL 05: Celtic fans with banners against the board during a William Hill Premiership match between Dundee and Celtic at Dens Park, on April 05, in Dundee, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Earlier in the week we got a very good statement from The Celtic Fans Collective about the future of our campaigns
From the formation of the Celtic Fans Collective, some of the commentary around them has been witless rubbish pushed by people who do not have a clue what they are talking about or who, for whatever reason, are seeking to mislead others.
These are people who, for all the wrong reasons, want to stand on top of the dung heap and crow about how superior they are to their fellow Celtic supporters. I’ve said already, on the podcast and in print, that some of these people have fundamentally changed my relationship with this club, because I do not feel any kinship with them at all.
The conduct of some of these people is embarrassing, and it continues to be embarrassing. I read commentary on Facebook the other day suggesting that we should be grateful to Brian Wilson for the return of the Green Brigade.
What absolute garbage that is.
We should be grateful to Brian Wilson only on the day he finally removes himself from this club. Since becoming chairman, Brian Wilson’s method has been to obfuscate, deflect, mislead and, at times, outright lie to Celtic supporters. His talk of bringing people together has actually masked divisive tactics which would be lamentable in any setting.
The Green Brigade situation was heading for a resolution from the moment Wilson publicly blamed the Safety Advisory Group and Police Scotland for blocking the organisation’s return to Celtic Park. As I said in a piece earlier this week, that was one of the stupidest acts of self-harm we have seen in the course of all this, and that is saying something.
There are records. Some of those records are already being sought.
Freedom of Information requests are already in place. We were already progressing down the road of getting to the truth. Faced with the fact that the truth was going to come out, what choice did the club really have?
The people who are constantly taking the side of the board should understand that their stance is undercut by every bit of available evidence.
Moreover, the hatred some of them have poured on the Collective, its members and its supporters mark them down as every bit as reactionary and entitled as the fans across the city we spend so much time criticising and laughing at.
I’m not talking here about people who simply disagree with the objectives of the Collective. I’m talking about the sort of people who are so sure of their own moral superiority over other fans that they question the loyalty and commitment of fellow Celtic supporters because they have chosen to stand up in defence of the club.
The Collective has been vindicated. Its strategy has been vindicated. Its commitment to Celtic and to the betterment of Celtic has never been better demonstrated than in its decision to suspend its campaigning until the resolution of this league season.
When the chips are down, when the need is greatest, and when it is clear that this race is going to go to the wire, they have cut back on the criticism, cut back on the action, and now formally acted to suspend it entirely until the outcome of the title race is known.
They have put the players and the manager first in the public way this moment requires, and that sums up everything they are about.
From the start, they have always made a clear distinction between backing the team and criticising the board for the good of the club itself.
They have declared a general armistice which allows us to go forward looking unified, even if it is clear that we are not, even if major issues remain unresolved, and even if serious problems still need to be rectified. A lot of people at this club now have a very clear choice to make about what they are willing to do for the greater good of Celtic.
But the fact that the Collective has taken a decision on behalf of that greater good is not even up for debate. That shows the calibre of people they are. They are true defenders of Celtic. They are true patriots in that sense of Celtic, committed above all else to seeing this club become the best version of itself.
As far as I’m concerned, having worked with them and having got to know a lot of the executive leadership of the Collective and the guys on the steering group, I can tell you that they are among the best Celtic fans I know, the most passionate Celtic fans I have met, and the most committed Celtic fans I have encountered.
Because of the respect I have for them, I’m going to be blunt. I do not even particularly agree with this decision. If it was up to me, these last four home games would see the purest expressions of our opposition to these people remaining in post that we could muster, because they are the last chance prior to the summer. I do not believe that would necessarily detract from supporting the team.
But I know this decision has been taken with the best interests of Celtic at heart and with the best of intentions at its core. That is why I will support it, in spite of my misgivings, because I know it is rooted in that motivation.
I’m grateful for this moment. I’m grateful to be part of this movement and to many of the people involved, and grateful to have had the chance to get to know them and work with them at this critical time.
With this gesture, they have reminded those who might have forgotten that this is a common endeavour, not just within the Collective but within the broader Celtic support itself. Our intention right from the start has been the betterment and wellbeing of the club, and no one’s interests are served by the loss of this title.
There is no Celtic supporter anywhere who wants that outcome, who desires that outcome, who is in favour of that outcome, or whose goals are aligned with that outcome.
For the next few weeks at least, there will be no disputing that we are all pulling in the same direction. I would suggest that those who have been critical of the Collective take the time to think and reconsider their view on why it exists at all, because then it ought to be clear that we have all been pulling in that same direction from the start, and that realisation might be very important as we seek to go forward from here.
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Very well said, James.
NOT ANOTHER PENNY.
Not another penny…… but £millions spent on season tickets lol.
Not a single season ticket will be unsold.
The collective , however well intentioned, have achieved very little.
II do question the point of the collective IF they hold an armistice during season ticket renewal time. The long term future of Celtic is far more important than this sole Scottish league title
They know a ST boycott would not be backed.
The scottish cup boycott was poorly supported…around 40 per cent. Far less would support a ST boycott.
The Collective represent the traditional and commited Celtic supporters. Anyone backing this Board must be blind to the mismanagement they have inflicted on the club for around 2 years. If Celtic were a normal business there would have been a clearout from the Board months ago. Any supporters criticising the GB and Collective are helping to cover up the faults of this Board. Up until last summer I tried to give the Board the benefit of the doubt, and firmly believed they would spend the money the supporters had helped them accrue. Then blow the domestic opposition out the water whilst improving in Europe. How wrong was I !!!
They have taken this club down to the level of a mediocre Scottish club, MON and his backroom staff are reduced to playing safety first football, as they don’t seem to have any faith in the ability of this group of players to play any other way.
If Hearts or The Rangers don’t win this League they must really be rotten.
How anyone dares to criticise their fellow Celtic supporters, whilst this board are in place , beats me.
Hey micmac. All scottish clubs are mediocre at best. Probably have been since Aberdeen beat Bayern, Real Madrid and Hamburg and Dundee United reached the last 4 of the european cup.
Still dont see what the collective have achieved mate. Every single season ticket will get sold. I told you this from the beginning, despite the posturing from many on this forum.
Two issues for me here. First for James to claim that the previous Collective actions “in-match” had no impact on the pitch is a nonsense – if it were true why would bringing the GB back for the remainder of the season be expected to generate a positive for the team?
Second, James how do you define “the best Celtic supporters”? Are they who agree with you/the Collective? Do you have any concerns about living in an echo chamber?
I expect more from our Board and I believe our current board is not good enough. Neither was our board in 1986 but I and many thousands of other fans travelled to Love Street more in hope (and faith) than expectation- but always with a view to supporting the team on the pitch.
We have five league games left – 15 points guarantees this league. 13 probably also wins it. But ONE GAME AT A TIME, SUPPORTING OUR PLAYERS ON THE PITCH. Everything else is either just noise or ego.
Portojoe, I doubt if the crowd makes much difference to a professional footballer. It doesnt make much difference when we go to Ibrox and makes little difference when they come here. The GB certainly didnt frightening lowly St. Mirren yesterday or inspire our players to greatness.
I do think the tennis ball protests unsettles the team though as it is them gathering them up and we have lost a fair portion of those games.
Good win win The Green Brigade back Thankfully !