LIVINGSTON, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 22: Sky Sports Pundit Chris Sutton looks on during a William Hill Premiership match between Livingston and Rangers at the Home of the Set Fare Arena, on February 21, 2026, in Livingston, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Chris Sutton is saying all the right things to Celtic’s board out of love for the club. The problem is, is anybody actually listening?
When somebody like Chris Sutton speaks about Celtic, he is not doing it simply for clicks or attention, and he is certainly not doing it because he enjoys hearing his own voice. Sutton loves this football club. He cares deeply about what happens to Celtic and understands what the club means to the supporters because he was part of one of the greatest eras in our modern history.
Therefore, when he speaks, Celtic supporters tend to listen. The question is whether the Celtic board listens.
Sutton has highlighted the importance of Martin O’Neill’s role at the club. He has pointed out that Celtic should be grateful for what O’Neill has achieved and that the manager deserves to be supported properly. He is absolutely right.
Martin O’Neill came in and delivered a domestic double. He steadied a club that badly needed direction, restored belief, raised standards and reminded everybody that Celtic should never accept mediocrity.
Yet here we are again, talking about whether the board will genuinely back the manager, whether they will provide the support required behind the scenes and whether they will build a proper football and backroom structure around O’Neill’s wishes instead of imposing on him a structure they think he should have.
Sutton is right to raise these concerns. Martin O’Neill deserves respect, but not token respect, a few warm words on the official website or carefully crafted statements from boardroom executives telling everybody how delighted they are to have him. He deserves real respect.
Real respect means giving the manager the tools he needs, listening when he identifies weaknesses, allowing him to build the backroom team he wants and backing him properly in the transfer market. Most importantly, it means understanding that football decisions should be driven by football people.
That is where my worries begin.
If there is one thing this Celtic board has become famous for over the years, it is finding ways to make straightforward situations far more complicated than they need to be. Time and again, supporters are told to trust the process. Time and again, we hear about sustainability and are lectured about financial responsibility.
Nobody is arguing against Celtic being run properly. Nobody wants Celtic spending recklessly or putting the future of the club at risk. However, there comes a point when supporters are entitled to ask one simple question: what is the money actually for?
Celtic are not a struggling football club, nor are they desperately trying to survive. Celtic are one of the biggest football institutions in the world. The club has millions in the bank, has sold players for enormous fees and has a fanbase that fills Celtic Park week after week. Supporters across the world continue to spend money on tickets, merchandise, subscriptions and everything else connected to the club.
Therefore, when a manager of Martin O’Neill’s stature says that he needs support, why should there be hesitation, delays or excuses?
Chris Sutton understands this. The supporters understand this. The board, however, often appears determined to operate in a completely different universe.
Perhaps that sounds harsh, and some people will say that I am being unfair but come on; supporters have seen this film before.
We have watched successful managers ask for support and fail to receive enough of it. We have watched transfer windows drift while rivals strengthen, obvious weaknesses remain unaddressed and opportunities disappear because decisive action was not taken when it mattered.
We have also watched Celtic repeatedly try to save pennies while putting millions at risk. It is exhausting and entirely unnecessary.
The thing that bothers me most is not even the money. It is the respect, or rather the lack of it.
When I look at some of the decisions made over the years, I sometimes wonder whether the people running Celtic truly understand what this football club represents. Celtic is not merely a business, a balance sheet or another company with income, expenditure and quarterly figures.
Celtic is history. Celtic is identity, family and community. It is millions of people emotionally invested in something far greater than themselves.
That deserves respect. The manager deserves respect. Former players who care deeply about the club deserve respect. Above all, the supporters deserve respect.
Too often, though, it feels as if supporters are treated like customers who are expected to accept whatever they are given and remain grateful for it. That attitude is dangerous because supporters can see what is happening.
We can see when ambition is present and when it is missing. We can tell the difference between a club moving forward with a plan and one merely issuing statements designed to create the appearance of progress.
My Ginger-Witch instincts are screaming that this summer could become a defining moment. The signs are there, the opportunity is there, the manager is there and the resources are there. Everything required for Celtic to push forward is sitting directly in front of the board.
The only question is whether they have the courage and ambition to seize the moment or whether they will once again choose caution and delay.
Chris Sutton is effectively sounding the alarm. It is not the first time, and he has been right one Hell of a lot more often than he has been wrong.
He is not doing it because he wants headlines or attention. He is doing it because he cares and because he understands what happens when a football club begins taking success for granted. He knows that standing still in football is often the fastest possible way to go backwards.
Celtic have already been given a warning.
O’Neill came back into the club at a difficult moment and showed what proper leadership could achieve. He brought clarity where there had been confusion and authority where there had been drift. He gave the club a domestic double.
That should not now become an excuse for the board to relax. It should become the foundation upon which the next stage is built.
Martin O’Neill has earned proper backing and trust. He has earned the right to shape the football department as he believes necessary.
That means giving him the coaching structure he wants, listening to his assessment of the squad and acting early in the transfer market rather than forcing him to wait while opportunities disappear. It means recognising that gratitude cannot merely be expressed through words. Gratitude must be demonstrated through actions.
If the board genuinely wants Celtic to succeed, it should stop searching for reasons not to support the manager and start finding ways to give him what he needs.
There should be no internal power games, no interference from people who do not understand football as well as the manager does and no penny-pinching disguised as prudence. Celtic must build a proper football structure around O’Neill, both in the boardroom and in the backroom.
That is part of Sutton’s wider point.
A strong manager cannot compensate forever for a weak structure above and around him. Celtic cannot continue relying on individual personalities to rescue the club whenever the people responsible for long-term planning lose their way.
The club requires competent football people in positions of genuine authority. It needs a recruitment strategy, succession planning and clarity about who makes football decisions and why. Most importantly, it needs the people in the boardroom to recognise the limits of their own expertise.
There is nothing wrong with admitting that somebody else understands football better than you. The problem comes when boardroom figures refuse to admit it and impose themselves upon decisions they are not qualified to make.
Chris Sutton has spent his life in football. Martin O’Neill has spent decades managing at the highest level. When people like that speak, Celtic’s board should listen.
They do not need to agree with every word, but they should respect the knowledge and experience behind those words. Instead, too often, the impression given is that the board considers outside criticism an irritation to be endured rather than advice worth considering.
That is an arrogant and dangerous mindset.
The supporters are watching, and the football world is watching. Whether the board likes it or not, its actions over the coming months will tell us far more than any official statement ever could.
Words about ambition are easy, but backing the manager requires action. Statements about respect are easy, but giving football people real authority requires the board to surrender some control. Promises about progress are easy, but building the squad, backroom team and football structure required to deliver it is much harder.
Chris Sutton has said his piece, and many Celtic supporters agree with him. Now we wait to discover whether anyone inside the Celtic boardroom is actually listening.
If they are not, then they are not merely ignoring Chris Sutton. They are ignoring Martin O’Neill’s achievements, the lessons of recent transfer windows and the concerns of countless Celtic supporters who want nothing more than to see this great club continue moving forward.
That would be a serious mistake.
Unfortunately, it would also be a very Celtic board mistake.
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None of the boardroom barnacles listen to the fans, and since Chris Sutton is one of us, he gets the same treatment as the rest of us…..the silent treatment. 🙁
MR DESMOND IS THE LEADER. THE CELTIC BOARD ARE JUST HIS SERVANTS?
this has been my favourite Celtic fan media site for a good number of years, I also really enjoyed On Fields of Green and have regularly recommended TCB to other fans as a source which is great to read. I think Paulina has been a really good addition to the site as she writes well and constructs some great articles, but I have to say the ‘ginger witch instincts’ stuff is close to tipping me over the edge. Every single article contains some reference to ‘ginger witch’ like it has any value whatsoever, it does not. It adds nothing to the articles, nothing whatsoever and, in fact, it ruins them for me.
That, and the way she is now talking like she’s a seasoned, decades long Celtic supporter just remove authenticity from the articles. You’ve not seen ‘seasons’ of Celtic doing anything, you’ve not lived through multiple years of any sort of any kind of behaviour where you can point to a lived and painfully remembered pattern. James has, thats why when he makes similar points they resonate.
Please, go back to writing like you did when you first started contributing, fresh to Celtic, enjoying the club and the (sometimes so called) ‘family’ that forms the fan base.
Keep writing the, very interesting, articles you’ve been writing recently, your opinion is valid enough not to need the alleged influence of any witch, ginger or otherwise.
Please, for the love of god, stop putting that absolute nonsense into every article. That and any reference to ‘my Celtic lions’ (which you thankfully seem to have stopped).
Your articles are great. You are not a witch. You do not need to invoke a witch for your articles to be valid and interesting.
“There comes a point where supporters have to ask – What is the money for” ?
Here’s what it’s fuckin for…
It’s for that Butchers Apron loving slut Reeves to filter to Brit defence forces to maim some innocent nationalists somewhere – anywhere – but main they will !
The German banger sausage roll has gone and sevco have took the bottler from smelly feartts will he last to Halloween hordes of sevco gimps turn on bigot McInnes when sevco do there annual implosion
My grey wizard instincts are telling me Migano is not best pleased with the ginger witch stuff lol
I can’t even explain why but it drives me round the pole. I will be reading and enjoying an article then that ginger witch instincts nonsense is said and I actually make an audible groaning noise.
What’s wrong with saying ‘I think that’
unhinged in EK
I’m with you on this Migano,that stupid ginger witch stuff,sounds like something of Loose Women from ITV and the Celtic LIONS ,that is cringe worthy,it’s too much like English football team,not the Lisbon lions,and Paulina has not been around Celtic as long as she makes out she has, otherwise her articles are usually pretty good and getting better.
It seems to me that the Celtic support is fractured. How and why this has happened, I do not know.
I am not talking about the difference in opinions over players for example there are those who think Engels is the greatest player to grace the hoops since 1888 and there are the rest of us who know he is not a footballer by any stretch of the imagination. The fact that Trusty and Johnson are representing their countries but Engels could not even make the Belgium squad must tell us something.
I digress. The more vocal of the supporters are more concerned with political rather than football matters when they should be hounding the board daily. The criticism of Rod Stewart is absolute non-sense and I am quite proud that a someone with a global profile should push the cause. We are an inclusive club but just not certain types. Only Labour voters p[lease!
This board with the help of the media will delay improving the team until the last days of the transfer window and once again we will all stand by and let them.
According to the media we are chasing the new “Messi” who just happens to play in the Swiss second tier.
People focus. Lawwell was chased and that should have been a start.
Just saw this. ” Derek McInnes didn’t reject Rangers in 2017 as vital truth behind boss KO matters more than ever”
Hillarious.
“Only Labour voters please”
Sorry buddy but I’m an avid SNP voter as I desperately wanna see Scotland and Ireland independent from Brit Tyranny Policy…
Actually I’d rather see a SCOTTISH SINN FEIN as The SNP are far too soft on the aforementioned Brit Tyranny Policy !
I think you just proved my point, Clach. Let’s focus on improving the team. But I will play, Interesting you would trust the SNP with the nation’s money. Research Haughey and the Celtic Tiger and see what retreating into a little independent, unaccountable cabal can do for those in power.
The Celtic Board, or more specifically DD, will NEVER listen to the fans or anyone else because he rules the roost and there is no-one brave enough to try to dislodge him.
I sincerely wish that there was some way that all Celtic groups could come together and speak to Haughey to see if they can possibly find a way to get rid of DD. I know that Haughey is not a universal choice, but he’s the only one who seems to be offering a chance to get rid of DD and sometimes we have to do what we to think right even if we don’t totally agree with it. If we just continue to sit back and moan instead of taking action, DD will continue to drag us down and there will be nobody to blame but ourselves.
Great point broony! The constant articles and “campaigns” urging DD and the board to change their ways and seriously back the manager are wasting their energy on the wrong target. They must know that the same board won’t suddenly transform themselves into a dynamic, progressive group with the highest ambitions for Celtic and their supporters.
The countless forums are all pleading with the current board to up their game, and it’s starting to get tiresome, knowing it won’t happen. Whether Haughey or a similar figure, the focus must be shifted 100% to removing Desmond from power. The incredible passion that Celtic fans and their spokesperson’s , the bloggers, have for their club is being wasted on a horse that’s bolted.
If that passion is channeled exclusively into removing DD then I have no doubts it will have an impact that cannot be achieved by just constantly moaning about the board, albiet very articulately.
Broony and Danny, you are preaching to the converted, for I think we all know where the ultimate blame lies, we all know that our very own personal dictator is the root cause of all of our problems. However, we also know that he is an immovable object and that none us, collectively or not, are equipped to take him on. For no amount of criticism or cajoling is going to stir him into positive action on our behalfs, in fact he is more likely to do the opposite. That stark fact though does not excuse the present board incumbents from criticism either. All anyone can do is to keep chipping away at all of them, hope that the constant pressure eventually sinks in and hope that something finally gives way and gets them to act positively for once. It is either that, or say and do nothing….. but unfortunately with probably the same negative outcome.
I shake me head in despair.
Johnny Green, I hear what you’re saying and agree to an extent, but if all the separate groups got together and started buying shares as a collective then slowly but surely, we could reach a stage where we would be able to oust the dictator DD. Okay, it might take a while, but it would be preferable to sitting on our arses doing nothing but moaning about him.
If such a collective were to be formed I would not hesitate to invest in some shares and I think that many many fans would do the same. Even if someone could only afford to buy a share or two, the number of fans investing would soon build up, so it just needs someone with some nous to get the ball rolling.
Broony, I’m certainly no financial expert, but when it comes to buying shares, can that not only happen if someone is prepared to sell them?. I wonder how often that happens? I seem to remember the huns fans trying something similar a few years ago and not getting very far, especially when the club kept raising share issues watering down the value of the shares that took them so long to acquire.
Johnny, you’re correct but shares are always available on the Stock Market where Celtic are listed, albeit not in the numbers required to oust DD, which is why I said that it would maybe take a while to reach sufficient numbers but it would be better than doing nothing. It would mean that we have to be very organised and disciplined with a financial expert to look after the shares issue, but it can be done, we just need people with the willpower to carry it out. That’s why I mentioned Haughey as he is an astute businessman who could provide good knowledge regarding the share situation. However, it could be someone else with the requisite knowledge, I’m not an expert in this area.
Johnny and Broony, I hear you loud and clear, however my understanding is that this initiative by Willie Haughey and Paul McStay, has been picked up from David Low’s campaign to identify and free up all the dormant shares.
These were taken up by individual Celtic Supporters and Families to help save their club at the time of the Fergus McCann/Brian Dempsey takeover, with David Low as their financial advisor. That’s why Low has such detailed knowledge of the origin of those dormant shares.
I don’t understand how the people who bought those shares just let them
Go dormant, apart from perhaps thinking they’d helped save their club club so their job was done.
David Low has stated categorically that the value of those shares, if fully uncovered and consolidated, is sufficient to buy out Dermott Desmond, without further need for a benefactor’s contribution, leaving Desmond helpless to block the campaign. This makes Willie Haughey’s pledge the potential critical factor in clinching the takeover.
That’s why I’m asking for the Celtic Collective, with influential figures like James championing that cause rather than constantly girning and moaning, to consolidate all of their undoubted passion behind this single cause.
DannyGal,
Well I’m not really up to date with all this information but I hope you succeed and get this initiative to reach fruition. I have just been looking at the London Stock Exchange today with a view to buying some shares, but I’ll hold off for a while in view of what you said.
I suspect your response might be a wee bit tongue in cheek Broony, however I can’t help thinking that Paul McStay would return from Australia for this specific campaign, without a concrete reason for doing so!
DannyGal,
I did have a look at the LSE today to check the Celtic share price, but in view of your comment regarding dormant shares I realised that the meagre amount that I could purchase wouldn’t make any difference to what’s required. However I may just get some anyway just to have a wee share in my club.
I think it would be great if Paul and others were able to get things moving in this respect because we cannot carry on the way things are, that’s for sure.
It’s always been the case that to drive change then you need to gain ownership – it’s what Fergus had to do and chanting sack the board gets you nowhere without having share ownership. Haughey’s initiative is well-considered and deserves to be given a chance, not least if it encourages the other significant shareholders to take a firmer stance against DD. He is also donating his own money to secure a stake in the club for fans.
Fans buying shares over the long term and being active owners in holding the board to account has to be the way forward for us.
PortoJoe: I agree with your comment, let’s hope it encourages others to act.