GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 16: A general view of Celtic fans during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on March 16, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
There are moments when supporters have to take a stand, knowing full well they are going to be told they are overreacting, damaging the club, making everything worse, causing division and generally behaving like unreasonable malcontents who should sit down, shut up and let the grown-ups make the decisions.
The Robbie Keane episode was one of those moments.
And let me say this as plainly as possible.
The Celtic supporters who vocally opposed that appointment were right. They were right to oppose it. They were right to oppose it loudly. They were right to oppose it early.
They were right to make it absolutely clear that this was not simply a disappointing managerial option, not merely an uninspiring name on a poor shortlist, but something far more serious than that.
They were right to make the club understand that appointing Robbie Keane would not be business as usual.
It would be an act of betrayal. An action against a significant section of the support.
A lot of our own fans gave us it tight over that stance. Some of them called it divisive. Some of them said we were embarrassing the club. Some of them said we should wait and see. Some of them said politics should have no place in football, which is always an interesting thing to hear from people who support Celtic, a club whose very existence was political before a ball was ever kicked.
But the line was held. The pressure mounted. And in the end, the club did not appoint Robbie Keane. That matters.
I do not know whether anyone inside Celtic Park will ever admit it, and I certainly do not expect them to. This is not a board that enjoys acknowledging the supporters’ role in anything, unless it is selling them season tickets or using the atmosphere as a decorative backdrop for a marketing video.
But we know what happened.
The opposition was immediate. It was vocal. It was moral. It was sustained. It came from fan groups, from bloggers, from podcasts, from social media, from ordinary supporters who had no interest in dressing this up as a normal football disagreement. And it made the appointment poisonous before it could even happen.
That is not something to be ashamed of.
It is something to be proud of.
Because sometimes stopping a bad decision is every bit as important as making a good one.
There are still people who will say that supporters should not have behaved this way. They will say we should have trusted the club. Trusted the process. Trusted the people making the decision. To which I can only ask: what process? What trust? On what evidence?
This club had already spent months proving that its decision-making was incoherent. It had produced a managerial shortlist which looked less like the work of a serious football department and more like someone had typed “former Celtic players available” into a search bar and hoped for the best.
Martin O’Neill. Robbie Keane. Craig Bellamy.
Three wildly different profiles. Three completely different levels of experience. Three men who did not appear to represent one football philosophy, one recruitment model or one coherent plan for what Celtic is supposed to become.
The shortlist itself was proof that the club was making it up as it went along.
Within that mess, Keane was the unthinkable option. Not merely because of his CV, although there was plenty to question there. Not merely because of his lack of obvious suitability for this club at this moment. But because of the moral question attached to him, one the board either did not understand or chose not to care about until they were forced to.
That is why the opposition was maximalist. It was all-or-nothing. For very many supporters, it would have represented the breaking point. Some issues do not lend themselves to compromise. Some appointments cannot be half-accepted. Some decisions, once made, cannot be walked back without leaving permanent damage behind.
Had Keane been appointed, the club would have started the summer inside a firestorm of its own making. Every press conference would have been loaded. Every poor performance would have carried extra weight. Every board statement would have been viewed through the lens of contempt. Every appeal for unity would have sounded like an insult.
The board would have fractured the club further at the exact moment it claimed to be listening. Instead, that did not happen.
And the supporters who helped prevent it have done Celtic a service.
Not just themselves. Not just the Green Brigade. Not just those who care deeply about Palestine, Gaza, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ferencváros and the moral baggage around Keane’s recent career choices. Celtic. The club itself.
Because this club did not need a more brutal civil war.
It did not need a manager arriving under a black cloud before he had taken a training session. It did not need a dugout appointment that guaranteed division from day one. It did not need to alienate the very people whose passion it had been so desperate to harness during the run-in. Those supporters saved Celtic from that.
And they may well have done something else too. They may have strengthened Martin O’Neill’s negotiating position.
Because let us be honest here: once Keane became toxic, once the club understood the scale of the backlash, once it became clear that the easiest Desmond option was not going to land without detonating the summer, O’Neill suddenly became more than a safe pair of hands.
He became the only viable bridge left standing.
If O’Neill has agreed to stay, and I hope he has done so on terms that put pressure on the board rather than on himself, then the fan reaction to Keane almost certainly helped him. It made clear that the club could not simply impose any old decision and expect people to swallow it. It made clear that the support was watching.
It made clear that the atmosphere around Celtic Park was fragile and that another act of contempt would have consequences. That gives O’Neill leverage.
It tells the board that the supporters trust him more than they trust them. It tells them that if they hang him out to dry, as they did in January, they will not get away with blaming him. It tells them that if they betray him, they are betraying the one man currently capable of holding the club together.
That is a powerful position for him to be in.
It may not be the modern, strategic reset many of us wanted. It may not be the bold move. It may not be the continental structure, the long-term plan or the evidence of a serious football operation finally emerging from the fog.
But it is a better outcome than Robbie Keane. By miles.
This does not mean the wider fight is over. Far from it. The board is still there. Desmond’s control is still there. Michael Nicholson is still there, somehow. The football structure is still unclear. The communication is still poor. The need for real governance reform remains as urgent as ever. But battles matter. Winning battles matters.
And this was a battle worth winning.
There is a lesson here for every Celtic supporter, including those who were uncomfortable with the tone, the banners, the anger and the refusal to soften the language.
Pressure works. Noise works. Moral clarity works.
Supporters are not powerless. The board wants us to believe that once the season tickets are renewed, once the money is in, once the seats are filled, the leverage disappears. It does not. It changes form. Pressure can still be brought to bear in articles, podcasts, fan statements, protests, banners and refusal.
It comes in the one form they cannot fully control, and when that mood hardens, even this board has to notice.
So yes, congratulations to those who stood firm.
Congratulations to those who refused to be guilt-tripped into silence. Congratulations to those who understood what was at stake and said so. Congratulations to those who did not let the issue be narrowed into a lazy argument about managerial experience, when it was always about something deeper.
You were told you were causing division. But the division was caused by those who thought Keane was an acceptable option in the first place.
You were told you were damaging the club. But the damage would have been done by those willing to appoint him.
You were told to be reasonable. But sometimes reason demands an uncompromising answer. This was one of those times.
Celtic have stepped back from the worst possible decision they could have made this summer. The club is better for it. Martin O’Neill is stronger for it. The support should understand its own power a little more clearly because of it.
And those who opposed Robbie Keane should not apologise for a single word.
They saw the fire. They raised the alarm.
And this time, for once, Celtic did not walk straight into the flames.
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Its my understanding that Keane told the board he didnt want the job for family reasons.
James…you mention Hungary but I have to say I have never heard this mentioned by Celtic fans in general and I dont think the Ferencvaros job was a factor. Everyone was supporting them and Robbie Keane v the huns last year.
What about saudi? the oppression and persecution of large parts of its society, the genocide they perpetrated in Yemen.
Can anyone explain why the GB never bat an eyelid about this and players who accepted the sportswashing blood money are given a free pass…. and are even idolised?
Some one else in these comments said that Celtic fans cant identify with the genocide in Yemen but is anyone buying that?
You provide a list of things which would allow further pressure to be put on the Board…But the biggest one of all….refusing to renew your Season Ticket….isn’t one of them…That’s an iteresting omission.
There is no support for an ST boycott. Anyone who has sacrificed their ST this year has given it to someone on the waiting list.
I admire anyone who has done so but they must know there is no solidarity. The cup game boycott got 40% support. I doubt if another one will be asked for.
Its harder to gauge the support for not another penny campaign but I would guess it is around the 50% mark for merchandise. In the stadium I guess a lot less folk have the courage to buy a pie and bovril.
It will be interesting to see how many new tops are on display in the stadium and on the streets.
I explain it to you every single time you come on here and mention it but you are not here to understand Celtic supporters, you are here to try and turn us against Palestinians.
One more time then-
Ireland had its land stolen from them by an illegal occupier hence the affinity with Palestinians.
Capiche ?
James – it would be really helpful if you and the GB could lay out some guardrails to guide future recruitment. This would undoubtedly save everyone a lot of time in the future. To kick things off let me pose a few questions. Is it acceptable for potential players or managers to have:
1. Been employed by a club owned by repressive states such as Saudi, Qatar, UAE or China.
2. Voted for or supported any far right or far left parties or policies.
3. Holidayed in countries where Amnesty International has raised serious concerns over human rights
4. Used their wealth to engage in exploitative activities such as rent gouging or slum landlord schemes.
5. Represented Northern Ireland (and by extension acknowledged the legitimacy of Northern Ireland).
6. Have any historic criminal convictions, including for driving under the influence of drugs.
7. Engaged in any aggressive tax avoidance schemes (and helpful if you could provide a definition of “aggressive”.
You posted a couple of weeks back on the dangers of “absolutist” positions – an article I completely agreed with. I fear you have fallen into the very trap that you identified.
The whiter than white narrative that is being pushed from the fan groups,bloggers and podcasts is ridiculous at best.
When you step through the turnstile you support the team 100%, the players and MON have made it crystal clear they want unity to have the best chance of winning.
Whilst I agree the board have made huge errors and require to be overhauled or replaced completely the current tactics can’t and will not work.
FYI there is approximately 2800 billionaires in the world Dermot Desmond is on of those people.
This man won’t be bullied or dictated to by a baying mob.
The huge ego that he supposedly has comes with the enormous wealth that he has personally acquired. ??
Remember Fergus was booed thirty years ago be careful what you wish for in relation to DD!!
Ireland had its land stolen from them by an illegal occupier hence the affinity with Palestinians.
That doesn’t apply to Saudi,Qatar or UAE.
The rest is just noise.
In terms of forcing change, the initiative from Willie Haughey is the most promising that we have. Change will come from having a real stake in the club – we can achieve this (without hurting the club or the team on the pitch) by securing a greater share in the ownership of the club. I wish Willie Haughey success with his initiative.
I applaud the fan groups, bloggers etc who showed a bit of militancy and voiced their opposition against RK as manager. I thought personally that they were wasting their time opposing our major shareholding dictator for he does not usually listen to us mere mortals. I am still not sure that they did make a telling impression and were ultimately responsible for the RK about turn, but good on them anyway for their efforts.
I understand RK turned down the job for the reasons you mention.
For me he would have been a punt in a football sense…but Im not going to virtue signal about Israel and then ignore the horrors committed by other middle Eastern nations
I also remember a booing crowd on flag day for Fergus.
Probably the same guys who are asking for a statue now.
Fergus didnt take any shit from anyone…..thank fuck!
Where’s your evidence he turned it down?
I’d have accepted Keane had he been appointed until results dictated otherwise…
But it was clear for the most important player here CELTIC (not Keane, not the useless board, not the fans ideology) but CELTIC that his appointment was gonna be untenable…
I’m with Celtic signing anyone for “The ability and not the creed nor colour”
But perhaps had I been born a couple of decades earlier and had today’s scrutiny of individuals been so prevalent then, perhaps I’d have been saying to Simpson, Gemmell, Dalglish and McGrain to name but a few to Fuck off from Celtic given their ‘unionist’ backgrounds…
Just sayin like – It didn’t happen but it may have done !
Well said Clach – the stories of Dalglish tearing down RFC pictures as Stein came to his house to sign him up are stuff of legend. Best of luck to King Kenny in his latest battle.
Clach@7.55pm. Totally agree with this. Possibly Scott Brown also might have been hounded out with protests in this age of insta facetube!
So that’s Keanegate over and out can we now get rid of Wilson as well…
A fuckin LABOUR lover places him in the position of being a Butchers Apron loving Unionist and Loyalist Bastard of the highest order…
Still colonialising Scotland…
Still colonolising Ireland…
Still condoning Brit barbarism in both countries…
And he’s in the position of chairman of Celtic FC…
There again just look at all the Celtic supporting fuckwits around Dumbarton that put The Butchers Apron loving Labour Bastards In there…
Oh for a fuckin SCOTTISH SINN FEIN !
PortoJoe @ 9.35pm…
Absolutely buddy – Best wishes to Dalglish in his fight with that irrespective of his ‘original’ background !
The Celtic fans acted on their conscience. Keane was apathetic while the apartheid, ethnostate, slaughtered tens of thousands of women and children in a grotesque genocidal killing spree not far from where he was based. Shekels over integrity, morals and the dignity of human life.
RG that is very admirable I must say but totally inconsistent, and that is the issue for most Celtic fans who would have backed Keane.
Do you feel that Jota is apathetic to the genocide in Yemen?
Do you think Brendan is apathetic to the oppression of woman and persecution of gays?
Can somebody on here tell me why this is not even on the radar for the folk slaughtering Keane on these forums?
James F. I admire your stuff and I would like your viewpoint here. Why is it only Israel we have an issue with and not other places that commit genocide and persecute their own citizens en masse?
Why do they get a free pass???
Many celtic fans feel uncomfortable about this.
Mojorisin,
I always enjoy the debate and responses on here. I can’t answer you questions regarding Jota and Rodgers, but I can speak for myself on some of the aforementioned. When I was a participant in the hate factories (social media) debates. I consistently highlighted what was happening to the Yemeni people, the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the situation in Ethiopia and Sudan long before it was highlighted in the mainstream. Whilst I’m expressing my own opinion on Keane, and it may be well off the mark, i still think that he was wrong to remain there while a genocide was and is still ongoing. Delia and Kenny Miller also fall into the same bracket. Sadly we live in a polarised, dog eat dog world where the dogs have all gone mad. Here’s to better days.
explain it to you every single time you come on here and mention it but you are not here to understand Celtic supporters, you are here to try and turn us against Palestinians.
One more time then-
Ireland had its land stolen from them by an illegal occupier hence the affinity with Palestinians.
Capiche ?
James, do you honestly believe that your actions prevented Keane from becoming Celtic manager? The campaign that you and others ran against him was nothing short of disgraceful and abhorrent. You vilified a man for seeking employment in his profession not knowing how he personally felt about his position. You and your ilk made him into a figure of hate and division just to suit your own agenda. I don’t call your action moral, I call it immoral and despicable!
Do you honestly think that DD didn’t employ Keane because of your campaign? If so, you are very much mistaken, because he would have employed him if he really wanted to, irrespective of your campaign. I have supported Celtic for nearly 70 years and unlike you I am NOT proud of your attacks on an individual; protest yes, but you crossed a line with your personal attacks, they were unwarranted.
Do you honestly think that Celtic Park would be empty on Flag day if Keane was the manager? Of course it wouldn’t, it would be filled to the rafters with fans cheering the team on!! Your campaign achieved nothing but causing agitation, it certainly didn’t stop DD employing Keane!
I have made my feelings about DD and his cohorts quite plain, I don’t want them here. I also don’t want Keane here, but I can say this without the vitriolic and spiteful comments that you and others made.
This issue has now been put aside, but I would not be surprised if DD waited for a year or so and then emplyed Keane because, as I said in a previous post, he does not give a flying f*ck about your or my opinion.
broony008 – and with age (almost 70 years supporting) comes wisdom and perspective. Great post and agree with every word (although a mere youngster with only 50+ years supporting)
Are you one of those guys who went to work in South Africa in the eighties?
You make out that you know how DD comes to his decisions when you don’t.
To fit “your own agenda”.
What “spiteful comments” do you refer to ?
Volp, to clarify;
I never worked in South Africa during apartheid and never would have.
I do not support Israel’s actions in Palestine and I don’t believe that any decent person does.
I don’t profess to be able to read DD’s mind, but we all know him well enough nowadays that we’re aware that he ploughs his own furrow and doesn’t listen to others when it suits him.
I personally do not have any “agenda” I’m merely a Christian and a human being who believes that the recent vilification of Keane has gone over the top and is unacceptable. None of know the reason that he took the job in Israel but he has been under constant attack because he took it in a country that many of us find objectionable, but that’s a decision for him and his conscience. As mentioned earlier, I’m a Christian and believe in forgiveness. I also try to live by the word of Jesus “let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” I am certainly not without sin and I imagine that there are many others vilifying Keane who are in the same position.
To conclude, I believe that JF was sincere in his opinion, but as a responsible blogger he has a duty to balance his comments and I feel that he and other bloggers and groups exacerbated the anti Keane message to a level of almost hysteria which was unwarranted.
“I don’t profess to be able to read DD’s mind”
“If so, you are very much mistaken, because he would have employed him if he really wanted to,”
Maybe he did want to but the overwhelming reaction in Ireland and by Celtic fans made him rethink,point being,you don’t know.
“Hysteria”?
People could see the utter carnage that appointment would cause to Celtic and the ongoing fragile peace,hell perhaps DD came round to that conclusion to.
The very people ringing alarm bells should be congratulated for averting another season implosion rather than being labeled,and I must say rather unchristian labels like “disgraceful and abhorrent”.
Which comments do you think were not “balanced” ?
In answer to Volp: I think that you vastly exaggerate by using the word carnage, as I don’t believe that there would be any. For every person who stayed away if Keane was appointed there would be many more who would happily take their place, but that is a matter for them and their conscience.
We are aware of the situation re the the occupation of Ireland and your sarcasm in this respect is not a good look, perhaps you don’t need to repeat it constantly.
I don’t believe the faux outrage, for that is what it is, faux outrage from many who are just jumping on the moral bandwagon but will not stop attending Celtic games if Keane was appointed, I don’t believe that they stopped DD from making his decision. Of course I don’t KNOW this for a fact, but I don’t believe that he is a man to be dissuaded when his mind is made up on his course of action.
Yes, I am a Christian and I have my beliefs and try my best to do no harm, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, hence my use of certain words. I have absolutely no objection to people protesting I have done so myself over many years as a Trade Unionist, I just believe that the furore raised against Keane went beyond the pale. He has had death threats and a great deal of abuse which is not a good look for Celtic fans to portray, this is the point I was making. We all know and I’m sure that he now knows, that he made the wrong decision and he has rightly been pilloried for doing so, but he’s a young man with a young family and doesn’t deserve the level of hatred he has been subject to.
To broony008, I’m replying here as there is no reply option to your post of 10.44 am.
By carnage I didn’t mean people staying away as season tickets have already been purchased so your point isn’t relevant to this season.
The carnage would be back to full scale fan protests again and the subsequent affect on the atmosphere and unity.
I note you criticize my supposed sarcasm re why Celtic fans support Palestinians yet you fail to criticize the posters I constantly remind about this and why I need to constantly remind them.
That tells me something about you.
Let’s just leave it there shall we.
I’m happy to do so sur
RG @ 10.31pm…
That’s exactly the way I feel about Wilson…
He was a Butchers Apron loving MP for Cunninghame North from 1987 until 2005 during which his opposition government and also his government from 1997 onwards unleashed a shoot to kill policy on Irish nationalists all over the six occupied counties of The Island of Ireland…
He was also a very vocal voice against Scotland gaining its independence and freedom in the run up to the referendum…
Shouldn’t we have ran a campaign to oust this loyalist bastard from Parkhead long before the one that was ran since the potential appointment of Keane came to light…
Interested in opinions on this take of mine from everyone and specifically James of the excellent Celtic Blog !
Clach,
I’ve expressed myself on a number of occasions on here regarding the carpetbagging, bootlickers like Wilson. I’ve written several articles on British imperialism and have spoken at the Russell Institute of Education regarding the machinations of Unionist and Nationalist politics. Though you would never think so by the way i construct paragraphs etc lol
He wrote a big book on Celtic’s official history that’s on sale in the Celtic shop which is probably one reason.
The same charges against Wilson could probably be leveled at John Reid or Baron Reid as he is known as now ,fecking Baron ! this country is an embarrassment when it comes to these pathetic titles and a house of lords that belongs in the bin a long time ago. I mean ffs he used to be a member of the YCL and now let’s himself be called Baron !?!
It follows the old days of Celtic fans generally voting Labour until the Iraq war shook us all out of our complacency, when many started to look for viable alternatives, culminating in the SNP landslides.
RG @ 12.18am…
Good on ya buddy…
Keep at The Colonial Brit Fuckers !!!!
Clach,
sadly i stopped being active due to being targeted by the fascists, racists and bigots, which affected my work and personal life. If you go to the Sentinel Celts blog archive and search April 2019, there is an article I wrote on the Easter Rising.
RG @ 12.39am…
I’m not the most tecchy savvy guy but I’ll try…
As all these old Unionists Bastards boot the bucket (the more the fuckin merrier) – The young team will see Scotland and Ireland get their freedom God willing…
Ma niece graduated from Glasgow University last summer and says that the vast majority of her peers want an end to Brit tyrannical rule…
The tide is finally flooding in the right direction !
The anti-Palestinian mob have certainly found this Celtic blog since the formation of the Celtic Fans Collective, and are doing their utmost to try and influence Celtic supporters to stop supporting Palestinians via the comments section.
It is so obvious it’s laughable.
So ignore all the noise from the recent influx of the usual anti-Palestinian mob in the comments.
JF you congratulate all of us well i’d like to congratulate you for some exceptional articles on this matter.
It does strike me as DD is either tone deaf to Celtic supporters or doesn’t care what we think because let’s face it we wouldn’t have had him on a short list in the first place (for all the trouble it would cause) but DD did.
There is some amount of absolute rubbish being posted on the comments these days by certain posters pushing certain narratives.
Yes its getting laughable
If anyone believes that bloggers or Celtic fan groups influenced DD’s decision then please now focus your attention on getting Wilson off the board. Perhaps even consider Jota’s position as he covetted money over the horrendous human rights of the country he left Celtic for, and only came back because he failed there as a player.
Oooh off the scale bitchiness on our Jota!
Irish people had their land stolen from them by an illegal occupier hence their affinity with Palestinians.
I don’t think the KSA was stealing anyone’s country and turfing them out of their homes was it?
So that makes your stance moot doesn’t it DannyGal ?
But I’m sure you will keep plugging away trying to deflect from the fact I provided and which you want to ignore.
No Volp, I understand your point, and as a member of a family who emigrated to here from Ballyshannon, I 100% agree with your stance
My point is that I don’t understand why people with such a strong social conscience, and the highest commendable empathy with their fellow sufferers in Palestine, cannot also have concerns about other countries with horrendous human rights issues.
I include netanyahu in the very select few people that I’ve genuinely hated in my life, together with hitler, thatcher and blair (I refuse to give any of them a capital letter), so I’m with you all the way on your core point.
Are you saying though that we can only have a human rights concern over a country whose suffering was similar to ours, without also having a thought for other peoples who undergo severe suffering that has no similarities to ours?
Can’t they walk and chew gum at the same time?
It would be negligent not to support all victims of atrocities and no one is saying anyone does that.
In fact I’d say a great many Celtic supporters are far more aware of geopolitical machinations both presently and historically than most.
Celtic Ultras are viewed as a top anti-fascist group in Europe,they back oppressed people fleeing wars by supporting immigrants, so they do walk and chew.
The facts on the ground as you yourself acknowledge are a particular affinity with Palestinians.
This has been built up over many many decades and is an undisputed fact.
It is to the advantage of anti-Palestinians to muddy the waters by throwing in other geopolitical atrocities, which is, imo an attempt at weakening the Celtic supports incredible backing for an oppressed people they felt a historical empathy with due to similar circumstances.