KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 10: Celtic fans hold up a banner during a William Hill Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Celtic at Rugby Park, on November 10, 2024, in Kilmarnock, Scotand. (Photo by Roddy Scott/SNS Group via Getty Images)
I’ve said before that our board of directors lacks any coherent semblance of strategic thought—and today they surely proved it.
To paraphrase another Forrest; Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” And these people could not have given a clearer demonstration of how stupid they are than in today’s breaking news—that they’ve given the Green Brigade a three-match suspended ban for, amongst other things, flying Palestinian flags.
Oh, dear God. This club is run by the dumbest people imaginable, and they have, by virtue of the clown-car way they go about things, completely lost the plot when it comes to dealing with supporters properly. This is a singularly bad time to be pissing off large sections of the fanbase. They must have known how badly this would be perceived. They did it anyway. That reveals not just arrogance, but a breathtaking hubris.
Let’s be blunt. There is barely a football support anywhere in the world that does not contain some people who agree with the Israeli position on Gaza. That’s just a fact. Whether we’re talking about ultranationalist Jews or those who subscribe to the view that 7 October was an act that needed to be answered in blood to such an extent that it would never be tried again—those elements exist even within our support.
But whilst it’s crazy to claim that our support is unanimously behind the Palestinian cause, if you remove that small number, then you’re pretty close to unanimity. There is probably no more consensus-defining issue in the world right now than the plight of the Palestinian people. That’s why nearly every serious nation has either recognised Palestinian statehood or is preparing to do so.
It’s why even our abysmally weak Prime Minister is trying to show some backbone—although as I say in my latest politics blog (which I will link at the bottom), he cannot be trusted and has given himself an out.
Still, even within the Labour government there are voices—like Johnathon Reynolds—who you’d never have expected to end up supporting a policy that directly flies in the face of the Israeli lobby. And yet here we are.
That’s how close we are to this being a settled, global moral position. Gaza is now shorthand for injustice. To do anything that appears to punish people for showing solidarity with it will be seen as a staggering affront to decency.
To do that now, when the club is in the middle of a serious perception crisis? That’s mind-bending. And if anything reveals the contempt this board has for its own fans, it’s their belief that they can get away with this—and that there won’t be consequences.
People feel angry. People feel disrespected. And that’s because the board has brought that feeling upon itself, with the way it treats supporters. With the way it treats fan media. And let’s be honest, with the way it treats the manager.
This is where we are. And they’ve led us here.
They’re the ones who keep asking fans for more money and give nothing back. No vision. No transparency. Not even a coherent transfer strategy. What we’ve seen this summer is scattergun and amateurish—some of the worst I’ve seen.
We have virtually no chance of keeping Rodgers beyond this season, and the fans know it. And we’re all watching nervously, wondering who this board—this board that’s twice appointed Lennon—will come up with next.
As I said in a previous piece, I’ve listened to all the podcasts over the last few days. I’ve read all the blogs worth reading. And I can’t remember a time when the support was this on edge—this bubbling with frustration and anger. And this decision? This puts the tin hat on it. Because this is the last thing we needed right now. It doesn’t just show contempt. It shows blindness. It shows recklessness. It’s almost unbelievable.
And the dark irony of it all is that the only thing holding this whole thing together right now—the only thing stopping this from spiralling into a full-blown crisis—is the faith most of us still have in the manager. The same manager the board is pissing on from a great height. But if this campaign starts to unravel? If the results start to go against us? They’ll feel a level of anger they’ve never faced before.
So of course, they’d try to throw their weight around and pick a fight with the club’s biggest and most prominent supporters’ group.
Because that’s exactly how you foster unity in a time of turmoil, isn’t it? That’s exactly how you steady the ship ahead of a long, difficult campaign. These people don’t have a clue. And the problem with hubris is that it eventually breeds nemesis.
They’d better pray Brendan and the players can keep it at bay.
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