As Celtic fans, we’re all hurting right now. But only we can make this pain stop

I’ll start this article by telling you that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better for us as Celtic fans.

That’s the unfortunate reality of where we find ourselves right now.

I’ve felt pain before as a Celtic fan.

I was, after all, in my teens and early twenties during the 90’s, and that was the toughest of times to be a Celtic fan.

But after it all almost came crashing down in 1994, hope was on the horizon in the form of Fergus McCann’s takeover of the club.

I don’t need to re-tell that story.

I’ve done so many times before.

But the difference between that era and now for Celtic fans, was that hope sprung eternal.

We knew were building towards something, and we knew we had a man who would fight for us at the helm in Fergus McCann.

But since 1994, the man who has brought us to where we find ourselves today, Dermot Desmond, was lurking in the background.

He first purchased 5 million shares from the club that year.

Ever since then, he has grown his shareholding to make him the principal shareholder at Celtic.

Which, as we have all been witness to this season, has been very much to the detriment of this club.

I think it is fair now to say that Desmond’s influence over Celtic is a malign one.

Because if it was a positive one, he would have stepped in to stop the sharp decline we have witnessed at the club over the last year or so.

He has – in fact – done the total opposite.

His attack on Brendan Rodgers as he walked out the door, and his cowardly and puppeteering attack through his shaking son on the fanbase tells us this much.

The decline continues at the club, and Desmond has shown no evidence to anyone that he even cares.

Its a hard one to wrap your head around, and it really doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that doesn’t change the fact that Desmond is doing nothing to halt the sharp decline at Celtic.

Well, if he is, we certainly aren’t seeing any evidence of it.

For a man that is supposed to be utterly ruthless in his business dealings, it defies belief that he continues to back Michael Nicholson as CEO of Celtic.

Nicholson, when his time eventually comes to an end – which it will – will go down as the worst CEO to ever occupy that position in the history of the club.

A man who achieved nothing other than oversee a level of unmanaged decline at Celtic that has succeeding in bringing the club to the brink of an all out crisis.

Because make no mistake, we are on that precipice right now.

The next week and a half could define the next decade at this club.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that.

If we lose this title, the domino effect of that loss could reverberate for years to come.

James laid it out pretty clearly in his Empires Fall II and The Risk Celtic runs articles .

I don’t need to go over the course again on everything they lay bare, if you want to see where Celtic could end up, I’d suggest reading them.

What I want to focus on in this article is the hurt we’re all feeling as Celtic fans right now.

And the harsh reality of that hurt.

We’re all dealing with it in different ways.

For me, just as I’m doing at this moment in time, I get to write about it.

I get to express my hurt through words that I hope others will read, and appreciate.

But for others, they get to talk about it to each other.

And unfortunately, in some cases, we fight with each other.

Because some of us don’t see things in the same light as others do.

But as I tried to express clearly on the Trinity Tims podcast last Monday, I only want the best for Celtic.

I want this club to be the best version of itself that it can possibly be.

I’ve taken a lot of grief over the years for that particular desire.

But when you break it all down, there is something very pure about what I want for Celtic.

Something noble.

And because I believe that, I will continue to express my beliefs about the way this club is run.

If that pisses people off, I consider that their problem, not mine.

I’ll put it this way, ask a Bodø/Glimt fan if he/she feels their club is the very best version of itself that it can be?

Do you think the fans of that club fight amongst each other about the way their club should be run?

I’m pretty sure they do not.

They are at one, and in harmony with their club, because they are blessed to have people running their club who know exactly how they can extract the best out of it.

We do not have that luxury.

We have people who have a distinct ability to extract the best out of our club to benefit them, and then alone.

They don’t care about the fanbase.

Nor do they care about competing on the European stage as a club.

Apparently that’s way beyond our capabilities.

Once again, ask a Bodø/Glimt fan his/her opinion on that.

A club that has a fraction of the resources we have, and a home ground that holds 8,000 fans.

Yet they just made fools out of Italian giants, Inter Milan, in the Champions League.

As well as Man City and Atletico Madrid.

But we Celtic fans should never dare to dream about things like that.

The Celtic board continuously tells us that we should know our place.

And if we complain about it, we are harassing them, and making their lives difficult.

The reality is that we are the only ones who can stop this pain.

We are the only ones who can force change at the club.

In order to do that, we have to keep up the pressure on the board.

We cannot falter in this.

I know we won last night in Stuttgart, but it was too little too late.

If we win at Ibrox, and then Pittodrie, and then Ibrox again, nothing changes.

That doesn’t take the pressure off this board.

Celtic needs change from top to bottom, and we are the last bastion of hope for this club.

Which is why we must unite in every way we can to take back our club from these charlatans.

If we can do that much, we can win this.

That needs to start now….

Key Takeaways

• Celtic fans face challenging times as the club experiences significant decline, largely attributed to Dermot Desmond’s poor leadership.
• The failure of CEO Michael Nicholson to manage the crisis further exacerbates the situation, bringing the club to a breaking point.
• Supporters must express their dissatisfaction and pressure the board for meaningful change to save Celtic.
• Despite recent victories, winning games alone cannot alleviate the underlying issues at the club.
• Unification among fans is crucial to reclaiming the club from those who do not prioritize its best interests.