The ‘Not Another Penny’ Campaign Was Never About Hurting Celtic — It Was About Forcing The Ambition We’re Finally Seeing

There was always a fundamental misunderstanding about the Not Another Penny campaign.

It wasn’t about hurting Celtic.

Nor was it about supporters suddenly deciding they didn’t want the new shirt, didn’t want to visit the Superstore or somehow enjoyed withholding money from the club they’ve supported their entire lives.

This was about leverage.

It was supporters saying that if Celtic continued accumulating enormous financial reserves while failing to adequately invest in the football team, then perhaps the only language the people running the club would understand was money.

Now Celtic are spending it.

Hassim Hassan has arrived in a significant deal. Mika Baur represents another serious investment. Kasper Høgh is through the door and scoring already. Duran has added proven European quality.

Suddenly we’re looking at a Celtic transfer window with genuine first-team ambition.

So, has Not Another Penny worked?

Nobody can reasonably claim the campaign alone caused Celtic’s sudden change in direction. There have been too many different pressures building around the club for that.

Martin O’Neill’s influence mattered most. Make no mistake about his drive behind the scenes to force change and quick for a window that was plodding along at the pace we have became accustomed to from Celtic.

The increasing scrutiny of the board matters. Supporters’ groups speaking out matters. Podcasts, fan media and ordinary supporters refusing to accept the same excuses matter.

And yes, supporters deciding they would no longer blindly hand over their money matters also.

Pressure doesn’t need one single source to be effective.

It accumulates.

What cannot be ignored is the contrast between Celtic’s behaviour earlier in this window and what we’re seeing now.

This doesn’t look like a club incapable of doing deals.

It doesn’t look like a scouting operation incapable of identifying quality.

And it certainly doesn’t look like Celtic couldn’t afford better players.

Let alone the UEFA Financial rules they made up to suit their agenda.

The willingness wasn’t there.

Now, for whatever combination of reasons, it is.

That creates another question for supporters who backed the campaign.

When does Not Another Penny become another penny?

For me, a campaign needs an objective.

If the objective was to force Celtic to start behaving with greater ambition, then supporters should be entitled to acknowledge progress when they see it.

If someone withheld £70 from Celtic because they were furious about the direction of the club, but now sees millions being invested into players capable of improving the first team, I’m not going to criticise them for buying that shirt they wanted.

I can’t imagine how hard it is to deny your kid a shirt on their Birthday for example even though it’s for the greater good of the Club they’ll support for the rest of their lives.

I think caving to your own desires for some the cracking recent Adidas kits and merch is understandable if you feel the Club is playing ball with us in return.

That’s not abandoning the campaign.

That’s evidence of why the campaign existed.

You do something for us, we’ll do something for you.

That’s how a healthy relationship between Celtic and its support should operate.

But nobody should confuse progress with the job being finished.

Two good weeks don’t erase the absent loanees signed in January. The Nancy appointment. The shocking treatment of Rodgers and to be honest Martin O’Neill last season.

They don’t erase 7 out of 9 failed Champions League qualifying opportunities or years of Celtic operating below their financial capability.

Keep your eyes on the board.

Praise them when decisions deserve praise. Hold them accountable when they don’t.

Because Not Another Penny was never about wanting Celtic to fail.

Quite the opposite.

It came from supporters who believed Celtic could be considerably more ambitious than those running it were allowing it to be.

And right now?

We’re finally getting a glimpse of the Celtic they were demanding all along.

If you want a shirt with an £11m strikers name on the back now to mark it, who am I to judge?