CELTIC’S decision to put out a statement on Saturday night seems to have only made a bad situation even worse.
Supporters have been venting their displeasure for weeks now with the club’s lack of activity in the transfer market.
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That came to a head this week when the summer deadline passed without a striker arriving – and Adam Idah going out the door to Swansea City.
Celtic did at least get a frontman in the following day when free agent Kelechi Iheanacho signed but in the eyes of many fans that was too little too late – especially with the team failing to reach the Champions League.
A collective of Hoops supporters’ groups penned an open letter to the board following the conclusion of the transfer window earlier this week.
That followed chants of “Sack the board” during the team’s Premiership fixture against Livingston a fortnight ago.
And on Saturday night the Celtic board finally responded with a lengthy statement that was meant to ease supporters’ concerns.
The blistering 1,030-word response called out ‘other parties’ for leaking information to the press and took aim at ‘inaccurate’ reporting during the summer window.
The statement – that had no name attached to it – also defended the lack of spending over the summer, saying that the club had to “adhere to our self-sustaining model: to protect the present and secure the future, ensuring Celtic remains strong for generations to come.
“The Club’s model has been developed and applied over many years, and during that period the Club has enjoyed a sustained period of success and growth.”
Needless to say, that stance didn’t go down well with a lot of Celtic fans.
And the pundits have been lining up to have a pop at chief exec Michael Nicholson and the rest of the board too.
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Michael Stewart is never short of a word or two.
The BBC pundit did not hold back as he launched into the Celtic board for this “PR disaster”.
And the former Hearts and Hibs midfielder reckoned the only thing missing from the mammoth statement was an apology.
Speaking on Sportsound, Stewart said: “The statement is an absolute PR disaster.
“Talk about not being able to read the room.
“Of course, they were under pressure. They felt like they had to speak.
“But, to be perfectly honest, they’d have been better just being quiet than coming out with that.
“They are conflating all sorts of things. And it’s gobbledegook.
“That statement is trying to justify the end result.
“The fact is they’re now a striker down. Whether it’s quality or not, it’s just simple numbers.
“Kyogo Furuhashi went in January and wasn’t replaced.
“Idah was let go and was eventually replaced after the window shut.
“At no juncture in that statement did the Celtic board actually just come out say, ‘you know what, it’s not been as good as we hoped’.
“That statement could’ve been one word – ‘sorry’.” That could have been it.
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“It didn’t look as if there was any self-reflection.”
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