JUST HOW STUPID DO THE CELTIC BOARD THINK WE ARE?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Apologies everyone, I’ve been stewing on this one for a while. I had hoped something would emerge, either from Celtic’s Board or the miserable excuse for journalists they still allow into their media events. But, nothing.
There’s been no further updates, no additional comment, only anger and frustration from fans and the usual ostrich approach to crisis management from our board. Fans remain banned, fan media remains locked out and all of us still don’t know why. No one at Celtic seems to have any interest in explaining what either fan groups or fan media have to do to resolve this impasse.
Before I continue, a little disclaimer here. The words expressed in this blog are my opinion, mine alone, and not necessarily that of ACSOM or indeed any of other ACSOM contributors. So, if anyone at Celtic or indeed anyone else takes issue with anything I’m about to say, then feel free to come at me.
Celtic Board Continue to Pass the Blame While Offering No Solutions
First, it was the Celtic Board who supposedly decided The Green Brigade were banned. After an alleged incident, the exact nature of which will still don’t know, despite almost 6 months having passed since this allegedly happened. Then it was Police Scotland, and now it is, apparently, in the hands of the Safety Advisory Board.
Honestly, if the Celtic Board passed the buck anymore at this point, we could bring them up on money-laundering charges!
At different times the various Celtic statements, or whichever AI engine they use to create them, have gone back and forth between calling what supposedly happened at Celtic Park back in October at our home game against Falkirk “an assault”, “a serious incident”, “severe misconduct” and “safety violations”.
Make your mind up guys. If you’re going to slander supporters, at least be consistent about it.
Meanwhile over at the Govan Debt Star, we have widespread hooliganism, fascist thuggery, racist chanting, and clear, documented cases of assault along with plenty of anecdotal evidence of illicit drug abuse.
Apparently, the Safety Advisory Group “recommended” that Rangers ban those Smackhead Smurfs, The Union Bears, for their latest acts of shame and terror.
Rangers, however, realizing how easily hatred and violence can be monetized amongst the worst elements of their support, apparently said: “Nah, we’re not going to do that.”
And here’s the thing, as much as I may think a bunch of Neo-Nazi thugs like the Union Bears have no business being anywhere near any Scottish football ground, it is Rangers’ prerogative if they decide that those are the kind of customers they are happy to cater to.
This does however, completely blow apart the supposed role of the Safety Advisory Group in determining that The Green Brigade remain banned from Celtic Park.
Do the Celtic Board really think we are stupid enough to believe that an “advisory” group has the power to determine who can and cannot be allowed into a football stadium?
This is entire thing is down to the Celtic Board, or rather to a small core of people on the periphery of the board with ideas well above their station and personal grudges with the Green Brigade and other organized fan groups.
Dermot Desmond, our largest individual shareholder, not our owner, has a serious problem controlling his ego and his temper. We saw this first hand in the wake of Brendan Rodgers departure last Autumn. Desmond decided to use official club media channels to launch a vicious and highly personal tirade against the Celtic manager.
Call me cynical, but if a supposed business mastermind can’t handle a single football manager calling him out on his constant interference in club transfers, then I don’t think he would allow thousands of fans to tell him to “get to f**k” at the next home game without some kind of retribution.
Funnily enough, and perhaps its entirely coincidental, but the first home game after Rodgers’ departure was, indeed, the infamous home game against Falkirk which saw heavy-handed policing, the erection of arbitrary and unnecessary barriers within the stadium, and the aforementioned, yet still largely mysterious “incident” that led to the banning of the Green Brigade.
Speaking of security, one man who has remained firmly in the crosshairs of angry supporters, despite saying almost nothing publicly on the situation is Celtic security chief Mark Hargreaves.
A former Chief Super Intendent of Police Scotland, with a 20-year career of service in the Police behind him, Hargreaves, on the face of it, seemed like a solid candidate to head up Celtic’s security apparatus when he joined in mid-2025.
Remember however, that since his appointment, his old friends at Police Scotland have been recorded on a number of occasions, most recently at Ibrox a couple of weeks ago, taking a very “robust” approach to the handling of Celtic fans, whilst standing back and offering almost no resistance as Rangers fans ran riot.
Hargreaves has said nothing either in condemnation of the two-tiered policing clearly on show at Ibrox, or the absolutely disgusting attempts to by our mainstream media to play out the “both as bad as each other” narrative over the Rangers fan-instigated riot after the Scottish Cup quarter final.
Cowardice, incompetence, or something more sinister? I’ll leave that for others to decide.
I don’t know who is worse, Desmond for his constant interference, petulant tantrums and iron-fisted rule of a club he only owns 34% of, or Hargreaves, who considers Celtic fans a threat to be contained rather than customers to be served.
I’ll say this much though, unless both are put in their proper place, and soon, I don’t see how the current fractures in the Celtic support can be healed.
