O’Neill: Fan-board issues can be ‘debilitating’ for Celtic amid planned boycott

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill hopes a “middle ground” can be found, as fans continue to show their frustration towards the club’s board.

Supporters are split over a proposed boycott, starting with the Scottish Cup game against Dundee on Saturday.

The Celtic Fans Collective, which represents hundreds of groups, announced the plans. The umbrella group again demanded the departure of chief executive Michael Nicholson, the reinstatement of the banned Green Brigade, the Parkhead club’s ultras group, and the restoration of club access to fan media groups.

Celtic interim chairman Brian Wilson has reached out to supporter groups in a bid for unity and O’Neill is looking for some sort of resolution before the situation becomes “debilitating”.

He said: “What I would like, if it’s at all possible, is some meetings which I think Mr Wilson said were going to take place, which is a big step forward.

“Let’s find out what all the ailments are and let’s see if we can rectify some of them, because going forward the club will trip itself up if that’s the case. Eventually it’s debilitating and it does affect people.

“And Celtic have always prided themselves in a sort of togetherness, and it is strange, really, for it to be in this shape. So we do need the fans in.

“You saw Falkirk manager John McGlynn saying that the atmosphere here can turn toxic pretty quickly and that’s not something you want to hear from opposition managers.

“Maybe these meetings might be too late before Saturday’s game, but if they’re talking about some sort of show at Stuttgart, I think we should try and have some sort of talks before then.

“There has to be a middle ground somewhere along the way, as to how quickly we can reach that is probably in the lap of the gods.

“But it would just be nice to know what all of the complaints are about or the club’s attempt at least to rectify those.”

A transfer window in which Celtic did not spend any money on transfer fees and rejected a late £25m offer for Arne Engels has again sparked concerns over the club’s recruitment strategy.

Wilson had appealed for unity when he replaced Peter Lawwell two months ago but himself came under criticism for a lack of engagement with fans.

He has sought to address that by contacting supporter groups, although it is not clear which ones, and explained that the transfer window had “sidetracked” the strategic change that he had flagged in December.

“When I did that interview, I spoke about unity and I spoke very specifically about unity within the stadium,” he said in a Celtic TV interview. “Now, I don’t expect that suddenly all the issues go away.

“What I did ask for was, and what I think the great majority of Celtic supporters would like to see, is unity behind the team. And so let’s sort out these other issues.

“And I’m no way dismissing them or marginalising them. On the contrary, we want to engage with them. But the short-term imperative is to support the team.

“And it’s up to each individual to make a judgement of whether a boycott, being outside the stadium or inside the stadium, helps that. But that’s for people to judge.”

The former Labour MP added: “I accept that there hasn’t been as much engagement as I would have liked over the past month for a range of reasons. But most recently, mainly because of the focus on the transfer window.

“But what I can also say is that we have reached out, we’ve reached out to every supporters group. And I hope these meetings will take place within the next week or so. And then let’s see if we can go forward.

“There is no reluctance on my part to engage. And I hope that can be put into practice very soon.”

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