‘Sad’ day as Celtic abandon AGM amid ‘sack the board’ chants

After the shareholders jeered director Ross Desmond for calling some fans “bullies,” interim manager Martin O’Neill described it as “as sad a morning” as he had witnessed after Celtic’s annual meeting was postponed.

Less than five minutes after the meeting began, some shareholders chanted “sack the board” and the meeting at Celtic Park had previously been adjourned for half an hour by chairman Peter Lawwell.

The Scottish Premiership club stated in a statement released shortly after that event that “such conduct is completely unacceptable and incredibly disappointing.”

We regret glaringly that shareholders who were deprived of a chance to participate in a fair and constructive meeting were not given the opportunity to participate.

Fans groups have criticized Celtic’s board for their summer transfer business and failure to qualify for the Champions League, where they currently trail surprise domestic league leaders Heart of Midlothian by seven points.

Desmond defended his father, a “lifelong and ardent “Celtic supporter,” in his opening statement, vowing that the board would not be bullied by “aggressive and irrational “criticism.”

The Irishman defended Lawwell and its co-founder, Michael Nicholson, and argued that “dehumanizing and demonizing them is repulsive.”

Desmond continued, “Those people are bullies,” and criticized a select group of fans for a recent incident that resulted in the Green Brigade Ultras group being banned.

According to his statement, Lawwell only brought the meeting to a close because of the shareholders’ reactions.

As directors entered the crowded Kerrydale Suite, where other fans could watch via video link from another function suite, shareholders booed and received dozens of red cards.

Before the introduction of the interim manager, cheers for him followed the cries of “out, out, out.”

Vice-chair of Celtic Trust Jeanette Findlay demanded that the meeting be moved to questions as the season review video began to play on large screens.

Lawwell remarked, “This disruptive behavior is not on. sack the board” from shareholders. It must end now. Respect must be shown to everyone in the room.

Lawwell called a 30-minute adjournment after the “you respect us” yell.

As a series of videos were played on large screens during the meeting’s conclusion, dozens of fans gathered as Lawwell, Nicholson, and chief financial officer Chris McKay defended the board’s record.

McKay defended the club’s $77 million summer cash reserve position in his video, claiming it was the result of “a very successful year in terms of player trading and Champions League performance.”

However, Celtic has since “invested in major infrastructure projects, we’ve gone through a transfer window, and we’ve dropped to the Europa League this year.”

With the signings of Adam Idah and Arne Engels, McKay noted that Celtic had already spent about £25 million on the Champions League despite having already spent the previous two deals in the 2024 summer window.

He claimed that the club’s first-team cost was the highest ever. In club history, we had the highest squad-carrying value. That demonstrates a lack of ambition.

O’Neill later stated that “it’s the most depressing morning I’ve ever seen” and that he wished he had addressed the group in a few words to promote unity.

The 73-year-old legend Jock Stein reminisced the statement, “A club without united would never be successful,” when he led Celtic to seven pieces of silverware during his first managerial tenure.

He acknowledged at his post-game press conference, “That was a little raucous. The board has acknowledged that they made mistakes, but there were those who would have desired to ask questions.

There are only so many times you can apologize before you have to go through with it. So we’ll start over, with the goal of starting over with the new manager.

There must be a reunion of this, they say. “A clear disconnect exists at this moment, but it can be fixed without a doubt.