ANGE POSTECOGLOU flew into Glasgow late last week and has been introduced to the players, the staff, the board, the media and the fan media!

The manager has not had a minute to draw breath, but it’s clear the new Hoops boss knew this coming in.

On Friday, I sat in the Kerrydale suite with a group of Celtic fan media watching the manager take his traditional media press conference upstairs at Celtic Park before heading down to talk to us in an intimate setting.

When Ange and Dom entered the room, it never felt like a press conference, it appeared to be more of a meet and greet – a standing mic for participants to get their questions across; two seats on the stage for Dom and Ange to sit comfortably.

Questions got underway, and apart from a few shaky moments, the first foray into real fan media engagement for Celtic can be categorised as a success.

The manager was engaged, the CEO was engaged – having covered Celtic for many years on this site and other platforms I have spoken more with Dominic McKay in the past two weeks than I have with Peter Lawwell in his seventeen years at Celtic. There’s a willingness to change and to bring sites like CeltsAreHere.com into the fold – to reach out and speak with supporters and not just media ‘hacks’ as many like to call them.

We have a massive audience, built up over years. We are Celtic supporters who work daily to bring the best and most up to date news on the club we all love. It’s been disheartening over the years to see The Sun and The Record throwing out scoops and delivering the news through their skewed perspectives – the club happy to pretend we and others don’t exist.

We’ve read pushback to fan media being allowed access to the club since Friday. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been mostly positive but you see some of the people who are usually giving the media grief now taking aim at websites and podcasts.

We want the club to be more transparent, allowing fans in the door to ask any question they want – good or bad – has to be seen as a step in the right direction.

We don’t always agree on everything and we regularly debate with our audience on everything from transfers to the watery coke from the Parkhead kiosks – however, our motive will always remain the same. We’re here to serve the fans as much as we can and yes, hold the club to account when we believe they have lost their way.

It’s a real privilege for me and others who write for the site and to serve the Celtic support.

We started CeltsAreHere to be a small alternative to the mainstream media. Over the years, the fans have responded in outstanding numbers to our coverage.

In the season ahead, you can expect unprecedented coverage from us and all fan media sites willing to engage. I believe Friday’s presser has done wonders for anyone who was unsure about Ange Postecoglou. He spoke well in the mainstream media conference but even better when sitting with the fans.

Getting better insight from supporters asking the questions will certainly do wonders for the uncertainty we faced last season.

We’re looking forward to seeing what next season brings and hope you’ll come along with us for the ride.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t like the new format one little bit. I like my manager to speak before and after the game with the rest of the talking being done on the pitch. Feels too much like a chat show.

    • It’d be hard for him to do that, there are no games just now. It was a meet & greet press conference, he’s only been in the Country a week !!!!!!

  2. Good grief Red Scotland. Fans been greeting that Celtic FC including board, manager and CEO don’t communicate with fans, now they do thats wrong as well!!!! I don’t think this will be a weekly thing but think both Ange and Dom will come talk to fans if they believe fans aren’t seeing what they are doing. After watching both men over all their meetings think we are in for some good times.

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