Simon Jordan has often defended football club owners in the past, which made his latest comments about Celtic supporters feel a bit unexpected.
The former Crystal Palace chairman has usually leaned towards backing the Celtic board whenever questions around spending or recruitment have come up. That is why his latest thoughts on the relationship between the support and the hierarchy stood out.
That probably tells you everything about how tense this season has been around the club.
Even after Celtic dragged themselves back into the race with Sunday’s 3-1 win over Rangers, frustration towards the board has not completely gone away. Months of poor squad planning, injuries and the collapse after Brendan Rodgers left created a level of anger that never fully disappeared.
Martin O’Neill coming back has completely changed the feeling around the players though.
The side suddenly looks sharper again. Daizen Maeda is flying, Kieran Tierney has brought drive from left-back and Celtic finally resemble a team capable of overpowering opponents physically once more.
You could feel that inside Celtic Park on Sunday.
Still, Jordan reckons some supporters would almost see losing the title as further proof against the board when it comes to spending and ambition. Hearing that from someone who normally sides with ownership groups made the comments stand out even more.
Jordan shared his thoughts while discussing Celtic’s title fight.
He said: (talkSPORT), “It’s interesting for the Celtic fan base, because it’s a win-win.
“If they win the league, they continue to have their glory of winning the league.
“If they don’t win the league they can turn their vile and bile on the board and talk about the investment that they feel they haven’t got previously.
“In part, there is a win-win mentality for Celtic fans. I know they will want to win the league but they have won the league so many times it doesn’t really matter now.
“If they were to lose this SPFL title they would have a louder voice against this Celtic board, [to say] you don’t spend money the way you should, you don’t invest in the way you should – and maybe there is a win on the back of that.”
There are bits of truth in what Jordan says, although plenty of Celtic supporters would push back hard on the idea that another league title somehow matters less because of previous success.
Sunday showed the opposite.
The atmosphere around the derby felt huge because supporters know exactly what is on the line now. This season has been exhausting and messy at times, which probably explains why every win currently feels bigger than usual.
That is also why the criticism aimed at the board became so fierce earlier in the campaign.
Many supporters simply looked at the resources available to Celtic and believed the club should never have allowed the title race to become this tight.
