As AGMs go, this was a car crash.
Ian Bankier had to go on the defensive and spin game throughout the event inside Celtic Park on Wednesday night. There was so much to pick up on, but one quote stuck out to me in the aftermath.
When a Celtic fan and shareholder asked the question when Ian and other board members would step aside and allow people who ‘care’ to run the club – here was Bankier’s response.
“I’m not going to win any applause from this room,” he replied. “I understand the disappointment but to condemn the board on wide generalities, one that’s delivered football and financial success over 10 years, is short-circuiting.
“Our style is to do business behind closed doors and you might not like that, but it’s the way it works. I know you can’t see it but the progress we’re making and the extent we’re competing is good at the moment.”
Accusing a large section of the Celtic support of ‘short circuiting’ is quite something.
Ian’s either in self preservation mode or he believes the stuff he’s saying. Both options are deeply concerning. The chairman spoke about accountability, however, we have yet to see any.
If they genuinely do believe Celtic fans are over reacting to last season our troubles will not end with this board.
It was years of mismanagement that brought us to this point. They overseen one of the biggest collapses in our history due to pure negligence and arrogance – it doesn’t surprise me they will not put their hand up and say ‘our bad’.
Serious concerns over the governance of Celtic still remain.
Inside the meeting on Wednesday, the majority of shareholders in the room did not raise their hand to reappoint either Bankier or Wilson to their place on the board.
Both remain because the man with the largest block of votes runs the show.
If we ever want to have a bigger say in how our club is run we must act. Getting involved with the Celtic Trust or simply buying shares when you can and voting with them could go a long way.
It amazes me when Bankier makes statements like that.
By any discernable measure last year was a culmination of years of neglect.
Players brought in because our Chief Exec knew the agent or someone who worked at the selling club. They weren’t brought in for football reasons which is damning in itself.
Papped out of the Champions League by teams with smaller budgets than us year after simply vecause we don’t prepare every single year.
He talks about financial success yet he has oversaw the club squander opportunities to make real in roads in Europe.
Over the last three years the share price has tanked so that tells you what the market think of our Board and current direction.
I’m as diehard a Bhoy as any other fan, but I think some of the vitriol directed towards the board is a disgrace. We won a quadruple treble, 9 in a row, we have a great stadium and the board have done a decent job in getting Ange and providing access to the players he’s brought in so far.
The board are not perfect, far from it. But get a grip, we’re on the up and it’s an exciting time to be a Hoops fan. Let’s see who Ange brings in during the next transfer window.
Some of the complaints from the fans are an embarrassment to our club, and that childish tennis ball stunt at the Dundee game was a farce.
Compared to many teams our board has done a great job, sometimes you need to look at the wider picture and compare to others to see how ‘bad’ we actually have it.