Celtic interim chairman Brian Wilson addresses fan boycott plans
Celtic interim chairman Brian Wilson has reached out to supporter groups amid plans for a boycott of Saturday's Scottish Cup tie against Dundee.
The Celtic Fans Collective, which represents hundreds of groups, announced the plans amid ongoing frustration with the board.
The umbrella group again demanded the departure of chief executive Michael Nicholson, the reinstatement of the banned Green Brigade and the restoration of club access to fan media groups.
A transfer window in which Celtic did not spend any money on transfer fees and rejected a late, major 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."
The former UK Government minister revealed he had a respectful conversation in Glasgow city centre this week with four young Celtic fans who relayed their frustrations and listened to his explanations.
He added: "Many of them feel the same frustrations about communication, about having an input to the club, about knowing what's going on. The thing that comes up repeatedly is 'we want to know what's going on'.
"So that's the channel that I really want to develop over the next few weeks. Of course, deal with each individual group, but also deal with the broad mass of Celtic supporters and give them what they are totally reasonably asking for - information, understanding, and seeing a route back to where we should be, which is a full stadium, all behind the team.
"That's all I want. It's all I've ever wanted."
--
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.