Martin O’Neill Reveals What Happened During Celtic Supporters’ Meeting as He Addresses Balaclava Protest

Martin O’Neill has spoken candidly about his decision to attend a meeting between Celtic supporters and senior figures from the club’s hierarchy in Greenock.

The Celtic manager joined interim chairman Brian Wilson, chief executive Michael Nicholson and chief financial officer Chris McKay at the gathering, which attracted more than 120 supporters.

O’Neill revealed that he had not originally been scheduled to attend but decided to get involved after discovering that the meeting was taking place.

He wanted to hear directly from supporters and understand the concerns they intended to raise with the club’s leadership.

O’Neill describes Celtic meeting as ‘robust’

Explaining how his involvement came about, O’Neill admitted that his attendance was an unplanned decision.

“First of all, I wasn’t really aware of the meeting, so it was kind of an ad hoc thing,” he explained.

“But I obviously was around. I spoke to Michael, and he said that they were going to meet. And I said, well, I wouldn’t mind going down to it if that was the case, obviously to experience what the fans would be asking.”

The Celtic boss described the discussions as firm but orderly, with supporters given the opportunity to question those representing the club.

“The meeting itself was, I think you could use the word robust, yes, firm, but very orderly questioning.”

O’Neill acknowledged that the responses provided might not have satisfied everybody in attendance, particularly given the level of frustration surrounding the club.

He added:

“And trying to give the answers that, not necessarily what people are looking for, because I’m not so sure that will ever reach a satisfactory stage for a while anyway. But, yeah, it was really interesting and an experience.”

The manager also explained that he believed attending was worthwhile because of the passion supporters have for Celtic.

“I probably didn’t really need to go to a meeting, but these people were big Celtic fans. And naturally, I think both board and supporters, I thought there was a wanting the best for the football club.”

O’Neill insists meeting remained orderly

The Celtic manager accepted that the club is going through a difficult period and suggested that difficult questions are part of dealing with challenging circumstances.

“At the end of the day, there are bad times, and I think that you should face up to that.”

He was also careful not to claim that every concern had been resolved, acknowledging that the supporters themselves would be best placed to judge whether the meeting had delivered satisfactory answers.

“Was everything answered by the board and myself to their satisfaction? One, you’d have to ask the people there at the time what was there.”

O’Neill went on to distinguish the gathering from Celtic’s previous annual general meeting, which attracted significant confrontation.

“There was no shouting. It wasn’t like the AGM that appeared [last year]. The shouting had taken place before the meeting.”

Celtic boss criticises balaclava protest

Another issue O’Neill addressed was the presence of a group of supporters wearing balaclavas outside the venue before the meeting.

The manager admitted that the sight had disappointed him, questioning why those protesting against the club’s leadership felt the need to conceal their identities.

“To me, I think that was the saddest thing. Would I have ever, in any day, ever thought that Celtic fans would be clothed in balaclavas before a meeting? Even if they were disapproving of what was happening. I think that’s really disappointing.”

He continued by arguing that supporters should be prepared to show their faces when expressing disagreement.

“I do find it hard to get my head round that kind of stuff. I think if you’ve got a dispute or something, I think you should be brave enough to show your face doing it.”

O’Neill also clarified that the group was present as he arrived, adding that he was unsure whether they had expected him to attend.

“[It was] just on the way in. I don’t know whether they expected me to be there or not, but it doesn’t really matter. It was just regardless of who was there.”

The manager’s comments offer further insight into a meeting that brought Celtic’s hierarchy face-to-face with frustrated supporters, with O’Neill making clear that he wanted to hear their concerns directly.