‘Shows just how complicit the Celtic Board are with their friends at Ibrox’ ‘Don’t tie yourself to them’ ‘A very sad day for our club’ Nicholson and Bankier unleash furious backlash

Michael Nicholson has yet to open his gob in public but has already overseen two of the biggest PR disasters in Celtic’s history. 

Peter Lawwell’s cherished assistant never said a word about the intention to give Bernard Higgins a security job at Celtic but his silence said everything about his form of leadership. 

Against Livingston in October Ange Postecoglou’s side played for 30 minutes in an eerily silent stadium, at Dundee the match was interrupted by a flow of tennis balls, other protests impacted on the club before someone close to Higgins leaked it that his appointment had been abandoned. 

Yesterday a Twitter account in Australia claimed that a Glasgow derby was being planned for Sydney in November, perhaps panicked by that Celtic confirmed that they’d be playing in a 4-team tournament later this year. 

No details were given, later on Tuesday The Sun, a publication VERY VERY VERY VERY close to the Celtic boardroom confirmed that the two Glasgow clubs had signed and sealed a deal to play in Sydney, scratching each other’s back and cashing in on their so-called rivalry. 

Over the last decade the relationship between the Celtic board and their friends at Ibrox has become clearer and clearer. 

In 2011 the old club with the help of the SFA denied Celtic an opportunity to play in the Champions League qualifiers. Faced with exposing and damaging their friends at Ibrox and Hampden the Celtic board rolled over, kept quiet and hoped that they could continue to cash in on their trademarked Old Firm brand. From that decision they were all in with any club from Ibrox.

When liquidation faced Rangers in 2012 Peter Lawwell went into panic, meltdown, he even suffered some weight loss. Faced with turning Celtic into a modern club competing in Europe or sticking with his beloved Old Firm arm-wrestling contest he selected the parochial option. His mates Doncaster and Regan created the Five Way Agreement that Lawwell nodded through, telling shareholders that he hadn’t seen the email linking the new Ibrox club with their poisoned predecessors. 

Title stripping through applying the rules about ineligible players was avoided by the SPL and SFA- Lawwell said nothing as the reincarnation of his friends across the city continued with Dave King and Paul Murray on board. 

Should Celtic play their city rivals in Australia?

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No, no, no, no, no. A horrific idea

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Lawwell defended promoting Parks of Hamilton by claiming that ‘we are bigger than that’ as he held out the hand of friendship to big Douglas. 

Sitting beside Lawwell through all this was heir apparent, loyal Nicholson. After the inconvenience of Dom McKay, Nicholson has slipped into the brogues and the reinforced executive seat of his master and mentor. 

With Celtic linked with the club from Ibrox that had part of their stadium twice closed by UEFA in 2019 for racist actions Nicholson is saying nothing. 

Supporters have power, they don’t have to buy merchandise, they don’t have to reply to every call put out to the #celticfamily. 

Perhaps the Sydney jaunt might see an awakening of the Celtic support that their boardroom has no ambition other than sharing the poison of the O** F*** brand with their boardroom chums and business partners across the city.