Are you afraid to answer? The AGM question that Nicholson and Bankier wouldn’t go near

Most of Friday’s Celtic AGM went smoothly with mutual appreciation in the air.

As in every situation when you put Ange Postecoglou together with Celtic fans there is a chemistry, a reaction, a mutual bond of respect that couldn’t be manufactured. It is just there.

The supporters and shareholders appreciate a genuine guy, someone with a passion, ambition and an incredible appetite for work. Nothing is half-hearted under Postecoglou, you buy in and reap the benefits or move on.

At the AGM Postecoglou’s honesty warned shareholders that some of their favourite players could be sold before the 2023 AGM, there wasn’t a murmur of protest.

Shareholders have trust in Postecoglou, they have viewed the progress he has made in the last 16 months and trust in what he has in mind for the next couple of seasons. There is honesty on both sides.

Football directors and executives are a different breed however. More defensive, secretive, suspicious. At Celtic and elsewhere.

I had three questions for the AGM, I could have asked 15 just as relevant such as why Celtic offer Cinch a patch on the jersey when their sponsorship with the SPFL isn’t compulsory.

Why does the Celtic B team play home matches on an artificial pitch? Why does the club persist with the St Ninian’s project when it is clearly not producing any players for the first team squad?

Does the club have faith in SFA refereeing chief Crawford Allan with only a very small group getting Celtic matches this season (Nick Walsh 3 and Don Robertson 3 from 12 SPFL matches).

There are plenty of things to ask a CEO who has never given a single interview after 14 months in the job, not even to Celtic TV.

My first question was about the glass in Joe Hart’s goal-mouth at Ibrox in April of this year. Sheepishly Nicholson admitted that he hasn’t been told how the glass got on the pitch during the half-time interval, he also revealed that CCTV wasn’t in operation which is an amazing aspect of a Glasgow derby.

The Celtic CEO was very relaxed about the whole issue despite the club’s Duty of Care to employees. A physio was hit by a glass bottle at half time.

Next up Nicholson was asked about the current and new five year deal with Sky Sports that locks Celtic in until 2030. Incredibly Nicholson said that he hadn’t seen the contract, it was an SPFL contract. When Bankier asked why it was important I reminded him of a previous contract that required four Glasgow derbies per season.

Finally I thought that I would conclude with a simple question, Football Scotland has reported it most accurately:

Here’s how the episode unfolded at Parkhead.

Stakeholder: “Here’s an easy question for you then, tomorrow’s opponents Dundee United were founded in 1909 and Aberdeen in 1903.

“Over in Edinburgh, Hibs were founded in 1875 and Hearts in 1876 (actually 1874*).

“10 of the last 11 years, we’ve won the Scottish championship but we didn’t win the championship in season 2021.

“Can the chief executive or the chairman tell me what year were the club who won the title in 2021 founded?”

Bankier replied: “I’m not going into that. This is my last AGM.

“Give me one on referees maybe, but not that. This is your last question, come on, there’s people behind you.”

The stakeholder responded: “What year was the team who won the 2021 title formed?”

Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson jokingly interjected: “I think Ian wanted to answer the question.”

Stakeholder queried: “Are you afraid to answer?”

Last year my questions to Bankier about Nick Walsh and Bobby Madden created some unwelcome attention on the Celtic chairman.

After 11 years in the job he’ll retire in January having made much the same contribution to the club as Marvin Compper and Marian Shved.

Leave a Comment
Exit mobile version