Martin O’Neill has sent a message to Celtic supporters, welcoming the idea of a meeting between fans and the club hierarchy in a bid to heal the deep divisions that have engulfed Parkhead in recent months.
It comes after the Celtic Fans Collective published a detailed open letter to interim chairman Brian Wilson, who himself called for unity after the arrival of Martin O’Neill, for the second time this season.
O’Neill, speaking following the dismissal of Wilfried Nancy after just eight games in charge, acknowledged the supporters’ frustrations and made it clear that he’d support efforts to bring both sides together.
“Do you know what I think? I wouldn’t mind having a meeting with a group of people just for people to air their grievances and things like that,” he said, quoted by the Glasgow Times.
“I’m a football manager. It’s rather obnoxiously ridiculous of me to think that I can resolve a problem. What you can do is, I think, maybe have a bit of a truce if that’s the case.
“I’d love it if the stadium was absolutely just ready to go and ready to support the players through thick and thin, because it will be a difficult time. It does wear you down a bit, you know.
“So it would be nice to have people together. We’d have to try and win the football matches, and that quells things for a little while. That’s all it does. But eventually, at some stage, whatever comes or goes, the board and supporters will have to come back into unison.”
Fans have grown tired of the board’s silence and frustrated by a series of PR disasters, from the sacking of Brendan Rodgers, which led to that crazy Dermot Desmond statement, to bizarre appointment of Nancy, to the continued ban on the Green Brigade and the fan media blackout.
His first game back in the dugout comes on Saturday, at home to Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United. The Arabs were on the winning side when they faced Celtic a few weeks ago, with Nancy in charge.
The Hoops took the lead, but a second-half crumble saw United win 2-1.
Celtic sit third in the table, six points behind Hearts, and three off Rangers, and need unity on and off the park if they are to get themselves back into the title race.