Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson ‘shrugged his shoulders’ when asked a key question at a meeting with fans.
Celtic board members Nicholson and Chris McKay, along with other club representatives, met with Celtic Fans Collective and several more supporter groups on Monday night.
The meeting was called by the Celtic hierarchy to address a number of concerns from fans over the running of the club and its strategic direction.
Nicholson addressed matters such as the infamous unsigned statement issued by Celtic in September, which he accepted did not go down well with supporters.
Nicholson’s wordless reaction to Rodgers ‘club signings’ comment
He and McKay were also pressed on who conducts transfer dealings at Celtic, and why Brendan Rodgers called some summer recruits ‘club signings’ in July.
Here’s how that part of the meeting played out as per the minutes: “The club were asked to confirm who is responsible for conducting football transfers – including if the chief executive and CFO were directly involved in the same.
“Supporter Groups also sought confirmation as to who values players and agrees commercial terms. CMcK explained that a multi-disciplinary approach is taken.
“This approach is led by the football department who identify players, with the executive team concluding transactions. This was noted by MN as not being unusual within football clubs.
“JG (Joe Gallagher, Celtic Supporters Association) asked if the football manager sanctioned all signings. MN confirmed that he did.
“MGe (Martin Gemmell, Celtic Fans Collective) asked why the manager referred to some signings as ‘club signings’ – MN shrugged his shoulders.”
What Rodgers said about ‘club signings’ in the summer
During Celtic’s pre-season trip to Italy, Rodgers referenced the likes of Callum Osmand, Hayato Inamura and Shin Yamada when addressing ‘club signings’.
Back in July, he said: “It’s pretty straightforward. There will be players within our recruitment team that are not just for now but for the future.
“Clearly I will look at those players and assess, and see if those players can come in and play. Then there will be other players we specifically need. But it’s still very much joined up.
“I suppose it’s more around whether the players are for now or later. People know the model over a number of years.
“There are players who come in who are maybe not expected to hit the ground running, but some of them do. That’s what I need to assess, those guys coming in.
“But I also need to win now, and we need to get those players in. Either way, I will be responsible for that.
“Club signings, with the greatest respect, I don’t care where they come from. I just need good players in the building who can help us win today, tomorrow and the next week.
“I’ve always developed players in my career, so I respect that side of it, but also the need for the present.
“You look at the likes of Callum Osmand. He’s a young, talented player, so is he ready now or does he need a loan? You don’t know that until you assess that. He’s still our signing.
“Inamura, for example, the idea was he’s a talented player, but he’s only been playing professional for a year. But he’s a really gifted played who played mostly at centre half or left back, so we’ll have a look at him.
“The idea was he’s train and work, but would maybe need a loan. In actual fact he’s come in and done really well.
“Yamada is only in the door. He has the profile and attributes we really like but for me, there is still more work for us to do.”
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