There were no protests from Celtic fans against Hibernian on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any anti-board chants from the stands.
Simon Houston was at the Premiership match at Parkhead, where he stated that there was confusion with the supposed booing of Kasper Schmeichel and anti-Michael Nicholson chants.
Schmeichel’s horror show against Stuttgart days earlier saw him come under fire once again from the Celtic fans, but Houston wanted to clear up that he wasn’t being booed against Hibs.
Instead, the host of the Let Me Be Frank Podcast told Frank McAvennie that parts of the Celtic Park faithful were chanting against Nicholson… ‘Michael, Michael, get to f__k’, and it sounded to some like it was Schmeichel.
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Celtic fans were chanting against Michael Nicholson, and not Kasper Schmeichel
Martin O’Neill was critical of the protests against Stuttgart, as Houston shared that the atmosphere against Hibs was ‘very good.’
But it seems as though when parts of the ground started chanting ‘Michael, Michael get to f__k’, it resulted in some fans booing ‘each other’ because they thought Schmeichel’s name was being sung.
The booing of Schmeichel, which has happened on several occasions this season, has divided opinion because many are questioning whose cause it helps.
“I thought the atmosphere at the Hibs game was very good,” said Houston. “The message was getting through a wee bit that the whole stadium has to get involved here.
“The only thing was that there was some booing of each other, there was a point, I think, in the first half, where the fans up in the corner in between the Main Stand and the Celtic End, started singing ‘Michael, Michael GTF’, as in Michael Nicholson.
“I think there were some people in the stadium who thought they were singing ‘Schmeichel, Schmeichel,’ so there was a lot of booing, and in-fighting, if you want to call it.”
Frank McAvennie: “Was it definitely Michael?”
Houston: “They have sung it before. They were singing ‘sack the board’, and then ‘Michael, Michael GTF.’
McAvennie: “Because I heard the booing of Schmeichel. He has saved us a lot, but he has had a couple of rickets. Why aren’t they playing Sinisalo? Why aren’t they playing the boy?”
Frank McAvennie questions Kasper Schmeichel’s injury status
Last season, Schmeichel injured his shoulder on international duty with Denmark, and it kept him out of action, with Viljami Sinisalo deputising.
But McAvennie questioned whether Schmeichel is still injured, as Houston even suggested that he is only playing to keep him active for the 2026 World Cup in the summer.
McAvennie: “I think he (Schmeichel) is injured. See when he is putting his right hand up to save it, and I am thinking, ‘if you do that (put your left arm out), then you have got it.’
“If you put that one out (left hand), you have got it. The other one isn’t reaching.”
Houston: “What do you think of this theory that Schmeichel wants to play in the World Cup?”
McAvennie: “If you keep playing the way you are playing, you won’t be going anywhere.”
Houston: “There is maybe a keenness to give him games and give him the opportunity.”
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