Celtic board better brace for Fergus McCann treatment if they don't get finger out but history has shown one thing

It's 26 years since Fergus McCann infamously got booed on Flag Day.

‘The Bunnet’ had saved Celtic from going belly up, rebuilt Celtic Park into one of the finest sporting arenas in the UK and helped capture the league title to deny Rangers surpassing Nine-in-a-Row. Talk about a tough audience. McCann copped it from the punters for his perceived penny pinching around signings and new contracts for adored players, with title-winning boss Wim Jansen quitting in frustration. The joy of stopping the 10 was replaced by animosity of failing to take the next steps required to kick on.

There is a sense of reflective embarrassment from some about that day but, for others, the more things change the more they stay the same. It’ll be interesting to see how the supporters react at Celtic Park. If it was chairman Peter Lawwell or chief executive Michael Nicholson unfurling the flag what would be the response? We’ll never know as Lisbon Lion legend Jim Craig will do the honours but you can have a guess.

Brendan Rodgers spoke the other day about the “negative, toxic energy” around signings and it felt it was aimed at the media. But it’s the fans, the ones who constantly are asked to stump up and can’t fathom why a club with tens of millions in the bank are a Kyogo Furuhashi injury away from playing without a recognised striker. The punters are pulling their hair out and it’s the media’s job to ask questions on their behalf.

Football folk often forget they are not talking to the media, they are talking to the platform that gets answers to fans. They might prefer to do their addressing through official club channels but the right questions don’t always get asked there. This is a strong Celtic squad packed with top players and led by an