I've set a Celtic question about what club REALLY is and it proves to be apt as transfer angst festers – Hugh Keevins

A draw is a disaster. A defeat’s a catastrophe. A transfer that could have cost a title would have been a betrayal of trust.

Liel Abada might be caught up in politics at Celtic Park but Matt O’Riley isn’t a prisoner of conscience. Abada is caught in the middle of a situation that could conceivably see him leave before the transfer window closes on Thursday night. His country is at war. Their enemy has support within that element of Celtic’s fan base who fly their flag at home and away matches.

A young player is under intolerable pressure of the sort that might be alleviated, temporarily or permanently, by removing himself from a personal predicament that deserves sympathy and understanding. O’Riley, on the other hand, is entitled to be flattered by, and interested in, the attention being paid to him by Atletico Madrid and other clubs.

But if Celtic had agreed to loaning or selling the Denmark international this month they would have been better off informing Police Scotland before they told the media. Because appropriate precautions would have needed to be put in place in anticipation of supporter protests outside Celtic Park.

O’Riley is under contract and his club have no financial needs that could have influenced their decision to do business with anyone else during this window. A time will inevitably come when a transfer is unavoidable but it is Celtic who determine when that time has arrived. I have posed the question before and it remains relevant in this instance. Are Celtic a football club or a bank?

Do they appreciate that tens of thousands of supporters who annually buy season tickets, replica kits and any other form of club merchandise will not stand for a betrayal of their trust? The vast majority