Martin O’Neill bemoans ‘really sad morning’ as Celtic AGM ends prematurely

Martin O’Neill felt Celtic’s abandoned annual general meeting was “as sad a morning” he had seen as he bemoaned a lack of unity at the club.

The interim manager received sustained applause and cheers as he was introduced to shareholders but the rest of the meeting was characterised by hostility between directors and fans.

The meeting was temporarily adjourned less than five minutes in amid chants of “sack the board”.

And it was ultimately closed early as shareholders reacted to a statement from director Ross Desmond, son of the club’s biggest shareholder Dermot, which accused a section of fans of being “bullies”.

However, O’Neill is convinced the disconnect can be repaired with the help of a new manager, whose appointment he hinted might not be far off.

The 73-year-old said: “I thought it was a really sad, sad morning, really sad morning. I just wonder what the great Jock Stein would have thought of it all, who preached unity at the football club, said that a club not united would never be successful.

“It’s as sad a morning as I’ve seen. I mean I’ve been to a few of these AGMs before and I suppose because we’ve been doing well at the time that it was nice. Not even sure I was ever asked a question in them at the time. But that was rather raucous.

“There were people who would have wanted to ask questions and the board have said that they’ve made mistakes.

“There’s only so many times that you can apologise and then you have to get on with things again. So we’ll start again and hopefully that will start when the new manager comes in.

“A united Celtic will be far better equipped to compete and try and win again.”

Fans have been campaigning for change following difficulties in the summer transfer window and the failure to