Celtic gave the Celtic Fans Collective exactly what they wanted

Journalist Stephen McGowan is spot on with his assessment of the Celtic Fans Collective's battle with the club over the weekend. The Bhoys hit out at the Collective over their protest at a St Andrews golf event.

The Collective organised a protest whereby some Celtic fans threw tennis balls onto the course where Dermot Desmond was playing. The organisation remain deeply frustrated with how the club is being run by Desmond, and they feel as though they are being ignored amid attempts to engage in dialogue with the club.

But Celtic are not fans of the Collective, and they are even less so after Saturday's events. They released a lengthy statement that felt targeted and from a place of anger, likely directed by Desmond himself. That statement can be found here.

Celtic condemned the actions of the Collective, but the statement was of a rambling nature, and it felt too personal to be considered professional.

Discussing the statement on the Press Box Podcast, McGowan said: “What happened yesterday was a howl of frustration and impotence from a Celtic support who have tried to appeal for a change to the way Celtic do their business, have failed to land any blows so far, and I think they felt they were in kind of, well, what did they have to lose by what was a fairly, I think a lot of fans would say, probably quite a childish stunt. 

“I don’t think it would have necessarily stirred up quite as much publicity or kerfuffle.

“I think it might have died away but for this lengthy, slightly rambling and very angry statement released at 10 past 10 on Saturday night, and I think it was a PR own goal from Celtic, from Desmond, whoever you want to say, because I think the story would have gone away because Celtic Fans Collective had been struggling to land a punch.

“They were really grappling around trying to find a foothold in the argument and not really getting terribly far, but then this statement comes out, and they get an awful lot of sympathy, and I think as I say it was unnecessary to release that.”

McGowan is spot on

The stunt itself was, of course, a little silly in nature, and the Collective know that. That doesn't mean it was silly to do it, because the reasons are understandable, but obviously there are better ways to protest.

But those means are not often available to fans because they rarely get a look at Desmond. That means they have to get creative to catch him at a moment that might actually be impactful, and the golf course is one of those places.

The stunt is what it was, and if Celtic wanted to condemn it, they should have done so in a short, snappy statement. Attacking a group of fans is never going to end well. There is no need to make it about the fans, either. Just say the form of protest is not something you agree with and let people judge which side they want to be on.

Instead, Celtic attacked the Collective and spent almost1,000 words trying to convince the world of why they were right. From a PR perspective, when you are trying to convince people that you are right, the battle is already lost.

Remain professional, remain consice and if in doubt, just say nothing at all and let it all blow over.

Celtic turned what was effectively a social media stunt into national news by responding, and the Collective will absolutely love the fact they have done that. They want to raise awareness to the issues, and they have succeeded. They might not have, or at least not in the way they wanted, had a response not been issued.