At Celtic right now, a shrug speaks louder than a statement

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The Celtic Star

·17. Oktober 2025

At Celtic right now, a shrug speaks louder than a statement

When Celtic supporters gathered at Celtic Park last week for what was billed as an open and constructive exchange between the Club and its fanbase, there was at least some hope of clarity emerging from the fog of frustration…

Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson is sen during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC at Celtic Park on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Instead, one brief moment came to define the entire evening. That Michael Nicholson shrug.

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The Celtic CEO, questioned by supporters on why Brendan Rodgers has referred to certain players as “club signings,” offered no verbal response, just a shrug of the shoulders, according to the minutes at least. For many fans, it was the most honest answer of the night, if not the one they were hoping for.

That shrug, and what it represented, summed up months of growing disillusionment among the support. It symbolised a leadership unwilling or unable to communicate transparently, and a football structure clouded in contradiction.

Nicholson had earlier told supporters that Rodgers signs off on every acquisition. Yet the manager’s own phrasing throughout the summer, references to “club signings” and “projects”, suggested otherwise.

Celtic Chief Executive Michael Nicholson sits in the directors box with Celtic s Chief Financial Officer Christopher McKay to his right. Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 27 September 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO Shutterstock

The shrug, therefore, wasn’t just body language, it was an admission of confusion. Who actually runs Celtic’s football operations? Who identifies the players? Who is accountable when recruitment fails?

Those questions hung heavy over today’s press conference, where Brendan Rodgers once again faced the media, both fan and mainstream, in what has become a ritual of deflection and damage control.

It’s telling that, in a season of inconsistent performances, tactical tweaks, and an unsettled squad, the football itself has rarely dominated discussion. Whether it was the shambolic summer transfer window, the tone-deaf board statement, the tabloid takedown article, or the widening rift between boardroom and the support, Celtic’s narrative has been shaped more by politics than by play.

Rodgers has been left to face the music on issues that go far beyond his remit. Every time he steps in front of a microphone, he is asked not only to explain tactics and selection, but to defend the credibility of a board whose decisions he doesn’t control.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

As such, today’s press conference followed a familiar script. The football questions, about Celtic’s right-hand side, the shape of the midfield, the team’s balance, and how the international break has been used to address these flaws, will probably arrive next week, or next month, squeezed in after the political theatre has played out.

The questions revolved around the meetings and protests Journalists wanted Rodgers’ take on the Monday Night Meeting. Someone should have asked if the Club’s structure genuinely allow him to build a squad capable of competing domestically and in Europe.

Brendan’s answers always matter, not just for clarity, but for credibility.

For all the talk of long-term strategy, world-class standards, and self-sustaining business models, the gulf between Celtic’s rhetoric and reality has rarely felt wider. Supporters see a team short of attacking quality, a board reluctant to spend despite them saying otherwise and despite record reserves, and a communication culture that leans on confidentiality as a shield against scrutiny.

That shrug moment was more than a PR misstep, it was a metaphor for the Club’s stagnation. It said, wordlessly, “we don’t have an answer, or we don’t think we owe you one.”

Rodgers, for his part, must now front up on both fronts, the football and the politics. He knows the questions are coming on a weekly basis now, and he navigates them with his usual composure, deflecting where necessary, reaffirming unity where possible. But he must recognise that the ground beneath Celtic feels unsettled.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic appeals during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

He used today’s press conference to pivot back to football, to the exciting, intensive run of fixtures, seven games in 21 days across three competitions, just to shift the narrative, even briefly, back to the pitch. But when he is once again drawn into defending the indefensible above him, we get more politics and less tactical insight.

One shrug from the CEO shouldn’t define a football club. But when that gesture replaces an answer, it tells its own story. For supporters, it confirmed what they already feared, that the lines of responsibility inside Celtic are as blurred as the vision for the team’s future.

When Rodgers stepped before the cameras this afternoon, he knew that the fans would watch closely, not just for team news, talk of tactics and formations, but for hints of whether the manager feels in control. Because in the absence of transparency from above, every word, every pause, every glance matters.

At Celtic right now, a shrug speaks louder than any statement.

Here’s Brendan’s media conference from earlier today….

Niall J

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Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

Danny McGrain signing copies of Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Photo: Celtic Star Books