Inside Celtic's chaotic AGM as civil war breaks out with no obvious roadmap for peace

On a bitterly cold morning at Celtic Park, we knew the atmosphere would be frosty between board and shareholders. By the afternoon, the word glacial doesn’t even do it justice.

Where on earth do Celtic go from here? A half-hour adjournment of an AGM less than five minutes in is bad enough. We lasted another 24 minutes before chairman Peter Lawwell pulled the plug.

Given that tensions at 11.27am had reached boiling point, it was probably a wise move. There was absolutely no way the whole meeting was going to pass without further incident.

Being a fly on the wall at the AGM of football clubs is normally a banal affair. Twelve months ago, Celtic’s was particularly dull. Oh they made up for it here. The Kerrydale Suite was so busy that an overspill area was created. Charging admission would have made a pretty penny.

Which is ironic, given that so much of the disaccord between the board and supporters stems from money. Many Celtic supporters feel the club is penny-pinching, asset-stripping, not living up to the ambitions of a club befitting of the Scottish champions.

The board see it differently. While there is an acceptance mistakes have been made, they defend their financial strategy and position. They also point to the level of success on the pitch for Celtic this decade.

No road map to Celtic peace

All that has gone out of the window, though. Celtic aren’t top of the Premiership, aren’t at the top of table of European football and are at complete loggerheads with a sizeable section of its fanbase. There is no road map to peace.

Those Celtic shareholders in the room who were the chief disruptors have to be held to account for not letting this meeting reach its conclusion. There were others who attended peacefully, keen to hear from the board. Some had travelled from far and wide.

Of course, vent frustration, but not to this level of arrogance and disrespect. It became apparent early on that we weren’t going the full way with this AGM. After some members of the crowd flashed red cards at the top table when they walked in, Lawwell called an early bath an 11.27am.

In between we had the adjournment, which was sparked when Jeanette Findlay of the Celtic Trust approached the stage just minutes into the screening of a video designed to celebrate Celtic’s achievements on the pitch. She exchanged words with Lawwell before security staff took her back to her seat.

“Disruptive behaviour is not on,” Lawwell barked at the crowd. “You respect us,” a few hollered back.

Before this, there had been a rapturous round of applause for Martin O’Neill, who is in interim charge of first-team affairs while Celtic take their search for a permanent manager close to fourth week. A penny for Brendan Rodgers’ thoughts, a man probably glad to be removed from all of this chaos. And a penny for what this shows to a prospective manager. Celtic certainly doesn’t hold the allure that it once did.

Lawwell took four minutes and 27 seconds to call the first adjournment. When he and his fellow directors returned at 11.02am, he said: “The meeting will close at 12.30pm - if we get there.” He knew ...

The next 24 minutes were of the powderkeg variety. We managed to get through a largely fluffy video in which Lawwell, chief executive Michael Nicholson and chief finance officer Chris McKay explained the lie of the land, why decisions were made and their ambitions for the club. There were apologies for mistakes from all the chief players. “We always want to get better,” Nicholson said, which drew a few giggles.

Then the main event, the address from Ross Desmond, who as a non-executive director was filling in for his father Dermot, a major shareholder. He did not miss a beat, an impassioned defence of the powerbrokers at Celtic after months and months of scathing, stinging criticism.

Desmond Jnr had more to say before Lawwell blew the whistle. We will never know what the rest of his speech contained. His last words read: “I'm well aware of the target I put on my back when I say this.”

Civil war at Celtic. Nine months ago, they held Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw in Bavaria. It is probably a blessing that the next match isn’t at Parkhead but in Paisley, where St Mirren lie in wait. The fall from that Champions League tie is spectacular, with no obvious way back up.