Rangers were once again the talk of the Celtic AGM as penalties, VAR, the five-way agreement and John Beaton all got a mention.
Celtic’s annual shareholder gathering is famous for soundbites about Rangers and the 2023 edition did not disappoint.
When asked about the repercussions of referees and VAR missing key decisions, Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson joked “penalty Rangers”. What a zinger.
Nicholson also missed the part where Celtic have had the same number of spot kicks as Rangers this season.
Rangers conspiracies pop up at Celtic AGM
The Parkhead directors also had to answer ridiculous questions on referee John Beaton and his apparent allegiances to Ibrox.
There is a long-standing conspiracy surrounding the referee after he overseen what was a crucial Rangers Old Firm victory in December 2018.
Chairman Peter Lawwell responded by saying “the last time a penalty was given against Rangers was when John Greig handled the ball” insisting “any issue we see in any game, we will take it up”.
So if we’ve got this right, the Celtic board have just suggested to their AGM that they are putting pressure on the SFA to give more penalties against Rangers.
And we thought it was all about simply getting decisions right.
At least the Parkhead directors aren’t as keen on these Old Firm conspiracy theories like some of their fans, right?
Resolution 12 anyone?
It wouldn’t be a Celtic AGM without some lone maverick bringing up the infamous resolution 12 and Rangers’ participation in the Champions League qualifiers in the 11/12 season.
Coming before the club’s financial collapse, it is suggested Rangers should not have been allowed to play the qualifiers – where the club was beaten by Malmo – and thus Celtic missed out on the lucrative bonus of potentially playing in the competition.
Alongside this, the Celtic AGM saw the club’s board asked about the five-way agreement which saw Rangers admitted into the fourth tier of Scottish football.
Peter Lawwell, probably sick and tired of all this by now, claims he’s “never read the agreement” and that he “never will”.
That’s all from the Celtic AGM until for this year but you can look forward to more of the same next season with Rangers never far from the agenda.
