Celtic fans’ protests at Rugby Park on Sunday were much-anticipated.
Transfer targets such as Louis Munteanu, Jakob Breum and most recently Kasper Dolberg were not brought to the club, with Brendan Rodgers’ squad getting notably weaker over the summer.
This led to a fan-led open letter to the Celtic board, demanding answers for seven key questions about the way the club was being managed.
The Parkhead board responded with a controversial statement, released on a Saturday night. Most fans deemed this statement to be making excuses and condescending towards supporters.
Rodgers said that he understood fan frustrations ahead of the protest on Sunday – but will the positive feeling of wins diminish future fan action efforts? One pundit thinks so.
Celtic wins will reduce protest numbers says Marvin Bartley
Celtic won the match thanks to a last-minute penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho, in an ironic turn of events given the scrambling for his signing being a key source of supporter frustration.
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Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
For Marvin Bartley, speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard, the momentum of fan protests may rely on the team not winning on the pitch.
Bartley said: “I think the numbers will get less and less, if you’re winning on the pitch. If Celtic would have drawn or lost that game, I think you get a lot of people doing it again.
“But I think the numbers will get smaller and smaller as long as the team keeps performing on the pitch.
“Yes, the fans that are in there will still be angry with the board, but they’re not going to want to miss the football.”
Bartley is far from the biggest expert on the Celtic support – we will see whether his comments age well.
Will Celtic fans continue protests if the team keeps winning?
There is a feeling that fan unrest is different this time around, with several pundits such as Chris Sutton saying that wins won’t change the fans’ feelings.
Anti-board chants and banners were on show throughout the match, even during celebrations with the Celtic players after the match.
It feels like the ball is in Michael Nicholson’s court – Rodgers himself has said that the club’s communication has to improve.
Europa League attendances will also be telling – but if relations between supporters and club are to improve, the Hoops faithful’s demands have been made clear.