Scott Brown: Celtic fans within their rights to protest

Celtic captain Scott Brown has sympathy for supporters who protested in the stands ahead of Sunday's draw against Ross County.

Celtic fans display a banner during the club's 1-1 draw with Ross County. Picture: SNS

Despite the Hoops homing in on five Premiership titles in a row, the Parkhead faithful made no bones about their anger with the direction the club has taken.

The 1-1 draw was played out in front of empty seats, very obvious protests against the board and at times near-silence.

Brown, in Dublin to promote Celtic’s pre-season International Champions Cup match against Barcelona in July, said the fans were within their rights to make their feelings known.

“I think everyone’s got their say,” he said.

“They can say and do as they please because we have not been producing the right results as we should be. We know that and we have let ourselves down.”

Brown vowed to lead the Hoops to a fifth title in a row and even pledged to go on and win six and seven in a row.

“We need to bounce back from this now. We need to start getting ourselves together. We need to go back to winning ways. We’ve got next season to look forward to,” he said.

“As everyone knows there’s going to be a new manager but we’re concentrating on the last three or four games of the season now.

Ronny Deila announced on Wednesday that he would be leaving at the end of the campaign but Brown, having previously worked under Neil Lennon, refused to be drawn on his preferred choice of replacement.

“That’s not really for me to say. The board will be working on that in future weeks,” he said.

“For now Ronny is still our manager and now we need to try and win the league for him as soon as possible and give him something back.”

Lennon, who was succeeded by Deila, has made no secret of his desire to have another crack at the Parkhead job and is second favourite with some bookmakers.

Celtic are nine points ahead of Aberdeen with four games remaining and could win their fifth successive title next weekend.

But that masks deep unease among fans. Among the banners displayed in Celtic Park before the Ross County match was one aimed at chief executive Peter Lawwell and major shareholder Dermot Desmond.

It said: “Lawell (sic) and Desmond’s legacy; empty jerseys; empty hearts; empty dreams; empty stands.”

Others read: “From boardroom to dressing room; You’ve embarrassed yourselves; The Celtic jersey has shrunk to fit inferior players.”

Deila resigned days after the Hoops were beaten by Old Firm rivals Rangers in a dramatic William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out. Fans were also frustrated at the club’s lack of Champions League progress under the Norwegian.

David Moyes, who was sacked by Real Sociedad in November, is favourite with some bookies, although the odds on former West Brom boss Steve Clarke getting the job have been slashed.

Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane, a former Hoops player who has turned down the position in the past, has not publicly discussed the situation.

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