The lines of identity that stretch between Celtic supporters and their club are strong enough to support the Forth Road Bridge; when an event occurs that blurs them, the outcome is widespread consternation.
It happened this week when Wim Jansen, the Dutchman who piloted the team to their first Scottish League championship in 10 years, quit as head coach amid rancorous accusations about the behaviour of the Parkhead hierarchy and counterclaims that Jansen would have been sacked in any case.
"The people at Celtic do not seem to realise that it is the players and the fans who are important," said Jansen. "They do not seem to understand football people and I didn't want to go on like that."
At a farewell press conference in Glasgow yesterday Jansen expanded on his disaffection with club chairman Fergus McCann and, especially, the general manager, Jock Brown. He claimed they prevented him from signing players he wanted, including Karlheinz Riedle, two weeks before the German striker joined Liverpool, and the former Celtic midfielder John Collins of Monaco.
"In Riedle's case, they didn't even seem to try," said Jansen. "I think they believed he was too old (he was 31) and not a player for the future who would still have value in two years' time. I was never told how much money I had to spend and other players I recommended were, I believe, considered too expensive.
"But good players are expensive, that's the modern game. And the Celtic support deserve the top players. We don't play for Fergus McCann or Jock Brown, we play for the fans. They should be told how much there is to spend. Sometimes I felt I was fighting our own people more than our opponents."
Any criticism of McCann, however, should be leavened by what he has achieved in the four years since he rescued the club from bankruptcy; Celtic Park rebuilt at a cost of £30 million, a net £15 million spent on players and the £9 million overdraft he inherited wiped out.
That is an outlay of £54 million, in addition to which season tickets have risen from 7,000 to 50,000 and average gates are up from 21,000 to 49,000 with the club announcing a profit of £7 million in its last report.
