By Matthew Elder

Copyright scotsman

Disgruntled Celtic supporters groups have outlined plans to unite in protest against the club’s board starting with a partial boycott of Sunday’s match against Kilmarnock. A consultation meeting involving 260 fan representatives took place on Wednesday evening where it was agreed to build a “strategic, escalatory campaign” against the Celtic hierarchy while calling for the removal of chief executive Michael Nicholson, chief financial officer Chris McKay and chairman Peter Lawwell. Fans have been encouraged to make their feelings known with a late entry protest at Rugby Park on Sunday as the Scottish Premiership resumes following the international break. Celtic fans have expressed dismay over the club’s recent transfer activity, with a perception that the squad has been allowed to become weaker despite 12 new signing arriving this summer. Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah were sold for a combined £33million but while Celtic paid around £5m each for wingers Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti, low fees were paid for most other arrivals with several deemed not ready for regular first-team football by head coach Brendan Rodgers. Celtic were also unable to land a new striker before the transfer window closed despite Rodgers insisting he would prefer two before free agent Kelechi Iheanacho was recruited after deadline day following his release from Sevilla. Anger swelled when Celtic crashed out of the Champions League play-off to Kazakhstan outfit Kairat Almaty, fans having chanted ‘sack the board’ in the goalless first game in Glasgow. The Parkhead club responded to the unrest by releasing a 1000-word statement explaining their transfer business but supporters were left largely unsatisfied over its content. An open letter to the club demanding answers for “repeated failures in transfer dealings” among other complaints, led by Celtic fans groups including the Green Brigade, Bhoys Celtic and the Celtic Trust, garnered more than 400 signatories. A statement released on the Celtic Trust official X account revealed the next steps fans will take. The joint statement from fans’ groups read: “Yesterday evening, a consultation meeting was held with the signatories of the recent open letter to Celtic FC. “The open letter has still to be addressed by Celtic FC despite it representing tens of thousands of Celtic fans. “The consultation meeting reflected the second step of acting as a collective fan movement for positive change at our club and was attended by 85 in the room and 175 online. Comprehensive minutes will soon be shared with all signatories. “At the meeting, there was an overwhelming consensus on the following points which were compounded by a fan survey of 38,832 Celtic fans in advance of the meeting: to build on the recent ‘no confidence’ votes on the Celtic FC board, seeking the removal of Michael Nicholson, CEO; Chris McKay, CFO; Peter Lawwell, Chairman. “To build a strategic, escalatory campaign against the Celtic board. To build a democratic and representative fan body. To coordinate a ‘late entry’ protest at Kilmarnock v Celtic to further visualise and vocalise fan discontent. To help progress these points and the fan movement generally, a steering group of volunteers is being assembled. “Finally, we would like to thank all who have participated in the process so far. “It is natural that there will be a mix of feeling regarding some actions or inaction, however the most important consideration at this stage is maintaining, building and utilising broad fan support.”