Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers called on his players to focus on the football and ease the dissent among fans with results after a 1-1 draw at Aberdeen exacerbated the concerns of the Hoops support.
Celtic ran out to chants of “sack the board” from the visiting fans and a banner reading “Celtic board, on your heads be it”.
Supporters were unhappy with a transfer window that saw Nicolas Kuhn and on-loan Norwich forward Adam Idah arrive and the likes of David Turnbull and Mikey Johnston depart.
Kuhn netted Celtic’s equaliser in the 63rd minute, four minutes after coming off the bench, but many supporters believe the failure to further strengthen the squad has risked their cinch Premiership title defence and they resumed their chants of dissent after the game.
The name “Lawwell” was central to the noise, after the influence of chairman Peter Lawwell and the record of his son, head of recruitment Mark Lawwell, came under scrutiny in recent days.
Rodgers had called for unity ahead of the game and he said afterwards: “I can only concentrate with the players on what we do on the field.
“You always find that winning games and performing well can ease those situations, and that’s what we aim to do.
“Supporters pay their money, they have every right to say what they want to say.
“For us it’s the field, we can only control that. If we can do that, then we will be okay.”
Rodgers, who felt his side lacked aggression in the second half, agreed it was “very important” not to let the complaints become a distraction to his players.
Although the fans were chanting against the board before and after the game, they applauded the players and manager after the final whistle and supported throughout.
“Whatever goes on outside of the field, you have to be able to deal with that,” he added.
“At a club like Celtic, and the biggest clubs, there will always be that pressure there. I don’t need to add any more pressure to the players. They understand, playing here.
“My job is to give them the confidence to find the results we need to find. But there’s still so many games and a long, long way to go.”
Aberdeen did not manage a single effort at goal in the first half but Bojan Miovski netted on the counter-attack in the 50th minute and the Dons had several opportunities to win the game in a strong second-half showing.
Caretaker manager Peter Leven revealed his simple message to his players at half-time: “Relax.”
He added: “Celtic are a good team, they are going to pin you back but when we turned possession over, we just needed to make a few more passes.
“We knew Celtic were going to press the first five seconds. I just said ‘believe in yourselves, be a bit more braver on the ball’. And I think you could see that in the second half.
“We had a few chances in the second half. The boys ran well second half, pressed them, passed the ball a lot better. It was just about belief.”
Aberdeen players were incensed that referee Steven McLean did not send off Maik Nawrocki after the defender fouled Miovski while already on a yellow card but Leven did not make much of the incident.
“I never saw it again,” the first-team coach said. “The second yellow card never happened but it’s one of these things the referee has got to deal with.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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