Celtic chairman calls for unity amid fan boycott plans

Having recently replaced Peter Lawwell – who stood down as Celtic chairman at the end of December, citing “abuse and threats” – Wilson accepts “there hasn’t been as much engagement [with the fans] as I would’ve liked” in the past month.

Wilson says that has mainly been down to the transfer window being the priority, while he also praised O’Neill, assistant coach Shaun Maloney and the Celtic players for pulling themselves back into Scottish Premiership title contention.

Celtic’s winter window was disrupted by the sackings of manager Wilfried Nancy and head of football operations Paul Tisdale in early January.

The club had recruited five players by the deadline, all of which were loans, and rejected a bid of up to £25m from Nottingham Forest for midfielder Arne Engels.

They are also in talks to sign former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

After a “turbulent” month, Wilson says the club have “reached out to every supporters’ group” and he is hopeful meetings can take place “within the next week or so”.

“Let’s see if we can go forward,” he added. “There’s no reluctance on my part to engage and I hope that can be put into practice soon.

“We’re not going to agree on everything, but we can talk about [the issues]. But don’t let it distract from what’s going on inside the stadium, that’s all I’m asking for.”