Celtic's beseiged chairman, Fergus McCann, faces his toughest battle tonight against the people who four years ago hailed him as a saviour.
McCann is expected to get a hostile reception at the Scottish champions' annual general meeting, despite having delivered a set of financial figures that would be the envy of most clubs in Europe.
McCann has presided over a record turnover of £27.8 million and a profit of some £5 million, as well as the construction of an impressive 60,000-seat stadium at Parkhead.
Yet he faces a wave of opposition from members who want the removal of his general manager, Jock Brown. Brown, the brother of Scotland coach Craig, is under fire because of his failure to resolve the bonus dispute with Celtic's players which has coincided with a loss of form on the field.
Supporters are also angry that none of the record season ticket sales takings of £17 million (more than 54,000 were sold, one of the highest totals in Europe) was spent on improving the squad.
McCann insisted on BBC radio on Saturday that Brown was doing a good job and that he still had every faith in the 54-year-old lawyer and former television commentator who was appointed Celtic's general manager 15 months ago.
However, only a minority of fans agree with that. A demonstration outside Parkhead after the weekend's 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock saw angry fans demand Brown's dismissal.
Brown remains unmoved, saying in a newspaper interview on Sunday: I don't pay much attention to them (critics). I am too busy doing my job and I am convinced a lot of people don't understand the role I have here."
Brown says his relationship with McCann gets "stronger every day". The Celtic chairman holds 51 per cent of the clubs shares, but he cannot ignore the fans who oversubscribed the 1994 share issue thousands of times over and pumped £11 million into the club. They make up the third largest group of shareholders at 22 percent.
Millionaire McCann saved Celtic from bankruptcy in 1994 by stumping up £9 million. But he has announced he is selling his stake next March - which will net him an estimated £40 million pounds - and returning to Canada.
