Davie Provan has gone all in this morning in his newspaper column commenting on the Celtic Plc Results released this week and in particular focusing on the Chairman’s statement. The former Celtic winger goes after Bankier from the first paragraph of his Scottish Sun column writing: “The price of brass has gone through the roof due to shortages of the alloy. I reckon most of it can be found on Ian Bankier’s neck.”
At the last home game in the Scottish Premiership, Bankier welcomed Club Ambassador Roy Aitken’s guest, the former Celtic striker Frank McGarvey and according to the ex-player who scored alongside Provan in the 1985 Scottish Cup Final, he was treated like a king by the very pleasant and well mannered Celtic Chairman. Don’t think Davie Provan is going have the red carpet – or should be green? – rolled out for him in the Celtic Boardroom anytime soon!
Yet Provan makes some decent points…
“Turns out the figures weren’t too bad. A £4million loss on transfer activity has already been offset by the sales of Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Kris Ajer, but I’m guessing what supporters really wanted to hear was a bit of humility from a board who have been lording it for too long.
“Punters who last season shelled out £20m on season tickets knowing they’d be watching games on laptops deserved an explanation for the club’s implosion from the people who run THEIR club. If Neil Lennon was the board’s fall guy when the season turned pear-shaped, the board has to answer questions of their own performance.
“Was it wise for Dermot Desmond to stand by Lenny for so long when he was obviously finished after the Ross County defeat in the League Cup? That result came after a second 4-1 hiding from Sparta Prague in the Europa League days earlier.
“That was when Lenny should have been shown the door, but he limped on for another three months. Equally questionable was the lengthy pursuit of Eddie Howe that ended in embarrassment. Desmond should have blown the whistle on Howe long before he backed out,” Provan added.
“More embarrassment followed in the resignation of Dominic McKay. Why would McKay quit his dream job after just ten weeks? While we’re at it, why is Peter Lawwell still involved after stepping down as chief executive?”
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