Supporters also raised legitimate concerns about youth development, particularly the loss of academy players to English clubs. Nicholson attributed this to Brexit, arguing that the post-Brexit landscape has “locked” Scotland into the English market and increased cross-border movement.

While there’s absolutely truth in that, it also felt like another instance of Celtic explaining the problem rather than demonstrating how they’re overcoming it. Every club in Scotland faces the same challenge, the difference is how you adapt.

More revealing, though, was the discussion around how transfers are actually conducted at Celtic. McKay described a “multi-disciplinary approach,” led by the football department in identifying players and finalised by the executive team.

On the surface, that sounds pretty standard. But the details perhaps expose an outdated and cumbersome process. Supporters learned that for transfers above certain thresholds, approval must come from the Celtic plc Board — via email. In theory, this ensures fiscal oversight. In practice, it risks paralysis.

Modern football is a fast-moving marketplace. Clubs that operate with agility, able to make decisive, informed moves, succeed. Those bogged down in corporate approval cycles miss opportunities.

If Celtic’s board needs to sign off on player valuations by email before deals can be closed, then the club is operating with a 20th-century model in a 21st-century game. A director of football working within an annually approved budget would be a far more efficient and professional structure. What Celtic currently have sounds bureaucratic and reactive, the polar opposite of the world-class agility they like to reference.

Then there was the now-infamous moment when Nicholson was asked why the manager had referred to some arrivals as “club signings.” His response, a shrug of the shoulders, has already become emblematic of the disconnect between the football department and the executive team. It was a gesture that spoke volumes, a public admission, intentional or not, that the boundaries of responsibility are blurred and that accountability is diffuse.

For supporters, it may have reinforced the suspicion that the manager’s influence in recruitment is limited, that he may sanction signings but doesn’t necessarily shape the strategic direction. When those signings fail to perform or when the squad remains unbalanced, responsibility becomes conveniently shared, which is to say, borne by no one.

The issue is not that Celtic lack capable people. The issue is that those people operate within a structure that feels improvised, dated, and opaque. A club that claims to be modern and data-driven should not rely on email chains for transfer approval or personal networks for senior football appointments. Modernisation is not about adding titles, it’s about redefining processes, accountability, and communication.

And yet, despite repeated European failures, Celtic continue to act as if the model doesn’t need fixing. Nicholson’s refusal to even entertain the premise of the question, ‘why are we consistently unprepared for qualification stages?’, perhaps actually captures the essence of the problem. It is not just that Celtic fall short in Europe. It is that those leading the club seem unwilling to admit that they do.

A world-class club doesn’t shrug its shoulders when asked about “club signings.” It doesn’t conduct senior appointments through informal conversations. And it doesn’t email board members for permission to complete transfers. It identifies what is broken, fixes it, and communicates that clearly to its supporters.

Until Celtic start doing that, the word ‘modernisation’ will remain what so much of the club’s rhetoric has become, another empty phrase in a corporate dictionary of good intentions.

Niall J

If you missed Niall J’s first two articles on the Monday Night Meeting in this eight article series, the links are below…

Article One…Monday Night Meeting – “World class in everything we do.” Really, Michael?

Article Two…Who is responsible when Celtic keeps making the same mistakes?

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