Chris Sutton reckons that the upcoming Celtic AGM is going to be essential viewing and if Wilfried Nancy is by then the new manager – and presumably sitting at the top table at the shareholders’ meeting then the Board will have the opportunity to outline their plans that have been agreed with the Frenchman as the club edges towards a crucial January transfer window that could determine the outcome of the title race this season.
So far Hearts have established a lead that peaked with a 3-1 win at Tynecastle over Celtic the day before Brendan Rodgers resignation offer was accepted amid ongoing disagreement between him and the Celtic Board over transfer tragedy and implementation .
Martin O’Neill stepped in, raised spirits and cut the Hearts lead by four points over two games delivering two victories at Celtic Park over Falkirk and Kilmarnock while Derek McInnes’ side dropped four points with draws at St Mirren and at home to Dundee United.
And Sutton reckons that these two will be involved in a three way title race this season as he anticipates an improvement from theRangers under Danny Rohl that could see them challenging too.
Writing in his weekly newspaper column Sutton outlined his thoughts on the factors that could result in a three way fight for the title and warns that Celtic can’t afford to sit on their hands in the January transfer window and hope for the best because that simply won’t be good enough to guarantee another trophy day at Celtic Park come May 2026.
“Next week’s AGM is going to be essential viewing, that’s for sure,” Sutton told Daily Record. “If the manager in place by then, the board will need to explain their thinking and reveal their plans for the transfer window. Because, make no mistake, January will determine the outcome of the title. It’s going to be an arms race between Celtic, (the)Rangers and Hearts and whoever comes out on top will be best place to kick on and become champions.”
It’s all in Celtic’s hands if they back the new manager according to Sutton but we cannot assume that is going to be the case after recent experiences.
“Celtic should have the advantage given their resources,” the former Celtic striker noted. “But the same questions from the summer are hovering over the recruitment. They can’t afford to hang around until the last minute again as there are too many big games over the period and it could leave them with too much ground to make up.”
Looking at the other challengers, certainly Hearts and in Sutton’s view theRangers too, the Englishman outlined what they need to do as they eye the biggest prize in Scottish football that has found a home at Celtic Park for 13 seasons out of 14, with a short Ibrox stopover in the Covid season.
“Celtic have to expect an upturn at (the)Rangers under Danny Rohl,” Sutton warned. “He’ll need backing as well, but you can’t discount them from the race by any stretch of the imagination.
“The same goes for Hearts. Too many people are just assuming they will eventually fade after their blistering start. But why should they? And who’s to say Tony Bloom might fancy tooling up further in January if they are in prime position.”
He also identified Paul Tisdale, Celtic’s so-called football doctor who survived the Brendan Rodgers mini-walk from backroom staff including John Kennedy, and who appears to have played a significant role in the managerial search with his recommendation of Frenchman Wilfried Nancy seemingly going to result in an appointment over the coming week or so.
“Celtic can’t afford to sit on their hands and hope for the best. The new manager is the first piece of the jigsaw puzzle but it’s also just the start. It also means Paul Tisdale will have a key part to play in the coming weeks and months,” Sutton said.
“The head of football operations is the one responsible for recruitment and the club have backed him amid the fall out from Brendan Rodgers’s departure. The last few transfer windows have been horrendous but we’ll now find out just how much that was down to him.
“Tisdale has pretty much been in the shadows since he arrived at the club but the spotlight is well and truly on him now – and he has to deliver. If Nancy is the man then he will need support from the recruitment team as however things pan out in the short term won’t be on him.”
We know that Brendan Rodgers was briefed against by a so-called Celtic insider via Scottish Sun, the start of the campaign to oust him as manager by his enemies inside the club. There was also talk of a PR firm being brought in following that notorious Saturday night statement released by the board but there was no evidence of this actually being the case in terms of the standard Celtic PR activities.
However what did start happening was that every positive mention of Rodgers was met by negative responses in comments across the media, including on Celtic fan media sites and what we certainly noticed is that these were usually from first time posters. Could have been something or nothing.
And that old generation Celtic fan blog that is notoriously loyal to their Lord and Master had been running a concerted attack against Rodgers all season long. Just following orders perhaps?
The current Celtic fan media, for all our collective faults, have never got too close to the club and remain objective and certain not compromised in our commentary on all things Celtic. Most have joined the Celtic Fans Collective, including The Celtic Star. Can only think of one that hasn’t.
CELTIC STAR BOOKS OFFFER – BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
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- Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, personally signed by Danny McGrain
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![Willie Fernie - Putting on the Style by David Potter]()
- Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style by David Potter
Strange piece in all fairness David imo?
Chris Sutton is usually a respected member within the media circus, that has surrounded our club for months now.
Yet he, like everyone else, knows nothing, about what actually goes on behind closed doors, within our club?
We all would like to actually know, but with confidentiality laws and NDA in operation, good chance we will never know for sure imo?
So making January transfer window claims now, is nothing more than nonsensical, without even a manager in place, who is going to be faced with huge footballing decisions, whether he wants to or not.
If Nancy should be confirmed before Friday, he is hardly going to be in a position to even consider the January window whatsoever.
Wouldn’t even have had time to assess the players he has got already under contract, and seeing if they can or will be able to adjust to any team set up, that he might have in mind for ourselves?
There’s so much football to be played beforehand, that it is impossible to say where we will be as a club, especially with so many challenging matches involved. This with an injury list also involved, that we could have done without.
Already could be looking at the prospect of having to maybe replacing injured players within our squad.
What time lines could we be looking at for Jota, CCV and AJ, 3 big players for ourselves?
That’s without knowing who might be wanting to move on?
Does that mean Maeda, yang and potentially Paulo, who are hoping for the likes, but as a club we may not be in a position to even consider the likes?
Sutton only knows to well, that our involvement within the europa league, is going to have a big bearing upon our business come January.
Only 3 changes will be allowed to our squad, if we are in a position to continue into the knockout phase.
Even if MoN is correct in saying 10 points will be enough to do so, then our final 2 games at the back end of January, will be very relevant to ourselves, especially as very little chance of ourselves allowing players to leave ourselves early.
So hopefully getting player’s in early can be on our agenda, yet the attraction of European football is an easier sell to players, than what the SPFL has to offer, yet we might not be in a position to offer the likes, early within the January window?
Of course the whole process involved, maybe easier if we had no interest whatsoever within the europa league, but would we really attract the quality of player we are hoping for, without looking for European success?
I don’t believe that the board are making footballing decisions for any manager we have had in recent times imo?
Suspect still that the board were listening to Tisdale version, moreso than Rodgers over the summer, and wouldn’t be surprised if that relationship broke down altogether?
Who’s right and who’s wrong within the shitshow that was caused, I no longer care about where the blame lies as to who holds the biggest responsibility for it happening?
We need it sorted out, but won’t get totally resolved in January either.
However, do agree that the spotlight has come upon Tisdale involvement, within the structure of our club more so at present.
Good or bad can’t be defined yet by any means whatsoever.
The board seems to have a lot of trust within himself however.
So maybe the best question at the AGM, regarding the footballing structure, could be at what particular role Tisdale plays within the whole operation imo?