A great man once sang ‘the times they are a changing’ and when it comes to Celtic, they are rotating far quicker than many of us would have thought this time last year.
To say the backside has fallen out of Celtic this season would indicate an immediate emptying of the bowels and would ignore the managed decline that was long evident in our Champions League regression and ambition, soon to be replaced by a tacit approval, even amongst too many of our rank and file never mind those holding the purse strings, of our standing as first a Europa League club, one that had found ‘our level’ and now, well now barely a Europa league qualifier if truth be told. Roll on 30 June 2021.
At least there is a third European trophy in the offing next season, yet for a certain vintage the ‘conference’ league supplies images of the English fifth tier and is far from an appetising proposition for a club who sell the European history but undersell out attempts to reach even close to those ambitious levels again. Too much know our place and too little ambition has seen us reach our European nadir.
And this decline was all in process long before it seeped into our domestic performances and eventually cost us a record-breaking 10th consecutive title, up against little more than a well organised yet no more than a functional rival, alongside 10 other teams all at their lowest financial ebb since the Setanta TV deal collapsed. History will be unkind when revising Celtic’s dropping standards of that we can be certain.
Yet here we are. The 9-in-a-row champions are potless at this juncture having meekly surrendered two out of three trophies, whilst the Scottish Cup – we can but hope – is an avenue back to the form and confidence we’ll need to head into our brave new dawn. And although we could do with the fillip winning that trophy would bring, alongside the record-breaking achievement it would usher in, few would part with more than a few shekels and back the current squad with their own hard earned to lift the famous old cup, though it must be said a whole hearted attempt to do so is essential for the health and future focus of our club.
And so, as Yazz and the Plastic Population did say ‘the only way is up’. Or at least you’d hope so.
I’m fairly sure my mental muscle memory of the 90’s has helped me cope with this year’s collapse but it’s also screaming a warning in the recesses of my mind reminding me that if standards aren’t raised, if modernising isn’t implemented, up is far from only the way this club can go. There’s that Willie Falconer flashback again. Almost every time I close my eyes that happens!
The thing so far that concerns me is not so much the time it is taking to see green shoots of recovery, but more that there has been little communication – ok no communication – as to what these changes will actually entail. When we don’t know even what structure we intend to adopt, I worry no-one does, be that inside or outside our football club.
So, are we having a Director of Football? If so, who is choosing him, the new CEO, or the one who has the footballing judgement of a Celtic backline defending a corner kick? If it’s the new guy, are we waiting until July before he puts the family photos on the desk and takes at least a couple of weeks to find his way to the toilets and the canteen unaided, never mind choose the most vital of appointments? Or is he already involved? Again, we don’t know.
If it is to be a DOF – and if he is appointed quickly – then how much longer for the subsequent Head Coach role? Or is it a Head Coach? Is the whole DOF a red herring, a hope over expectation created in the minds of the support rather than the reality of it all? Instead, are we really looking at an old school all-encompassing manager, an experienced controlling one who wants a say over everything? Who said Davie Moyes? – Remove that thought from your head. Or is it to be one who is not so big and instead can be controlled and moulded from above, manoeuvred to the benefits of a £300k project over a £4million finished article?
Yet in the midst of all this we are still signing players, that is bizarre is it not? We’ve had Liam Shaw, and we are being linked with others such as Kyle Joseph and Kwadwo Baah.
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So, if we are signing players and English based ones at that then why? Why is there not a halt being called whilst we negotiate this period of limbo? Are the Nick Hammond/Gary Penrice scouting algorithms to be trusted? Are they even staying in post? If they are that would indicate the DOF role isn’t happening, would it not? Do we really require to have a Director of football and a Head of Football Operations, seems a bit of a blurring of the lines there doesn’t it?
And if Hammond and Penrice aren’t hanging around, then you’d assume that is because their judgment is questioned even untrusted, wouldn’t you? If so, then why are we not halting their targets, at least for now?
It just doesn’t seem like the dots are joining, but then we have to remember the old CEO with delusions of a footballing strategy remains in situ. Perhaps he’s throwing ‘I told you so’ arrows at the dartboard with a view to legacy revisionism when it comes to his alleged eye for a player – as the ghost of Celtic past John Park smiles ruefully from Warsaw, oh what I’d do for that eye for a player.
You see in the absence of either communication or structure, as fans we all spend our waking hours filling in the gaps. And you can tell just that by the managerial options being explored in the mainstream media too. Everything from yesterday’s men of Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane (anyone thought about putting them together just for the craic?) right down to the opposite, the untried and untested Enzo Maresca’s and Shaun Maloney’s, and back to the middle ground yet opposite extremes of the genuinely tried and tested safe hands of Roberto Martinez and Steve Clarke, all being thrown around as a possible solution. The gulf in footballing ideologies says it all, there appears no ‘type’ as such, at least from media reports, though you’d assume given how no-one knew about Dominic McKay’s arrival until it happened that the thoughts of the board are cloaked in secrecy.
Everything of course is up in the air or so it seems. What we need is a seamless transition, what we know is the stitching has long since burst. So, do we need a new tailor-made suit, or can we fit something together from the material we have with limited fresh fabric?
Since December we know the club is under review – It was January and now it is ongoing, but when does it end? The new CEO is welcomed yet the long shadow of the old fella remains, far too close as to not raise concerns as to his influence over the future direction of the club. Indeed, if thoughts of Willie Falconer keep me restless, Peter Lawwell’s continuing involvement in decisions that will impact long after he is gone leave me bolt upright and in a cold sweat.
In truth Celtic seem no further forward than the lengthy notice period of Dom McKay and the extended leaving party afforded to Peter Lawwell. We have an interim replacement for a manager, one we still don’t understand how he managed to remain in post, as any apparently self-respecting football club would have consciously uncoupled at a far earlier juncture.
As such it points to one of two things. The new boss is already in place and pulling the strings from afar, or still after months of searching, no agreement has been reached on a strategy, never mind risk managed and implemented one.
From youth level to recruitment, from scouting to coaching, on to first team footballers and those we need to attract sooner rather than later due to the numbers who now wish to vacate the sinking ship, Celtic is a club in need of direction. The times they are a changing as Dylan pointed out, at least they should be, but who is planning for the new landscape at Celtic Park, as it seems a little slow paced and somewhat lacking in urgency to me. We all want the right people in the right positions but it’s time to throw us a bone Celtic, at least give us the shell. What is the structure, are we even that far forward? We’re all a little tired of blowin’ in the wind.
Niall J
You can be assured that the transformation required will take longer than the next couple of seasons as its a root and branch undertaking that will have to be put in place
Better taking time to get the appointment right for the long term improvement reqd to challenge for the league and real progress in Europe, as such I wouldn’t be expecting the league to be won next season or even the following one, but let’s see ambition to improve our standards which really shouldn’t be too hard after the managed decline over recent seasons. Even Rodgers who instigated the quadruple treble was found out in European competition.