NEW CELTIC MANAGER: PROBLEMS NEED ADDRESSED WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The rumors doing the rounds today suggest that it’s almost, not quite, but almost, a done deal for Wilfried Nancy to become the new Celtic manager.
Building on this same rumor, many also believe the manager will be announced at some point on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s AGM. A Celtic AGM seen by many as possibly the most important, and almost certainly the most fractious, of a generation.
Whatever Happens with Wilfried Nancy, We Need More, Much More Than Just a New Celtic Manager
The AGM comes against the backdrop of relations between the Celtic board and the Celtic fans being at a low not seen since 1994.
Don’t kid yourselves, the actions of the Celtic Fans Collective and the hundreds of supporters’ groups backing them, are having an effect. Celtic retail announced a 30% price reduction this week. With the Christmas season a little over a fortnight away from kicking off, this is unprecedented in recent times.
Christmas might be a celebration of faith for many, but if you’re a major stakeholder in any decently sized football club, it’s a license to print money. The church of capitalism is the one that commands their worship, throughout this, and indeed every festive season.
Some believe that the board may be rushing the appointment of Wilfried Nancy, to try and offset criticism ahead of the AGM.
I would hope that even a group of people as seemingly belligerent as the Celtic board have greater self-awareness than that.
Wilfried Nancy is an excellent football manager, albeit one that remains unproven in Europe, which is, and always should be, the true barometer by which all Celtic managers are judged.
However, if the board seriously intend to present his appointment as a “cure-all” for every ailment currently afflicting Celtic, then they are heading for a very rude awakening.
Just as we all saw right through Dermot Desmond’s extremely unprofessional scapegoating of Brendan Rodgers, within minutes of his departure from Celtic, fans will also see right through any attempt by the board to present an “all is well, nothing to see here” kind of front on Friday.
Hard questions need to be asked and hard questions need to be answered on Friday. People who have failed to answer those questions so far this season, need to move aside. I expect Peter Lawwell to announce his departure, be it now or at the end of the season.
I would expect Michael Nicholson will also leave his role as Celtic CEO. He may well be moved sideways rather than out the door. So long as he’s no longer in charge of transfers or Celtic’s wider corporate policy, I’ve got no problem if he goes back to being Dermot Desmond’s personal Consigliere or whatever he was before his abortive attempt at being a Chief Executive.
I thank Brendan Rodgers for the success he brought us, but it is now clear, in hindsight, that a new man with new ideas was needed in the manager’s office at Celtic.
The same goes for the boardroom. Celtic’s current problems began long before Brendan Rodgers entered the building. Simply replacing him with someone more “cooperative” will not solve those problems.
I hope the Celtic Board are smarter than that. But I have my doubts.