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Celtic’s recent actions have not only upset their fanbase but also risk distancing supporters and season-ticket holders by seemingly underestimating their understanding of the club’s finances and transfer potential.
This past weekend saw Celtic release a statement at an unusual time: 8.42pm on Saturday night, a time many were likely enjoying movies or social events. It raises the question of whether this timing was appropriate to remind fans of the ongoing struggles within their club. An odd move, indeed.
The explanation Celtic provided regarding their poor August transfer performance—attributing it to financial caution and adhering to UEFA salary rules—does not sit well with supporters.
Parts of Celtic’s statement are somewhat enlightening, but much of it fails to absolve the club and its board of their mismanagement during the transfer season.
Then again, amid a pile of verbiage, maybe Celtic’s men in suits could not bring themselves to say: ‘We’re sorry. We failed.’
Even Brendan Rodgers must have cringed when he read through Celtic’s late-night statement
Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond have led the club well, albeit frugally, over the years
Fans are irate about the lack of transfer activity and made their feelings clear about the board
It looked like the sky was the limit when Kuhn was putting Celtic ahead against Bayern Munich
The fan anger around this club is palpable. I would go so far as to say there is emotional aggression and even hatred in the air.
The ambience around Celtic right now is extremely unpleasant, and with little sign of it lifting.
Nonetheless, it’s important to remember the broader context. Most of Chairman Peter Lawwell’s tenure has seen Celtic as a remarkably well-run club with substantial cash reserves, which are enviable even among some English Premier League clubs.
Just seven months ago, following a significant Champions League match in Munich, Alan Shearer praised the club by stating ‘everything about Celtic is brilliant’. Fans and the media viewed Celtic as poised for growth in quality and European reputation.
The Celtic board up to then appeared to be getting a lot of things right. Signings such as Nicolas Kuhn, Matt O’Riley and Giorgos Giakoumakis had typified a years-long trend of excellent transfer mining and selling.
A previously unknown Odsonne Edouard had delivered a £6m profit for the club, while Celtic’s plundering of the Asian market had secured some memorable players.
So it went on and on. What was not to like?
But this golden pathway has been abruptly abandoned. Beyond dispute, in the last six months, Celtic have taken two steps backwards. A sudden wariness and paralysis have invaded the club.
Rodgers watched his side toil at Ibrox in the first Old Firm derby, finishing with an xG of just 0.17
Celtic have been left to hope that free-transfer arrival Iheanacho can prove to be an unlikely hit
The boardroom, almost out of nowhere, has been infected with caution. And the month of August was the realisation of a football club drowning in its own dread of spending.
Beyond dispute, the ever-silent Dermot Desmond and his club directors have questions to answer that go beyond woolly Saturday night statements.
And then there is the breakdown in trust between the Celtic board and Brendan Rodgers… something Rodgers is at pains to deny but which the evidence appears to underpin.
I believe the Celtic board know that Rodgers will not be staying at the club, and so any new offer put to him will drag on, unannounced, and the marriage-split between board and head coach will become more and more apparent.
Moreover, Rodgers was handed almost £30m to spend last summer on new players, three of which, Adam Idah, Auston Trusty and Arne Engels, have failed to convince, and between them have spent much time among the list of substitutes.
If you were on the Celtic board, and you witnessed this seeming failure of newly-signed expensive players, would you keep handing Rodgers more money when he says ‘we need more quality’?
Rodgers is a top football manager — there is no doubt — but his own transfer judgments in his two stints at Celtic look unconvincing. And this, on top of the fact that he will likely be leaving in June, gives the Celtic board a get-out card.
Much has gone so right for Celtic in recent seasons but the last eight weeks have been woeful: an abject failure.
The playing squad, after a period of so-called reinforcement, looks bereft. Celtic are left pinning their hopes on Kelechi Iheanacho, a once expensive player who has become a flop.
It explains so much fan anger, which hasn’t been diluted by Celtic’s decision to explain to fans what’s going on at 9pm on the Saturday evening of an international weekend.
