Celtic is now at a crossroads, as fans we need to think long and hard. Is this really the direction we want our club headed in?
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
This morning, as a Celtic fan, I can’t recall a time where I felt so down about the direction our club is headed in.
Stupidly, I got into an argument last night with a board apologist who commented on my evening article.
He said he reveled in my pain, and that I was not a Celtic supporter.
I suppose after a long and atagonising to and fro with him, I realised that arguing with these people is utterly futile.
They are so blinded by their love of the current Celtic board, that they cannot see what is happening right before their very eyes.
They refuse to see it.
I asked the commenter to quit his sanctimonious bullshit if he had no constructive argument to present against what I was saying.
His response?
To tell me that this board has won us 30 trophies, that they developed the stadium and that they had convinced Brendan Rodgers to come to the club twice.
When I read that, I gave up, I realised I was wasting my time.
This guy was so blinded by our geniuses in the boardroom that he had the audacity to insult the memory of Fergus McCann by telling me the current charlatans developed Celtic Park.
He clearly didn’t get the irony of stating that the board convinced Brendan Rodgers to come to the club twice, considering what they’re doing to him right now.
In addition to that, he kept adding ‘bless’ to every statement he made.
So, as a result of that, I’ve come to the understanding that these people cannot be reasoned with.
They will watch on as this board runs our club into the ground, and they’ll cheerlead them while they do it.
If Shaun Maloney is named manager next season, they’ll hail it from the rooftops as a masterstroke.
Its actually embarrassing.
I’m more angry at myself for becoming mired in such a stupid argument.
I guess being told that I’m not a Celtic fan got my hackles up, and it went from there.
But as I said at the outset, I cannot recall a time where I’ve felt more down about being a Celtic supporter.
I guess if I was like the board apologists and domestic domination was enough for me, then all of my points right now would be moot.
But I’m not.
I attended my first Celtic game as a supporter just 16 years after the 1967 European Cup triumph.
That period of domination, the 9 in a row, the clean sweep of trophies in ’67, all of these things were what I was brought up on.
They were the discussions I had with my grandfather, the man who introduced me to Celtic.
So forgive me if I dream big for Celtic.
Forgive me if I believe we can do better than we are.
That we can do better than lording it over a basket case who just cannot get it together, which is entirely to the benefit of our current board.
If that’s enough for many of our fans, then each to their own.
But we can, and should be, doing better than that.
That is not testing is.
It is not developing us as a team, which was patently obvious last season.
The lack of a challenge caused us to regress.
We are better than that, and we should never be benchmarking ourselves against a side as hapless as they are.
How hapless they are was on view for all to see last night at Ibrox.
And after that, I am pretty confident that we will go there on Sunday week and teach them a serious footballing lesson.
This season could be over by matchday 4.
If they fall 10 points behind us, its unlikely they will claw that back, as they have been incapable of doing so in the previous three seasons.
How, in anybody’s eyes can that be construed as a challenge?
How can anybody be satisfied with dominating a side like that?
Its like kicking the shit out of a lame old dog and enjoying it.
Yet in the eyes of many of our fans, that’s seen as success.
And then, the one area where we could really test ourselves and develop our team, Europe, our board decides barely warrants the participation.
In fact, based on how criminally undermanned they’ve left our manager going into tonight’s Champions League qualifier, it seems to me they don’t even care about participation now either.
Brendan Rodgers has to make do with what he’s got.
No additions.
No striker.
And no wingers.
Such a flippant gamble on £40 million worth of finance.
But hey, these guys know best.
They are masters of the art of the gamble.
As I said in last night’s article, they’ve already gambled on the Ibrox side being a total basket case again this season.
At this point in time, it looks as if that gamble will pay off.
The board apologists will hail them as geniuses for their foresight in that particular scenario of it plays out like I said it could.
The geniuses who can kick the shit out of a lame old dog.
Tonight’s gamble?
Well, that’s an entirely different story.
Different because they expect our manager to do more with less due to the fact they’ve asset stripped the side he started the season with this time a year ago.
They have taken in over £50 million in player revenue since then.
They have then deemed that £3.5 million of that is enough for the manager to mount the same challenge he did in the Champions League last season.
With a much weakened side in comparison to the one that taught Red Bull Leipzig a footballing lesson less than a year ago.
And with the added challenge of a qualifying round thrown into the mix.
Genius?
Utter incompetence?
Or sabotage?
Take your pick based on what fan demographic you fall under, I guess.
In the headline to this article, I said Celtic is now at a crossroads.
At Celtic Park tonight, we will be standing at that crossroads.
We know we have no choice but to beat Kairat Almaty comprehensively in this first leg.
Our away record against Kazakh sides reads:
Shaktar Karagandy 2-0 Celtic (2013)
Astana 4-3 Celtic (2017)
Proof positive that we don’t travel well when it comes to Kazakh opposition.
If we don’t get the job done tonight, then I expect we could be in trouble in the away leg.
If we don’t qualify for this season’s Champions League, then that is criminal.
And that’s why we’re at a crossroads tonight.
None of this was ever necessary.
We could be comfortably ready for this qualifier if we had our transfer business completed early in the window.
Instead, we’re left wondering if we’ll even get reinforcements in after tonight’s game?
We have been told this evening that Michel-Ange Balikwisha’s medical in advance of joining Celtic has possibly been “scuppered”.
Apparently this is due to an “internal issue”, whatever the hell that is?
As a result of this, attention has supposedly switched to Jamie Vardy.
Which confirms 100%, as I pointed out in yesterday’s article on that very subject, that Vardy is not part of the manager’s “A-List”.
If, and this is a very big if, he were to join Celtic, it would be a move out of desperation from the board.
This whole window has been an utter shambles.
It continues in that vein.
Like the men in our boardroom, Celtic is becoming entirely a reflection of them.
As they grow old, stale, and out of ideas, so too, does Celtic.
I feel like our club is wasting away under their stewardship.
Headed towards mediocrity, since these men have no idea how to move forward.
No idea how to think long-term.
Nor do they seem to know how to close out a transfer deal.
Woe betide them tonight if we fail in our quest to qualify for the Champions League.
Because that will be entirely on them.
At this crossroad now, and as fans, we need to decide if this is the direction we want our club headed in.
Only we can change it.
The time for change is at hand.
100% correct in everything you’ve said Eric and after the first half we could already be out as we’ve not had a single shot on target in our home leg.
The board are not Celtic fans. They don’t like the fans, players or manager.
None of this is a surprise.
I think this malaise is also in wider society. There is a hunger in other nations, to succeed and improve their lot. I don’t see that here as much.
As you say, no wingers. Daizen isn’t lethal through the middle but I’d rather see him there than Idah, with 2 decent wingers pinging balls in. We may or may not get this lad Balikshwa. If we do, I’ll back him and wish him luck. But we need 2 wingers. And if Daizen is a winger, then we need a striker.
What baffles me, genuinely baffles me, is how bad we are at negotiating fees and acquisitions. Accountants should be good at this! Anyway, we now need a good result over there now. HH
Apparently Desmond is blocking everything Rodgers and his aides suggest
Only a matter of time until Brendan’s walks away and I can’t blame him this time
The board should never be a Celtic fan because that would implode our club. Fans are stupid and reactionary. End of story. If you don’t believe me just read the coming texts after the Champions League qualifier that ended 0-0. The fact that I knew Kairat would play like Celtic in Italy to gain a draw doesn’t surprise me and they accomplished it. But when Celtic does it to Atalanta they are covered in pearls. Hats off to Kairat. It’s extremely difficult to break down a defensive wall worth more than the Livingston one. Move on and learn.
Just remember something. The game of football trumps all fans to their clubs. Your club doesn’t come first. The game does. Understanding that will actually allow you to understand the game and your club better.
Don’t let the happy clapper get you down, they probably cannot help their ignorance. Everything you say is totally correct. I have supported Celtic for 57 years and never felt so down about the club either. Keep getting your message across
Good man. Respect the game first and your club next. Because without the game we have no clubs. Travelling through time with green and white glasses only brings tunnel vision. There is zero development or learning in that discipline. You just end up wallowing in the TheRangers drama. Stop that and watch footy. Enjoy yourself with the sport you love.
Many among our fans share your frustration and anger,Eric..but i must disagree with one thing you said,namely being confident about going to Ibrox and teaching them a lesson. We might,but i have no confidence in too many of out players to stand up and perform on any given day. Idah,Scales,Yang,Engels,Trusty,Hatate…all capable on their day,but all failing to deliver consistently at a high enough standard. If they don’t perform in the next month,i doubt we’ll see any of them at Celtic next season,and maybe not beyond Christmas. No excuses,doesn’t matter what they cost,or what they contributed last season…they’re just not producing enough of what we require on a regular basis. Time for them to step up or ship out..maybe along with Brendan,who i can’t see hanging around much longer.
Are we now waiting to see where the shit is going to go now that it has hit the fan. Any Celtic fan who is backing this strategy must be getting the same bonus payments as the board.
The best thing in the match tonight was the sack the board song ringing out from a bored and otherwise quiet crowd (with the exception of the ultra groups). Hopefully it will be a catalyst for change. On the match itself, Celtic weren’t good enough against another spoiler team. It’s happening too often and proves that we are one dimensional and easy to contain. Rodgers needs to get that team to be more clinical as everyone has sussed his approach out. He either changes tactics or ups the tempo consistently.
Silent Mike N, er weebarra I mean, when can we expect your next batch on board apologist nonsense?
I’m wondering where St Spivs is hiding with his happy clapping propaganda after last night’s weak as piss performance.
Hopefully,he’s done the decent thing and done a Trainspotting re-enactment of Rentbhoy disappearing down the filthy toilet bowl.
It would be such an appropriate and somewhat ironic end to all his verbal shite.
In any case,let’s hope he’s done the decent thing and fucked off to Follow Follow where his fantasies would be right at home.
Did we have a squad capable of winning the home leg? Yes we did. But the performance and urgency was severely lacking. The 1st half was lifeless and dull. Brendan hinted before the game that they try not to be affected by the unrest on lack of transfers. He volunteered it, transfers hadn’t even been raised in the interview. That was a telling sign of a frustrated man who could himself see this coming. Despite our league position, some players have been off it. I put that down to early season sluggishness, but it starts to become unforgivable in a European game. You have to chase everything down. Maeda has been a shadow of his previous self, Hatate is consistently hot and cold, Engels brought nothing when he came on, Idah looks terrified. I can’t believe the external chatter distracts these players into poor performances. Last nights result has brought it all to a head. We haven’t lost CL qualification but certainly performed poorly enough to have it a difficult away leg prospect. When an aging Forrest, and no disrespect there, becomes the likely goal threat in a huge stakes European tie – you know you’re in trouble. As much as we wanted a few more signings to cover the losses of Kyogo and Kuhn – last night told me a refresh of faces could run deeper, regardless of the necessary performances in European competition. Results are indeed covering the cracks, but this one laid the chasm bare. This should be a wake up, of course for the Board, but also for Brendan – the coaching staff and the players. That was nowhere near good enough, and despite the lack of new signings, should have been a victory. I’ll credit Kairat for an energetic and stubborn performance, but the squad should have been better prepared for that. To not see the tempo in the first half told me tactics weren’t on point or adapting. I sympathise with Brendan, but he has to accept some flak here.