Was the interim Celtic boss instructed to dampen fan’s European expectations with his “step back” comments?

If there’s one thing that’s becoming abundantly clear at Celtic over the past few months, it’s this mission the board is on to dampen the fan’s expectations in Europe.

It seems to be coming from every angle.

If it isn’t Ross Desmond, it’s Michael NIcholson.

If it isn’t Michael Nicholson, it’s the coaching team.

Yes, Martin O’Neill gave the fans a message yesterday, where he stated that Celtic were probably going to have to “step back for a while at this minute” in Europe.

Funnily enough, almost a year ago after beating Young Boys in the Champions League, you would have thought the mentality should have been “push forward”, instead of “step back”?

Because this “step back” mentality is entirely of the Celtic board’s own creation.

It began with the £10 million sale of Kyogo Furuhashi directly after that Young Boys victory.

Which then readily signaled to any prospective European opponents thereafter that we were not serious about Champions League participation.

Or any level of European competition for that matter, if we’re to take stock of where we have ended up since then.

O’Neill himself feels that we might have to wait a couple of years before we see Celtic competitive in Europe again.

Which, once again, seems a bit hard to swallow considering where we were less than a year ago in Europe.

Now, O’Neill may just be calling it as he sees it as a result of working with the current squad for an extended period of time.

Or he may also be delivering a message to fans before Wilfried Nancy is even in the door.

A managerial appointment, by the way, which I will believe when I see.

With Celtic, nothing is officially done until it’s officially done.

While O’Neill’s sage words seem to come from a place of experience, you can’t help but feel that this is a conversation that never needed to be had:

In the next couple of years Celtic will come again in European football. They might just have to step back for a while at this minute. But recruitment is really important.

It was then put to O’Neill that the club is aware of it and he continued: “Absolutely. I know people always say about January being a difficult window, and it may well be.

But if you’re talking about rebuilding the football club again to be able to try to compete in Europe and to be able to not have a big intake of breath when someone expects you to go to Feyenoord and win, then that is the point.

Jock Stein said it, European football is where Celtic should be. But at this minute it’s a struggle for us.

There seems to be a lot of evocation of the words of Jock Stein lately.

Funnily enough, nobody at Celtic seems to be paying any attention to them, let alone trying to live up to those words.

As for European football being a struggle at this minute?

It never needed to be.

But the board ensured that it is by asset stripping the squad that took us so far into Europe last season.

60+ goals removed from the team, and not replaced, then of course it’s going to be an absolute struggle.

What else would it be?

But as O’Neill states in his interview, he has got to know the team in the time that he has been here.

And maybe, just maybe, from a footballing perspective, he sees it exactly for what it is at this moment in time.

A team that is badly struggling in Europe.

And regardless of what message the board might ask him to deliver, at the end of the day, O’Neill is a footballing man.

So, if you ask me, this interview is 80% a footballing opinion, and 20% a subtle message from the board.

Whether he’s delivering it deliberately or inadvertently based on what he’s hearing at the club, is up for debate.

By subtle messaging, I mean the reference to the January transfer window being notriously difficult.

And of course that we’re not good enough to compete in Europe.

As for January transfer windows?

That might be plausible if it weren’t for that exceptional January transfer window of 2022.

But we all know it can be quite easy as a result of that window.

In the US, the MLS transfer window remains open until April 23rd.

One wonders if that’s something that our incoming manager could exploit to strengthen his new squad?

I guess time will tell.

The chances are that, yes, we will see a strengthening of the squad in January, just as we did when Ange Postecoglou arrived.

We may even see an exponential strengthening of the squad in the summer time.

But God help Wilfried Nancy if turns his new found acquisitions into serious assets.

Because the temptation to asset strip his squad might prove too strong for the serial asset strippers in the Celtic boardroom.

If, as I suspect, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate are sold in January to augment the purchase of players in that window, Alistair Johnston and Felipe Jota will be the only remaining players that Ange Postecoglou purchased during his time at Celtic.

Let’s hope that 2 or 3 years from now, the same cycle doesn’t repeat itself under Wilfried Nancy.

That, unfortunately, is the danger if this current board remains in situ.

Celtic might look like it’s taking huge leaps forward under the new manager, but if it does, the board will not be long pulling it back again.

It was ever thus.

And if they remain in place, it will always be thus.

Key Takeaways

• Celtic’s board seems to dampen fan expectations for European competition, shifting from a push forward mentality to a step back approach.
• The sale of key player Kyogo Furuhashi signalled a lack of commitment to Champions League participation.
• Martin O’Neill suggests Celtic needs time to rebuild competitiveness in Europe after recent player asset stripping.
• The upcoming managerial appointment of Wilfried Nancy may not change the board’s tendency to asset strip the squad.
• The cycle of stripping assets could continue, undermining any progress made under new management.