The Celtic board pulled a 73 year old out of retirement and dumped the entire responsibility of winning this title onto his shoulders…Shame on them
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
As we are on day fifteen of the January transfer window, and at the halfway point, things are starting to become crystal clear at Celtic now.
For the last five years, at least, the Celtic board hid behind the Celtic manager.
They used the managers in place as shields and put all and any club communication responsibility on their shoulders.
Understandably, both Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers were relatively young men.
These responsibilities were well within their capabilities, and neither of them shied away from them either.
While its clear Ange Postecoglou got out when the going was good, Brendan Rodgers, unfortunately, was not afforded the same chance.
Now, some might say that he was paid £3 million a year, so therefore he should have been well able to shoulder the responsibility of dealing with the media.
And to be fair to him, he did it with aplomb the majority of the time.
However, I would be inclined to think that it eventually proved to be to his detriment.
Because outwardly, it appeared that the entire responsibility of club communication fell on his shoulders.
And when Rodgers told the truth, truths the board – or namely Dermot Desmond, did not like the fans to hear, he then became the target for Desmond’s ire.
Put simply, Desmond did not approve of him, or the Celtic board being made to look incompetent.
Despite the fact they are incompetent.
Because lets be fair here, nobody wants to be seen in that light.
Especially double billionaires.
So, whatever credit Rodgers had in the bank with Dermot Desmond gradually ebbed away as he revealed more and more home truths about the omnishambles that has gone on for the last year.
Not that he was left with much choice in the matter.
When Rodgers resigned, it was easy for Desmond to label him as the scapegoat.
To pin all the ills of the football club on him.
Since then, Rodgers has allowed his silence to do the talking.
He has not needed to utter a single word.
When he left, we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
Now the Iceberg has been revealed in it’s entirety.
And by God, does it descend to the depths.
But here’s the thing, Rodgers was the Celtic board’s convenient shield.
Their scapegoat to hide behind.
And in the end, the person they egregiously pinned this entire shitshow on.
The Nancy interregnum left them with absolutely nowhere to hide, any shield they had was torn away.
It exposed them completely for the incompetents they are.
And it vindicated Brendan Rodgers entirely.
Rather than accept any responsibility for the current shitshow, the board has hunkered down and become entrenched.
Desmond sent an SOS to Martin O’Neill and being the Celtic man he is at heart, Martin answered the call.
I’m not so sure he knew what he was letting himself in for.
In his last stint, his remit was to come in and steady the ship.
He did exactly that, and the January transfer window wasn’t in the equation.
Now that it is, Martin O’Neill is beginning to realise the magnitude of what he has taken on.
His demeanour and body language at Tuesday’s press conference spoke volumes.
Its clear to see that on day thirteen it was already starting to take it’s toll on him.
He made it clear that he and Shaun Maloney had rejected everything that had been planned to augment Wilfried Nancy’s ill-fated system.
He was starting from scratch, he said.
Martin O’Neill is 73 years of age, he came to Celtic’s rescue out of his love for the club.
To put all of the responsibility of this title challenge squarely on his shoulders is nothing short of scandalous.
It is, in fact, highly abusive and flies in the face of the duty of care that Celtic has towards their employee.
The board are once again hiding behind the manager, and using him as a shield for their failings.
Shame on them.
What’s more, they aren’t even helping O’Neill when it comes to the January transfer window.
And you know why that is?
Its because they can’t, they are incapable of it.
Because he has pulled the rug from under them, and effectively told them that anything they presented to him wasn’t worth a shit.
Thus rendering them impotent.
Martin O’Neill isn’t a shield for the inadequacies of this incompetent board, he is their nemesis.
And he is exposing them for what they are.
But you know what the beauty is in all of this?
If we fail in our bid for this title, they cannot do to him what they did to Rodgers.
If we lose at Tynecastle on Sunday week, and we still do not have a new striker, that is not on Martin O’Neill.
It’s on the Celtic board who have lived by the mantra of fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
That failure has resulted in their total reliance on Martin O’Neill to fix their mess.
I have not doubt he will do his utmost.
But he is not the miracle worker these clowns think he is.
Make no mistake though, if he wins this title, it will be a miracle.
And nobody will deserve the credit for that but him and his management team.
The cretins in our boardroom would do well to steer clear of trying to stake any claim on that achievement if it comes to pass.
If they’re still there, that is….
Number of days Michael Nicholson remains Celtic CEO since Wilfried Nancy’s sacking – 10
Key Takeaways
- Celtic’s board used managers as shields, but Brendan Rodgers suffered for revealing hard truths about the club.
- Now, Martin O’Neill faces the brunt of the board’s incompetence while managing the January transfer window.
- The board’s lack of support for O’Neill highlights their failure to take responsibility for the club’s issues.
- If O’Neill fails to secure the title, the blame lies squarely on the board, not him.
- If he succeeds, the credit should solely go to him and his team, as the board has shown incapacity.
There has to be something else going on behind the scenes that nobody has thought about … something very serious impacting the whole Celtic FC entity ? Why would the current board sit idly by in the biggest crisis to engulf the club in a generation..and do nothing to cut the head off the beast ? Why for Christ sakes ? Success ..finance .. sponsorship…rewards …respect …rude health …all of those and more are now in jeopardy of being in the past terms ! There has to be something else staring us in the face behind the scenes which makes the board petrified of action or words to help the situation . Or are they just so incompetent and inept at their jobs they think it will all come good and success will be assured using the current squad of players who are all running on empty ? Because that’s that’s all that’s left of them …fumes !
What staring them in the face and gas them terrified is the lunatic narcissist Dermot Desmond, VDM.
The clown who publicly admitted that if a million people told him he was wrong he would stick to his guns regardless.
In his deranged statement trying to torch Rodgers the crackpot exposed himself for the full blown megalomaniac control freak that he is and his pampered son’s statement at the AGM calling the Celtic support and shareholders ‘work shy anti Establishment thugs’ proves that these clowns are happy to burn the hands that feed them.
How this idiot ever became a billionaire is anyone’s guess but I’m pretty certain there were an awful lot of third knuckle handshakes involved.
Thankfully Mr . O NEILL HAS EXTREMELY BIG SHOULDERS .
Leaving it down to him , to manage a team , face the press , scrutinise possible transfers and remain cheerful ( at least outwardly) is a testament to his ability and willingness to help our Great Club .
It also shows our board , once again , as gutless , two faced COWARDS !!!!
And I agree there’s something else going on behind the scenes causing all this chaos at Celtic …
It’s called The 5 Way Agreement and is perhaps the most corrupt document in world football as it basically calls for sanctioned cheating whereby Celtic fail to strengthen to allow Sevco, and now Hearts, to ‘keep the league competitive’, because football is not about defeating your competitors to gain an honest victory but is instead ‘an interdependent endeavour’ , therefore requires ‘some compromise’ as our old friend Auldheid continuously reminds us daily.
Nobody as far as I know of has ever set eyes on the 5 Way Agreement except Maxwell and his minions at Hampden 6th floor ? Why not ? How many pages long ? Who decided what categories to put into the document ? Why has no public fan or person cast eyes on the paper ? Let it be public and paying fans right to know and see what’s the meaning of the parts inside the thing . Why all the secrecy ? There is more mystery and isolation about the 5WA than there is underneath the great Giza Pyramid !
If I were to list all the folk who’ve seen the 5WA I’d be here all day, VDM, so I’d suggest you go over to the Sentinel Celts site and ask our old pal Auldheid of Resolution 12 fame to post a copy for your delectation.
I had a copy in my old iPad but that device has disappeared to only God knows where.
If Auldheid is not forthcoming you could try the John James Site if it’s still going though it was paywall protected years ago as the owner is a money grubbing supposedly ex Hun ponce.
Seek and ye shall find!
(With the proviso that it’s very possible that the Final Document of the 5WA really must be kept hidden as it literally encourages corruption, with Celtic leading the charge to keep Sevco et al ‘competitive’)
Alternatively you could write directly to Michael Nicholson (c/o Peter Lawwell) at Celtic and ask him for a copy of the 5WA.
I know, I know, just trying to make light of an otherwise dire situation.
HH
They better pray that the stress of leaving everything to a 73 year old man whilst they sit with their fingers up their a*ses doesn’t have a detrimental effect on MON’s health
@valentinesdaymassacre.
What if I told you its Jewish financers squeezing DD.