All Brian Wilson’s statement confirms is that he’ll be staying on as Celtic Chairman, and that we’re stuck with this board
All Brian Wilson's statement confirms is that he'll be staying on as Celtic Chairman, and that we're stuck with this board
Eric Knott 
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - APRIL 11: Celtic Interim Chairman Brian Wilson during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and St Mirren at Celtic Park, on April 11, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Isn’t it funny that at Celtic the word “interim” is never used to according to it’s actual meaning?
The very definition of interim is a temporary, provisional period or arrangement between two events.
The problem at Celtic is that the lines become blurred in the arrangement between any two events.
For example, Michael Nicholson was “interim CEO” after Dom McKay vacated his role.
Neil Lennon was “interim manager” after Brendan Rodgers left for Leicester City in 2019.
Right now, Martin O’Neill is “interim manager” while the “world class” hunt for a new manager continues.
Interim at Celtic, if past events are anything to go by, means that the we’ll tell people we’re looking for someone to fill the role that has been vacated, but really, the job is yours.
Let’s be honest here, “world class” recruitment doesn’t happen at Celtic.
It has been, and always will be, jobs for the boys at this club.
Reading between the lines when it comes to his comments on player development and recruitment recently, you got the feeling Martin O’Neill was talking about these things as the permanent Celtic manager, rather than the “interim” one.
He gave the impression that he was going to be at the club beyond this season.
If he lands the double, do you think many people would have any issue with that?
However, if you told Celtic fans before this season kicked off that Martin O’Neill would have been the Celtic manager at the end of the season, you’d have been met with total incredulity.
Nobody would have believed you.
Yet here we are.
If you asked me would I be happy at Martin O’Neill becoming the permanent manager if he delivers the double, I would be conflicted.
My heart would feel that he deserved it.
But my head would be conflicted because having a 74 year old as the manager of Celtic isn’t sustainable.
Football management, especially in the modern era, is a young man’s game.
If Martin O’Neill were to remain in situ, all that proves is that Celtic is still a club that is unable to move forward.
A club that refuses, point blank, to modernise.
Which brings me to the “interim Chairman”.
Brian “Unity” Wilson, it seems, loves to talk.
He was at it again last night, preaching unity once again, and outlining all of the new incentives for fan engagement.
Listening to what he had to say made me feel like this was a thinly veiled way of announcing, “we’re not going anywhere, but we promise we’ll be better when it comes fan engagement, but really we just need your season ticket money”.
In other words, “Gie us yer money, an’ we’ll gie ye some fluffy stuff that looks like fan engagement, but disnae really.”
A fans forum?
Which will be filled with plenty of fan commentary, but it’ll be guaranteed to be all one way traffic.
A boardroom re-shuffle?
What are the bets that this re-shuffle will involve Wilson’s current title dropping the “interim”?
Because that’s what happens at Celtic, isn’t it?
Wilson’s constant need to talk since he took on the role last November, tells us that he’s getting more and more comfortable in the role.
He will become permanent Chairman under the guise of having brought “unity” to the club.
Wilson will claim he brought the club together in a time of major strife, and because of that, he’s the right man for the role of Chairman.
When in reality, he did nothing but drag out the Green Brigade ban for a much longer than duration than it needed to be.
During that time, he did nothing but waffle in political speak.
Blaming SAG, Police Scotland, and everyone but the board for the ban on the GB.
All Brian Wilson’s message last night told us was that he’s going nowhere.
Nor are his useless mates in the boardroom.
A boardroom re-shuffle will maybe entail them changing seats in some way or another.
And Wilson moving from “interim Chairman” to permanent Chairman.
But they’ll all still be there.
]All of them, in some form or another.
Promising that “lessons have been learned”, and that we must trust them to take the club forward.
Bollocks.
All of it.
Total bollocks!
Key Takeaways
- Celtic misuses the term ‘interim’, blurring lines between temporary and permanent roles for managers like Martin O’Neill.
- The club lacks ‘world class’ recruitment and often relies on familiarity instead of progress.
- There’s skepticism about Martin O’Neill’s sustainability as a manager due to his age and the club’s refusal to modernise.
- Brian Wilson’s ‘interim Chairman’ role seems set to become permanent, under the guise of promoting unity.
- Fans question the board’s actions, feeling assurances amount to empty promises while they hang on to their positions.
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Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
The frustration is that we all can see what Desmond and his cabal have done and will keep doing ,to keep doing the sa.e thing over and over is insanity to keep doing it is complicit with this board who only have one priority corner greed and austerity, so the problem is staring us right in the face it’s us yes us , we are letting a bunch of megalomaniac desperado drive the bus with us as passengers , we need to take control stop giving them your money
No I don’t buy it . Aye we are glad that we are in this position but it’s down to one man calming things down – Martin Oneil . Search for a new manager seems to be Keane a Desmond choice . This team needs massive spending in the summer but I think what we’ll get is punting maeda Engels nygren and giving new manager half of that if lucky . There is absolutely no change . They don’t get it . Next season will be more of the same
Hi Eric ,was just thinking myself ,the subtext of everything MON says seems to point to him being manager again next season.I now think it’s a gimme.Everything this lot do is self serving and short term.As you say a 74 year old head coach or manager isn’t sustainable.No freshness,new ideas.Musical chairs in the boardroom also.I fear for us next season.
(plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose),
The more that things change the more they stay the same.
The story of the Celtic FC board.
Thanks Eric for telling me about SMRY. It has worked great. I hope it helps other posters too.