Röhl talks about the ‘consistently’ winning titles, if the Celtic board have their way he might just get his wish

This morning, I read Danny Röhl’s comments in the Record about this season’s title, and his aspirations for the final three fixtures.

At first, I laughed at his bravado in thinking that they could still win this season’s title.

But that’s his job, I guess.

He can’t be expected to concede defeat in this title race when there’s still a slight glimmer of hope.

It’s only human to cling onto that little sliver of hope.

And as we always say, it’s the hope that kills them over there.

Early tomorrow afternoon, we can snuff out that last glimmer of hope, but in order to do that, we need to be on top of our game.

On the podcast on last Tuesday evening, we discussed the fact that a hammering of the Ibrox side was long overdue.

James and I predicted a 3-0 win.

Joe was a bit more pragmatic and reckoned it would be 2-1, and a nerve jangler to boot.

I guess it’s hard to know which version of Celtic we’ll get tomorrow, but one thing we do know for sure, Martin O’Neill will have his men up for this one.

However, when Röhl spoke about consistency at Ibrox, it set me to thinking.

Despite the fact it’s looking like another trophyless season for his side, it cannot be said that the Americans did not invest in the project this season.

They gave it their full backing.

So, they’re either going to continue backing it, or they’re going to pull back next season.

I sincerely doubt it’s the latter, simply because that’s just not how things work over there.

Throughout all of this, Celtic have gone backwards.

And Celtic continues to go backwards.

But somehow, with four games left in this season, we are still in with a chance of doing the double.

That is entirely by virtue of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney’s influence on the team.

It is nothing, and I mean nothing, to do with the Celtic board.

If O’Neill manages to deliver the double by the time this season is over, any attempt by the board to lap up the plaudits for that achievement should be met with the ridicule it deserves.

But let me talk about the word consistency.

Let’s put it in its correct context when it comes to Celtic, as opposed to Ibrox.

Celtic is nothing, if not consistent, in the way it operates as a club.

That is something we cannot argue about.

It’s the type of consistency at Celtic that is the issue.

The Celtic board is irritatingly consistent in its level of mediocrity.

So mediocre, that a lot of us strongly believe that they are going to offer Martin O’Neill the Celtic job on full time basis for next season, and possibly beyond.

Their irritating level of consistency could result in them offering the role to him in the showers at Hampden if we manage to win the Cup to seal the double.

Because we’ve never seen that before, have we?

Although I suspect that they’ve already offered the role to him, instead, they’ll just announce it after the Cup Final if we win.

They know – just like they did when they offered it to Lennon after securing the treble in 2019 – that the euphoria of the win will soften the blow.

People will find it very hard to argue with giving it to O’Neill if he secures the double, even I couldn’t.

But it’s the long term vision that is severely lacking here.

At 74 year old manager, whatever way you spin it, does not shout long term vision.

A decision like that would fit in perfectly with the consistent lack of long term vision at Celtic.

If the current Celtic board remains in place, which it’s looking more and more likely it will, consistent short-termism will be the order of the day.

How they will go about the level of the squad rebuild that’s required is beyond me.

If they choose Martin O’Neill as the permanent manager, then that will be the easy option.

But there will be nothing easy about the squad rebuild Celtic faces.

The men in the Celtic boardroom have consistently shown that they are incapable of dealing in the transfer market in a professional way that befits a club of Celtic’s stature.

Yet we are expected to have confidence in them to oversee a full squad rebuild?

You see where I’m going with this?

It’s a scary prospect, isn’t it?

So, when Danny Röhl talks about consistency at Ibrox, that worries me.

It worries me because whether he’s in charge of the Ibrox side or not, whoever is, will be fully backed by the Americans.

The same cannot be said for Celtic.

Whether it’s Martin O’Neill or anybody else, they will be expected to work with what the Celtic board hands them.

And if they get their way, Röhl – or whoever is in charge – might just get their wish.

The Ibrox side will get the consistency they require through the inability of our board to take our club forward in any meaningful way.

This is the future for Celtic with these men in charge.

The evidence points to nothing else.

Sad, but true.

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