Desmond pushes Martin O’Neill talks back another week, and on season ticket deadline day this board still has the brass neck to ask us to renew…

They say a stopped clock is right twice a day.

This Celtic board can’t even manage that.

For a club that has to completely rebuild this summer, you would think the appointment of a permanent manager might be at the top of the to-do list.

Apparently not.

The talks between Dermot Desmond and Martin O’Neill that were supposed to take place this week have been “pushed back” to next week.

So have the meetings with other candidates in London.

“Nudged back” beyond the weekend.

According to Alistair Gordon in Glasgow World, citing the Herald:

“Talks between Celtic’s largest shareholder Dermot Desmond and Martin O’Neill over the club’s managerial hotseat have been pushed back to next week. Speaking after he secured a domestic double by beating Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup Final, the veteran interim boss flagged up the expectation of discussions with Irish billionaire Desmond this week. Celtic were also scheduled to speak with other candidates for the post in London. Like the meeting with O’Neill those discussions have also been nudged back beyond the weekend.”

Pushed back.

Nudged back.

A wee delay.

Of course.

Because there is no urgency to any of this, is there?

It’s not as if the supporter base has been asking, since November, what the plan for next season actually is?

It isn’t as if we’re now deep into the part of the calendar where the football business actually has to get done.

It isn’t as if our rivals are signing players this week while we sit here twiddling our thumbs.

Meanwhile, at Ibrox, they’re getting business done.

Armitage Shankland is at Auchenhowie putting pen to paper.

Liam Kelly, John Souttar, Findlay Curtis, all booked on the same Scotland plane.

The Ibrox side rebuilding their squad in plain sight.

At Celtic Park?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…

Wait, was that a fax machine I just heard cranking up?

Alas no, it was the sound of Silent Mike’s “world class” coffee machine doing the hard yards as he waits on a phone call from Barbados that’s never coming.

As I said yesterday, a world class CEO for a world class football club.

Aren’t we just blessed?

The absent golfing meddler is in no hurry, and why would he be?

Dermot Desmond can take all the time he likes from the comfort of his villa in Barbados, because the bills aren’t being paid by him.

They’re being paid by us.

By the supporter base he treats as an inconvenience to be milked once a year and then ignored for the other eleven months.

The puppet master golfer has zero incentive to make a decision quickly.

Every day the manager job stays vacant is a day Celtic don’t have to commit serious money to a serious appointment.

Convenient, isn’t it??

And before anyone says “Eric, you’re just ranting into the void again” – yes, I probably am.

But this is f*****g infuriating.

And today, of all days, is season ticket deadline day.

Let that sink in.

Today is the day Celtic supporters are expected to hand over thousands of pounds for next season’s product.

So let’s have a look at what we are being asked to renew for, shall we??

No manager, no Director of Football, no recruitment done.

No permanent chairman either – unless you count Brian “Unity” Wilson, who is “interim” in the way Celtic has always defined “interim”, which is to say, he’ll be there until the sun burns out.

The same useless CEO and the same useless CFO.

And several first-team players who are expected to be gone before pre-season even starts.

So what exactly are we paying for??

Anyone?

“Gie us yer money, an’ we’ll figure the rest oot later.”

That has been the message from this board for the entire calendar year.

Brian Wilson on Celtic TV, waffling about “fan engagement” and looking like a man who absolutely has not resigned.

Silent Mike grinning and doing the thumbs-up in the directors’ box.

Chris McKay quietly pushing a 3% incremental price hike through the back door.

And the puppet master golfer, signing it all off from Barbados without a care in the world, probably getting his ‘tache groomed.

While the manager’s office sits empty, and the recruitment list sits empty.

While the Director of Football role – a role any serious modern club has filled by now – sits empty.

But the season tickets, those, they absolutely want renewed.

Today.

By close of business.

Of course they do.

The bottom line is, this board has nothing to offer us this summer.

They have no plan, no manager, no recruitment list, no Director of Football and no permanent chairman.

They have, in fact, nothing.

Apart from a polished season ticket renewal portal and another fluffy Brian Wilson supporter update reassuring us that everything is in hand.

It is not in hand.

It hasn’t been in hand for eighteen months.

And every “pushed back” headline that drops between now and the start of pre-season is going to confirm that all over again.

Robbie Keane is “available”.

Who gives a shit?

Craig Bellamy is “available”.

Shaun Maloney is being lined up for an upstairs role nobody asked for.

Jens Berthel Askou – the rookie who, lest we forget, taught us a footballing lesson at Fir Park earlier this season – has already taken the Toulouse job and walked away from the race entirely.

And Martin O’Neill, who said himself the club “would probably be looking at somebody younger”, is still the only name actually in the building.

Because nobody in charge has had a serious conversation with anybody else.

Is that really where we are??

Is it???

Get it f***ing sorted.

Amateurs.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ…

Choose Read Celtic as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.