Martin O’Neill’s Backroom Staff Should be Martin O’Neill’s Own Choosing

Contract Delays for Maloney and Fotheringham? Wage Cuts to Boot? You Could Not Make This Lot Up.

I’ll be honest.

My eyes rolled before I’d even finished the headline.

Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham – both reportedly being asked to take a PAYCUT before any new deals get put in front of them.

Lets be real, this is Celtic PLC behaviour 101.

Penny pinching where they shouldn’t be, splashing the cash where they don’t need to.

Of course it is.

Interim deals end, contracts get renegotiated, the world keeps turning.

But this is the Manager’s backroom staff we are talking about here.

The two men sat next to Martin O’Neill in the dugout while we lifted a DOUBLE against all odds.

Is now really the time to be negotiating against THEM on behalf of the balance sheet?

The Manager Decides. Not the Accountants. Not the Board.

Here is where I land on it.

If Martin O’Neill walks in tomorrow and says “I want Shaun, I want Mark, get them sorted at fair value” – then sort them at fair value.

If he walks in and says “I appreciate everything they have done, but I am bringing my own people” – then thank them properly and move them on with respect.

What you do NOT do is sit on their contracts whilst quietly offering them less money than they were on the season before.

That is the worst of both worlds.

You disrespect the men who helped deliver the miracle this season AND you box the new Manager in before he has even picked up HIS pen.

I’ll tell you who that suits.

Daddy Desmond’s accountants.

Nobody else.

Efrain Juarez as Our Assistant Manager? I’d Need to Hear that From Martin O’Neill Himself.

This one made me sit up.

Celtic linked with Efrain Juarez as an Assistant Manager – and apparently as a “future Boss” prospect to be groomed quietly behind the scenes.

You. Are. Joking.

Granted, the man has built a coaching career since his playing days ended.

He worked alongside Bielsa with Mexico, served his time on the touchline, has the badges, has the experience.

But this is the SAME Efrain Juarez Celtic spent good money on in 2010.

The one who lasted barely a cup of coffee at the Club.

Or should I say a shot of tequila.

The one whose name is remembered for everything OFF the park rather than anything on it.

Disciplinary issues.

Lack of professionalism.

A player sold to us as a project who turned out to be a problem.

That is the Celtic story of Efrain Juarez, let’s have it right.

So Why on Earth Would we Bring him Back? A Spreadsheet Decision if Ever I Saw One.

Because someone upstairs has decided he ticks the right boxes on a spreadsheet?

Because he’s “cheap” and “available”?

Because the Phone Book has been dusted off again?

If – and only IF – Martin O’Neill himself stands up and says “I want Efrain Juarez beside me” – then fine.

I will trust that judgement.

I will swallow the history and I will get behind it.

The Manager picks the staff.

That is the rule.

That has to be the rule.

But if this is another Board-led, Doctor Football-flavoured suggestion being nudged in O’Neill’s direction from above?

Then no thanks.

We have been down this road too many times.

This is the SAME Board that handed Brendan a DoF he didn’t want.

This is the SAME Board that let the last regime fracture from within.

And now they want to pick the new Manager’s Assistant for him as well?

F**k that.

A Coach picked by the Boss will be backed by the Boss.

A Coach picked FOR the Boss will be tolerated by the Boss.

There is a world of difference between those two situations.

Amongst all the lessons of recent years, this one should be the non-negotiable.

Back the Manager. Trust the Manager. Pay the Manager’s Staff.

Can this be sorted? Course it can.

Will they? I doubt it.

I’ll be live on The Bhoycie Bus tonight discuss this and much more.

Keep Your Eyes on The Board.