Celtic Had Three Weeks To Act — They’ve Already Wasted The Best One

Celtic have been handed something football clubs very rarely get during a season – time.

Three weeks without a competitive game. Three weeks to take stock, have the difficult conversations, decide where this season is going and, if necessary, make a change.

Somehow, Celtic have already managed to waste the most valuable part of it.

I said on the Trinity Tims that if the club had reached the conclusion that Martin O’Neill’s time was up, this international break gave them about as clean an opportunity as they were ever going to get. Make the decision during the first half of week one, begin speaking to potential replacements immediately and aim to have the new man through the door at the beginning of week two.

That would give him valuable time on the training ground before Motherwell.

Instead? Silence.

And that’s the bit I can’t get my head around.

A week ago, after three consecutive defeats and O’Neill’s extraordinary post-match comments about taking time for “self-reflection”, I genuinely didn’t see how we got to the other side of this international break with everything exactly as it was.

I was convinced, the manager had taken his last game in charge of the team.

Yet here we are.

Perhaps Martin has done his reflecting and decided he’s absolutely the man to turn it around. If that’s the case, fair enough. He’ll get my backing when Celtic start playing again because I desperately want him to succeed.

However, that doesn’t answer the bigger question.

What exactly is Celtic’s plan?

Because here’s the thing: even if Martin turns this around, everyone already knows this isn’t supposed to be a five-year project.

O’Neill himself has spoken about this being his final season. Therefore, Celtic should already be well down the road with succession planning anyway. Pasted text

They shouldn’t need a crisis to start looking for the next Celtic manager.

That work should already be happening.

If results force Celtic’s hand in October, November or December, there should be a folder somewhere containing serious candidates who have been watched, researched and sounded out.

Yet does anybody honestly have confidence that’s happening?

That’s the worry.

Look at what comes next.

Motherwell away. Benfica away. Hearts at home. Hibs away.

That’s hardly a nice wee run to ease yourself back into things.

One bad result against Motherwell and we’re immediately back into the conversation about O’Neill’s position. Benfica could be an extremely difficult night. Then you’ve got Hearts and Hibs waiting domestically.

If Celtic eventually decide after one of those games that change is required, what have they achieved by waiting?

They’ve taken perhaps the best opportunity they’ll have all season to conduct a proper managerial search and chucked it away.

This isn’t me demanding Martin O’Neill gets sacked today.

There’s actually part of me that would f**king love him to come back after the break, win ten games on the bounce and make every single one of us look ridiculous.

Nobody enjoyed last season’s remarkable turnaround more than me.

What I’m questioning is the planning above him.

Last season should already have taught Celtic a lesson about making things up as they go along.

Martin arrived, performed miracles, left after getting Celtic into a League Cup final, returned following the Wilfried Nancy debacle and then somehow delivered the most unlikely of doubles.

Even after all that, Celtic took weeks to appoint him permanently.

Now we’re sitting here again wondering what happens next.

At some stage you need to stop reacting to events and start anticipating them.

That’s what well-run football clubs do.

The strangest thing is Celtic’s annual report told us O’Neill has the club’s “full support”.

Maybe he does.

Equally, as I said on the show, have you ever read a company’s annual accounts which basically say – the manager’s on a shaky peg and one more defeat and he’s getting his jotters?

Of course they’re going to say they support him.

It could be completely generic pish.

If Celtic genuinely believe O’Neill remains the right man, then back him properly, communicate that decision and explain where this is going.

If there are doubts, this was the time to act upon them.

Doing absolutely nothing and hoping Motherwell goes well isn’t a strategy.

That’s what concerns me most about this Celtic board.

We’ve heard about strategies. We’ve heard about lessons being learned. Brian Wilson effectively asked supporters to give the club another chance.

Well, supporters did.

Champions League qualification went again. Celtic are out of the League Cup. Three defeats arrived on the bounce and suddenly the manager was publicly talking about reflecting on his own position.

Yet we’ve apparently arrived at the international break and decided the best course of action is… carry on.

Maybe Martin O’Neill proves everybody wrong again.

Christ knows, he’s done it before.

But whether he stays for another month or sees out the entire season, Celtic already know they’ll eventually need another manager.

So where is the plan?

Because if the answer is that we’ll deal with it when the time comes, we’ve learned absolutely nothing.

And Celtic have just wasted the perfect week to prove otherwise.

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.