Shaun Maloney is a busy man at the moment.
He’s assisting Martin O’Neill at Celtic and working at the forefront of the club’s January recruitment… despite being brought in as Player Pathways Manager just six months ago.
He replaced Darren O’Dea, who had been B team manager before moving into the newly-created pathways role, allowing Stephen McManus to take his place.
He left the Hoops in the summer, joining Swansea City to be Alan Sheehan’s assistant manager. Ironically, he replaced Mark Fotheringham in that role.
The amount that has changed at the club since O’Dea’s departure has been truly staggering… so what does he make of it?
Is Michael Nicholson fit to be the Celtic CEO? Let us know in the comments.
Darren O’Dea on Celtic’s infrastructure
The departure of Brendan Rodgers came just months after O’Dea left, and since then, it has truly been a whirlwind.
Despite the feel-good return of O’Neill, fan discontent at the way the club has been run hasn’t wavered.
READ MORE: Kieron Bowie moves closer to Hibs exit with £5m bid rejected as Celtic watch on
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, O’Dea said that he felt sympathy for Michael Nicholson, given just how chaotic the season has been.
He said: “I obviously know a lot of people at the club, naturally, but I genuinely have no inside knowledge of this.
“I just look at logically. I think Celtic, admittedly, had a poor summer window. Since then, you’ve lost your head of football operations in Paul Tisdale, they’ve lost their chief scout in Jay Lefevre… they’ve either left or been sacked, different circumstances.
“Brendan Rodgers will have been a major… if you think of Kasper Schmeichel, Iheanacho, these players, they’re ex-Brendan Rodgers players.
“And then you’ve got John Kennedy, who was at the club for an enormous amount of time, knows what it takes and will be involved in these conversations.
“And then the very last person, who’s still in the building, that would’ve been involved in these conversations is Shaun Maloney – and now he’s essentially in charge of the first team.
“So albeit, he will still have his say on signings, it’s very different in terms of his time management, if you like.
“So I just look at Celtic now, and I feel for Michael in terms of the amount of stick he gets. Albeit, when you’re at the forefront of a massive club, naturally the animosity is going to be directed to the top.
“Everyone gets that. But the reality is that the infrastructure around him, or beneath him, I don’t think is functioning.
“Because I’ve just named four people who would’ve been massive parts of it, and aren’t in the club.”
With a week to go, rate Celtic’s transfer window so far out of 10…
Celtic’s makeshift staff under Martin O’Neill
The departure of Wilfried Nancy and Paul Tisdale was effectively an attempt by the club to erase the 33 days he had spent in charge.
Tisdale’s job was a merger of a head of recruitment and sporting director role, leaving a huge gap after his sacking.
Now, ahead of the January transfer window, senior scout James Bell-Walker has been brought in from Chelsea, seemingly as Lefevre’s replacement.
He, Maloney and Mark Cooper are fronting the recruitment drive, with deadline day edging closer.
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