Dom McKay has addressed his spell at Celtic, almost five years on from leaving his role as chief executive.
Cast your mind back to 2021. Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell had left Celtic, and we looked set for a smooth transition with Eddie Howe, Fergal Harkin and McKay set to come in.
Instead, the deals for Howe and Harkin collapsed and, despite McKay’s presence as a senior figure, it was Lawwell’s contact book that led to the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.
McKay eventually left after 72 days, being replaced by Michael Nicholson.
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Dom McKay: ‘Immense pride’ for my time at Celtic
Speaking on Scotcast, McKay said of his time in Glasgow: “I loved my time at Celtic, I had a great summer there.
“We did, as a team, both on and off the field, some great work.
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“I look back with enormous pride. It was really great to see them go on and have success, and I enjoyed that success as a fan.”
The news of McKay’s departure came completely from the blue, and despite rumours of friction behind the scenes, he respectfully insists that he made the decision for personal reasons.
He said: “It was really personal to me and it was private for me,” he said. “I’ve been really respectful about not talking about it.”
Pushed on whether or not there had been a fall-out, he said: “No, I didn’t fall out with anybody. As I said, it was just private and personal reasons for me.”
The rumours that overshadowed McKay’s departure may indicate that everything was going Pete Tong at the time, but this evidently wasn’t the case.
The summer 2021 window — McKay’s biggest contribution to the club — can easily be described as one of the most successful and important in the club’s history.
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Celtic’s summer 2021 window
Amid a seismic rebuild similar to what many expect this summer, the success rate of the signings was remarkable.
The window started with the attacking additions of Liel Abada and Kyogo Furuhashi, before Josip Juranovic and Carl Starfelt were added to strengthen at the back.
The signing of Joe Hart was derided in some quarters, but his presence — both as a leader and a shot-stopper — was essential.
The business was still incomplete going into deadline day, but in the final 24 hours of the window, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota all came in. Not bad at all…
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