You can’t help but look towards the summer despite Celtic being embroiled in a three-way race for the Premiership title.
Nobody can argue that it has been a horror season for Celtic, and if it is salvaged by lifting the Premiership title, it’s only because of Martin O’Neill’s genius.
But come the summer, and when Celtic prepare for an expected clearout, do the supporters trust those in charge, including leader of the pack Dermot Desmond, to make the right calls? Because James McFadden certainly doesn’t.
“But do they make the decisions on who makes the decisions?” said McFadden. “If you look at the last year, every decision they made seems to be the wrong one.”
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Who are you picking Celtic fans, and why?
Will Celtic get things right in the summer?
An interesting debate erupted on Open Goal, with Paul Slane confident that normal service will resume with the champions of Scotland next season.
Yes, this has been an abject season of the highest order, but you can’t argue with the facts, and that’s the domination for nearly two decades from one side of Glasgow.
Despite Slane’s optimism, fellow fan and pundit Si Ferry wasn’t in that boat, and McFadden was rowing in the same boat as the former Celtic academy player.
McFadden noted the ‘wrong’ calls that have been made by Celtic during the past 12 months, from Wilfried Nancy’s nightmare spell to the woeful Paul Tisdale reign.
It has left some members of the Open Goal panel questioning if those calling the shots will fall down the same rabbit hole of the last 12 months, because if that happens, then more pain is around the corner.
Gordon Dalziel: “Why would Celtic not get better (next season)?”
Ferry: “Who is making decisions to make them better? People who have been making the last six months and a year have been terrible. So what makes you think they are going to make them better?”
Dalziel: “I think in the summer, what they need to do is regroup as a club. They need to sit down. They need to put people in the right seats.”
Ferry: “They have done that wrongly.”
Slane: “Aye, this season, but we have dominated for the last 15 years.”
Ferry: “It’s different. Somebody else is in charge at Celtic in the main seat; he is making all the decisions.”
Slane: “Do you not think Celtic will come back then?”
Ferry: “Unless they change the full club.”
Slane: “That’s what they are going to do.”
Ferry: “They need somebody in charge making better decisions in the whole club.”
Dalziel: “That’s what they will do. Then they will need to appoint a manager who is going to go forward.”
McFadden: “But do they make the decisions on who makes the decisions? If you look at the last year, every decision they made seems to be the wrong one.
“I know that you (Slane) think they will (get better), and that’s a wee bit of just belief. But your (Ferry) point is right. What gives you the confidence that they are going to be able to go back to where they were and get it right?
“Tisdale was put in place to run everything. Somebody decided that was going to be the case.”
What needs to happen in the summer?
The last time Celtic were in such a mess, Rangers stopped the ten, and then the unknown figure of Ange Postecoglou was brought into the building.
The Celtic hero was backed in the transfer market, including signing Reo Hatate in January of that season, and the rest is history with that one.
It could be argued that the Hoops are in a similar, if not worse, situation than that one. But what needs to be done?
- A new manager
- Head of football operations
- A new long-term chairman
- Up to ten senior players, if not more, leaving the club
- Up to ten senior players, if not more, getting signed
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