Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph makes refreshing Celtic comments

By Euan Davidson

January 12, 2021

Celtic need a fresh approach, and are “drunk on domestic success”, according to the constantly reliable Anthony Joseph at Sky Sports.

A noted Celtic supporter himself, Joseph is always quick to Bhoys-related stories, particularly transfer-wise.

The former Sun reporter has made a name for himself in broadcast media. He’s never been shy of offering an opinion or two, especially regarding his own story of racism in football (Celtic Fanzine). That article in particular built a bond with the Hoops faithful.

Now, he’s taken a look at how his club are doing, and offered up a multi-tweet thread on the state of Celtic.

Anthony Joseph’s comments hold weight for Celtic supporters

As a multi-award-winning journalist, Joseph knows football. That’s why, in a way, it’s almost quite sad to see things develop to a point where a Sky Sports journalist felt the need to ask what was happening at Celtic.

If even the national press are baffled by the decision making at board level, then that can’t be a good sign.

Joseph said:

“If they finish 2nd, Celtic’s qualifiers are likely to be much harder. But it’s not just about next season – the next decade should be looked at.

“Where do Celtic want to be on a global scale, in footballing terms? If they want to make progress, they need modernising.

“Celtic’s model isn’t very modern. Ideally they should have a sporting director and a head coach. Sporting director should deal with all the footballing business matters like transfers etc, instead of the CEO. This end of an era is the perfect time to think/operate differently.”

In a way, this is vindication for us, because these are some of the views that fan-run sites like 67 Hail Hail have been saying for months. The scouting network at Celtic’s disposal is shrouded in mystery.

Us, and other sites like The Cynic have been beating the drum for change for a considerable length of time now.

This was reflected later on in Joseph’s thread:

“This is by no means groundbreaking stuff. Many fans can see what’s needed. There appears to be a real lack of self-awareness at the club, who are still drunk on the domestic success. It’s been amazing & will be remembered forever, but Celtic need to plan for the future… now.”

Sky Sports’ mic at Celtic Park / (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Everyone’s eyes are on what Celtic do next

Celtic need more than to just replace the manager. We’ve watched as our top talents have gone for what seem like considerable fees, before their value subsequently skyrockets. Arsenal fans, in particular, will wonder how they managed to get Kieran Tierney for just £25m in today’s market (Goal).

Everyone could see Virgil van Dijk’s immense qualities. Sold for £14m in 2015, Liverpool had to shell out £75m to take him off Southampton’s hands three years later (Transfermarkt).

Yes, fine, there are mitigating factors. Yet, Celtic fan Anthony Joseph makes a really good point in saying:

“If Celtic have serious ambitions and are consistently doing well in Europe then key players will be more likely to stay. Values will increase and some could be sold to the elite, instead of Southampton. Porto, Benfica, Ajax all sell directly to the elite for big fees.”

This board are stuck in the past. So many in the Celtic support have been saying this for so long, and it was dismissed as “entitled”. Now, with a mainstream push, there could be more pressure on the current board to either modernise or step aside.

If even national broadcasters are breaking the fourth wall and offering blunt opinions about the club, surely that speaks volumes? If Kheredine Idessane of the BBC turned round on Reporting Scotland and went “here, Lawwell needs to go pronto”, would that not also be an event?

So, yes. These comments hold weight, and yes, we agree. But the most important thing is who’s saying it. For a club obsessed with good PR, Celtic will have already found today tough, but this is a different kind of problem for the Bhoys.

When the objective becomes the subjective, it means that the problems are visible to everyone.