There haven’t been many reasons for Celtic fans to get excited this season, but when they look ahead to the summer, they certainly should.
When many look at the massive rebuilding job ahead for the club, the automatic reaction is to be fearful. It’s to be concerned that there’s so much to do and not a lot of time to do it in.
You can see the merit in it. But it’s important to look at the positives. This could very well be the change this football club has needed for the last 12 months. The scale of the rebuild when it comes to the management and playing staff is monumental, but we’ve been craving it for some time now.
Whenever a new management team is appointed, excitement is generated. It doesn’t matter whether it was your top choice or your bottom choice – it’s something different. It’s something to get behind – just like Neil Lennon once was.
Finally we’ll have that freshness in the summer. I say that because I honestly cannot fathom how Lennon stays beyond the end of the season. It just can’t happen. The campaign has been too much of a failure. Change is coming to the managerial team and we must embrace it.
With that could see a raft of changes behind the scenes too. Of course the club will find a place for John Kennedy. For some reason it always does. But what of the likes of Head of Football Operations Nick Hammond or first-team coach Gavin Strachan? Don’t be surprised if they’re sent packing along with the manager.
Many have been calling for Peter Lawwell to stand down too. I won’t go that far as I still think he’ll be in his gig come the start of the new season.
Come August, Celtic fans will be excited again
But it’s the playing squad that needs a vast amount of work done to it too. Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer, and Olivier Ntcham will all be entering the final 12 months of their contract. Summer deals for those three look a certainty.
Diego Laxalt, Shane Duffy, and Mohamed Elyounoussi will all return to their parent clubs once their loan spells end. Conor Hazard’s contract is up at the end of the season with no new one in sight. The captain, Scott Brown, is another who looks likely to go at the end of the season too.
Hatem Elhamed looks all but certain to leave permanently at some stage given he’s struggling with life in Scotland [The Herald].
That’s eight players that could be heading for the Celtic exit door. Not to mention we still have players who have failed to make their marks such as Vasilis Barkas, Patryk Klimala, and Albian Ajeti staying where they are.
So much surgery is needing done on this squad and it’s going to be a monumental task. Throw in the fact we need a new management team and an overhaul of the scouting department and it must give Desmond a headache.
But from a supporter’s perspective this is nothing to be fearful of. If the right appointments are made in the summer, we’ll be absolutely buzzing come the new season and hopefully a different animal once again.
This club has needed to strip itself for a while now. We finally look set to be given that change after Lennon’s monumental catastrophe of a season.
When that change happens, it’s important we get excited by it as opposed to fearful of its enormity.
In other news, this injured Celtic star’s return timeframe is now up, so where is he?
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