It’s incredible that off the top of my head, I can list ten blunders Michael Nicholson has overseen at Celtic because just one of these is a sacking offence.
Celtic have lurched from one shambles to the next under Nicholson’s tenure but this season has been a complete disaster.
The Parkhead CEO has overseen a catalogue of errors that was summed up with Celtic sacking Wilfried Nancy 33 days after Nicholson admitted that he was ‘aware of Nancy’s quality of work’ and that he was the Parkhead board’s ‘number one candidate’ to take over from Brendan Rodgers.
The first thing I would do if I was on the Celtic board is – – – –
And now, just under five weeks later, Nancy was emptied with not a single word from Celtic’s silent CEO or the rest of the board.
It’s a disgraceful state of affairs that makes Nicholson’s time at Celtic untenable alone. But here, we take a look at 10 blunders the CEO has been in charge of that should see him join Nancy out the Parkhead exit door.
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The five biggest Celtic errors Michael Nicholson allowed to play out
Let’s start with the first five biggest mistakes that Nicholson has overseen at Celtic.
- 1. Celtic’s transfer business. It’s almost a calendar year since Kyogo left Celtic and the club took seven months to get a replacement. An injury prone one at that. Nicolas Kuhn was also sold and not replaced and Adam Idah was binned from under Brendan Rodgers’ feet after he publicly said he couldn’t allow the striker to leave without a suitable replacement. We could be here all day discussing the transfer policy. To sum it up, it’s a continual shambles.
- 2. Celtic’s £40m Champions League gamble. The exit to Kairat Almaty was down to the club being complacent and failing to strengthen properly for the richest game of the season.
- 3. The hiring of Wilfried Nancy. Fairly self-explanatory as he lasted just 33 days after being publicly backed twice by Nicholson.
- 4. Two major cup final defeats to Aberdeen and St Mirren.
- 5. Banning the Green Brigade during the most crucial fixture schedule of Celtic’s season. The complete blanket ban of the Celtic Ultras has harmed the reputation of the club and found hundreds of fans guilty of a crime that hasn’t even been fully investigated by the authorities yet.
Celtic’s AGM, Dermot Desmond attack and Paul Tisdale
The more this story is written, the more damning this is for Nicholson, so let’s continue to catalogue the Celtic blunders.
- 6. The Celtic AGM. An attack on the Celtic supporters and shareholders by Ross Desmond was allowed to play out that will forever scar his time at the club.
- 7. Allowing Dermot Desmond’s to use Celtic to publicly flay Brendan Rodgers was completely unprofessional.
- 8. The hiring of Paul Tisdale who recommended Nancy and was responsible for a recruitment policy that has seen the vast majority of signings fail at Celtic.
- 9. Publicly attacking Celtic supporters during the announcement of Peter Lawwell’s resignation when Nicholson comments on nothing else at the club.
- 10. Overseeing a season where Celtic have changed managers four times in total.
There are plenty more like Hyunjun Yang travelling to Birmingham and then being told to come back to Celtic as did Adam Idah with his Cardiff City move.
Go Ahead Eagles publicly mocking Celtic’s conduct during the summer transfer window was particularly damaging.
We could be here all day but what is perfectly clear that Nicholson should also carry some of the blame for the last twelve shambolic months and beyond that have happened at Celtic whilst he is the CEO.
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