Do you remember the Celtic statement from the 7th May? We do, and we’re sure you do, too.
At the time, the horrible 20-21 season was nearing an end. And while there was still considerable anger, it did feel like summer would bring renewal. If not of season tickets, then of a culture at the club. Lawwell would leaving, replaced by McKay. Our managerial “favourite” looked nailed-on.
And so, the club said [Celtic FC]:
“The Club is working hard to complete the appointment of the new Celtic Manager and relevant football staff and will be doing all we can to confirm this as soon as possible to our supporters.
“We are now in a transitional period in respect of our Chief Executive handover. Peter Lawwell, our CEO is working closely with incoming CEO Dominic McKay on a successful handover to ensure that we are ready for next season across all aspects of the Club, with considerable planning and preparatory work already undertaken.
“We have not been able to deliver the kind of season we have become so used to and after such a sustained period of success, we sincerely understand the disappointment and frustration of our supporters – now we make it our objective to return the Club to the top in the shortest possible timeframe.
“We look forward to keeping you updated.”
A couple of things there, Celtic
Now, is it possible that the Celtic board have just been incredibly unlucky? You can imagine they would argue that. At the very least, the Eddie Howe news will have been a significant shock to the system, and they’ll defend themselves robustly.
But where is the planning and preparatory work? There’s little evidence of it. Instead of having a structure in place that allows the club to rebuild successfully, we’ve delved further into chaos. Any attempt to argue that this was part of any plan from the club’s perspective is utterly laughable.
The “shortest possible timeframe” has surely passed by now. The club have had since February – since February – to put fans at ease and protect their business with some kind of announcement. They haven’t kept us updated throughout, and as I’ve said before, it’s not the fault of the employees of Celtic who are to blame for that, it’s the board.
In truth, the last thing the supporters need now is another statement telling us not to panic. But you can feel one coming, can’t you? Something like “the club are still working hard” on such and such. Admittedly, we can’t have it both ways – we complain when the club say nothing, and then if they do, we can complain about what they say. But these are perfectly valid times for anxiety amongst the Celtic support.
It’s a mess. An utter mess. And you couldn’t suggest the club haven’t had time to get themselves sorted out. Of course there are variables, of course there are moving parts, and of course nothing is guaranteed, but even then, this has been an utter shambolic summer already and it’s barely June.
We need the evidence of that planning, and we need it quickly. The club, if they know the value of the supporters, need it too.
READ MORE: Former Chelsea and Manchester United man weighs in on manager debate
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