After weeks of uncertainty surrounding Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham’s Celtic future, Graham Spiers now says he expects Celtic to issue a statement today clarifying their positions.
Spiers claimed Dermot Desmond is behind the Celtic contract standoff after he said the largest single shareholder believed the coaching duo made ‘unfair financial demands’ to return with Martin O’Neill.
If this happens, the statement should finally bring an end to an embarrassing saga that has dragged on at Celtic throughout the summer.
But regardless of what the club announces, Celtic supporters will wonder why a decision that appeared straightforward from a football perspective take so long to resolve.
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Celtic already knew what Martin O’Neill wanted
The strangest part of this story is that there has never been much doubt about Martin O’Neill’s position on the Celtic coaches.
The Celtic manager reportedly wants both Maloney and Fotheringham to remain part of his coaching staff after helping deliver a domestic double last season.
If O’Neill wants continuity in his backroom team, the obvious question becomes why have Celtic turned this into a public embarrassment for the club.
It also raises questions again regarding Dermot Desmond’s involvement in the negotiations. The longer this drags on, the more supporters will start to ask who’s actually making these calls.
Celtic supporters will judge the handling of Maloney & Fotheringham
Even if Celtic now provide the statement Spiers expects, that will not automatically end discussion around how this situation was handled.
Gavin Strachan has already departed the club and players are returning for pre-season this week. Stability around the coaching staff is something most supporters would have expected to be resolved well before now.
Whether Maloney and Fotheringham stay or go is only part of the story now.
The bigger issue is how a straightforward decision became such a drama for the Celtic board. If a statement finally arrives today, it may provide answers on the coaches.
But it will also leave Celtic supporters asking serious questions of the board’s conduct surrounding these simple contract negotiations.
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