The sight of Dominic McKay watching Celtic yesterday will have had many a Hoops fan give it the “welcome to the club” eye-roll.
But there was something reassuring about seeing the incoming Chief Executive watching over everything that’s bad about Celtic just now.
McKay is a Celtic fan of course. He’ll have been watching the club all season. But given how busy a job he had with the Scottish Rugby Union, he perhaps didn’t realise the scale of change needed at Parkhead.
And unfortunately, if he believed fan disillusionment with the football club couldn’t have been greater, it widened once more yesterday. The Celtic supporters were left raging with John Kennedy after the result, with many calling for him to walk even as an interim manager.
Supporters need rallied after yesterday. Ibrox represented our last chance to give the supporters something for such a shocking season. A chance for the club to land a blow and give us something to cheer/get excited about. Instead, we’re left fuming with the interim boss and lack of pace that seems to be the case regarding the new manager/director of football appointment also.
So as McKay gets his feet under the desk today, it’s vital he does one simply thing that can rally the fans – an open letter.
Dominic McKay must immediately connect with the Celtic supporters and build trust
It’s essential that McKay comes in as a fresh face. That’s part of the reason why it was so refreshing to see him in the Ibrox stands yesterday. Just seeing someone not connected with this toxic boardroom regime was great to see. Almost as if he was our beacon of light in what’s been a season of darkness.
Yet he’s not even been given the chance to make a single change to the club yet. That probably speaks so highly of how much we’ve been left down this season. The likes of Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond have ignored fan concerns enough this season.
McKay needs to show he isn’t one that’s going to do that. Writing an open letter to supporters on his first day in the job would be a promising start. Letting us know that he understands and empathises with our frustrations this season would be big. Acknowledging what it is that’s frustrated us and reassure us that big chances are coming to the club would be even better.
No detailed plan needed
No, he doesn’t need to provide us a detailed analysis of everything he plans to do at Celtic. That’s unfair on him and the club as a whole considering there’s so much to be done. He can’t foresee what’s going to happen in the future and deserves the chance to get his feet under the desk first and foremost.
But he needs to go into Celtic Park and give us a clear message that he’s going to be more communicative than his predecessor. That he isn’t going to just head into the Parkhead boardroom and hide until the next AGM.
McKay needs to show he’s a man of action and someone that will tackle his problems head-on. By issuing an open letter to supporters and setting the right tone immediately, it’ll get plenty of fans on-side.
In other news, Celtic supporters have been left furious with John Kennedy after yesterday’s display.
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