Since this season has started, on the surface of it, things appear to be tickedy boo at Celtic.

Appear, most definitely, is the operative word here.

We have started the season reasonably well.

6 points from 6, and already 4 points clear of our city rivals.

Falkirk easily dispatched last night in the League Cup with a much changed side.

Without setting the world alight, the team has gone about it’s business quietly and efficiently.

If you were a neutral on the outside, looking in, you’d think we’re in pretty decent shape.

Its kind of similar to looking at a second hand car which on the surface of it looks fantastic.

Body work is great, wheels are great, tyres are good, and then you take a look under the bonnet.

Still, the engine looks good, and everything seems to look fine.

You’re sold on the idea of this car because it LOOKS good.

You drive it out the dealership gates, and then slowly but surely, you discover it isn’t quite what it appeared to be.

Small things start to go wrong.

Nothing major, but things that effect the performance of the vehicle.

After a good while of owning the vehicle, it starts to give a lot of problems, problems you didn’t anticipate.

But problems, according to your mechanic when he looks at it, that could have been entirely avoided if they’d been dealt with when they initially arose.

Right now, that’s what Celtic reminds me of, vehicle that looks good on the surface, but has a lot of problems underneath the bonnet.

(Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Problems that could have been dealt with a long time ago, but were ignored and now vehicular performance levels are not where they should be.

If the problems aren’t dealt with correctly, then it could lead to much bigger problems.

And that’s the reality at Celtic, if the current problems, when it comes to the lightness of our squad, are not dealt with, this will snowball into much bigger problems down the line.

But the big difference this time around, because it isn’t the first time this has happened, is that the fans are sitting up and taking notice.

Celtic fans are fully aware that the manager has been handicapped by the sale of Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kühn.

Add into that the loss of Filipe Jota until early next you and you get the picture.

They know that any well run club would have replacements for those players in the door by now.

The deadline has passed for registration of our 25 man squad for the Champions League.

We are now in a position where we have to play our upcoming CL qualifier against Kairat Almaty with no new additions to our already unnecessarily light squad.

Which is especially featherlight up front at this moment in time.

This was once again proven last night as we still await a goal from one of our strikers.

That is not on the manager.

That is entirely on the Celtic board, who’s responsibility it is to supply the manager with the players he requires to be able to be competitive on all fronts.

There is no doubt that he has been vocal enough about this.

But it appears that this is falling on deaf ears, either by design or through utter incompetence.

Take your pick, neither is a good look.

We, as Celtic supporters, do not deserve this.

This is what we get in return for our unwavering loyalty.

Would you say this is value for money?

When you pay extortionate prices for a product, you expect to get quality in return.

That’s not what we’re getting at Celtic.

And make no mistake, we ARE paying extortionate prices.

These prices rise year on year, yet the product on the park deteriorates year on year.

Is that a fair and decent way to treat your customer base?

The answer to that is pretty obvious.

The Celtic board just keeps on pushing the boundaries.

Its almost as if their mindset is, how much can they take before they snap?

Or more to the point, how much can we push this and get away with it, before they snap?

But make no mistake, if they keep on the trajectory they are on, the fanbase will eventually rebel.

It is human nature.

You can’t keep taking the piss out of your customer base and expect no reaction.

Ever.

People will eventually grow tired of this.

Now, a fair few of my commenters who believe the board are doing a good job, believe I should ease off on my criticism of them.

So today, I’m going to make a very fair deal with my readership.

My criteria in this deal are nothing more than the basics we should expect from our club as a fanbase.

If these criteria are met, I will not utter a single word about our board again between the end of this current transfer window, and the commencement of the next.

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

So here are my criteria:

We qualify for the Champions League.

The board supplies the manager with the players he needs to fill the gaps in his squad.

And by that, I mean a striker, two wingers, and a tough midfielder, at a minimum.

We defeat the Ibrox side on the 31st of August.

And finally, we do not sell Daizen Maeda.

That’s it, that’s all I am asking as a Celtic fan and a blogger.

If all of the above happens, I will not utter a word about our board until January.

What I have set out there is not unreasonable, it is normal, and the least we should be doing as a football club considering our strength and financial position.

If anybody disagrees with that, then they’re only fooling themselves.

I believe that if any of these criteria, especially failing to qualify for the Champions League, are not met, then the fanbase, which is like a tinderbox at the moment, will explode.

Failures like these, which will replicate failures of the past, are not acceptable.

They will sow the seeds of rebellion amongst the fanbase.

And when it happens, the board will surely know that is was inevitable.

So let’s just hope it doesn’t.

Let’s hope our board has the good sense to rescue a transfer window which has been one of the most underwhelming in Celtic’s 21st century history.

They have two weeks left.

I’d suggest they make the most of them.