It should be a dream situation at Celtic but they’re having a nightmare instead
Veteran sportswriter and broadcaster with a distinctive style. A boxing expert as well as a football writer and columnist for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, Hugh also presents Clyde 1 FM’s Superscoreboard show.
Celtic fans hold banners in protest of Celtic board members Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson
You can always fix a bad team – but how do you fix bad faith?
It should be easy being Celtic at a time like this.
The team across the road on the other side of the city are having a meltdown while also being nine points behind Brendan Rodgers’ side in the Premiership table.
Ordinarily, that would be the stuff of dreams in the Old Firm’s private domain.
The only problem is Celtic are having a nightmare on and off the park too.
By the time the two of them have played each other in the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup on November 2 it will come down to one of two things for the club.
Revival or revolt.
Five games, starting next Saturday at Dundee – in three different league, cup and European competitions – will establish the mood Celtic have created by their own endeavours.
Or lack of them.
Celtic have internal strife and supporter discontent on a scale equal to anything that’s going on at Ibrox, minus any inclination towards a blockade of the team bus and a police escort for anyone amid fears for personal safety.
The supporters can’t stand the team’s style of football.
Games, whether domestic or European, no longer sell out and that, on top of the severe drop in revenue caused by exiting the Champions League, is a growing concern.
But, worst of all, is the scale of mistrust being exhibited towards the people who run the club.
Celtic have become about insularity at the top while the fans are looking for clarity.
The difficulty is highlighted by the strange case of Rodgers and what he called the “cowardly act” of betrayal when a newspaper story was leaked to the effect the gaffer was allegedly trying to “engineer” his club exit.
This matter, according to CEO Michael Nicholson, speaking at a meeting with fans representatives last Monday, is now closed.
(Image: SNS Group)
To use his word, the story was “unsubstantiated”.
If that was the case then why did Celtic not use the media to retract what was written and remove any vestige of concern regarding the relationship the manager has with his employees?
Instead of effectively saying: “There’s nothing to see here. Move along.”
You can add that mystery to the agenda for the club’s AGM next month,
By then Rodgers will have negotiated his way through the handful of games that will create the kind of atmosphere in the hall. If ever there was a time when Dermot Desmond, Celtic’s principal shareholder and de facto owner, should feel obliged to address the meeting he rarely attends, that time is now.
If only to dispel the notion that the Celtic board would rather not have any interference from ingrates, thank you very much.
Income from match day and merchandise was, at the last count, worth £80million per annum to Celtic.
You could spare the wealth providers a quick word or two under those circumstances, couldn’t you?
Rather than be accused of a lack of humility, awareness and accountability, you could always try common civility.
Like I say, fixing a team the fans don’t rate can always be done with a couple of judicious signings in January.
Bad faith needs care and attention or else unsold tickets and a drop in retail sales create an unwanted mention on the balance sheet.
The fans say the people who run the club are detached from their concerns.
Somebody in authority has to prove that is not the case – and I think I know who that person should be.