SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

It’s a fair while since anyone uttered the old mantra about Celtic being a well-run club. Probably as long as since we last heard the Generation of Domination claptrap. But it’s probably even longer since any of us saw a decent performance from our team. Tonight provides us with another chance of that,of course. I doubt many of us will be too confident.

But then,it’s not only our performances on the pitch which have been bloody awful this season,our off-field performances have been if anything even worse. Think for example of the share price,which has been as high this year as 162p and as low as 85p,currently up for grabs at around a quid. Think also of the overly long silence from our leaders about the current shambles,followed by regular statements recently which are either attacking our fans or defending the indefensible. Some of them are so bad that they bring back memories of Jabba at Ibrox,and you remember how we used to laugh at them. Think too of the contempt for the usual norms of corporate governance,which are heavily critical of Non-Executive Officers staying in situ for as long as ours have,or of having had close professional relationships with the executive directors.

Or the fact that those executive directors have also been in place longer than is considered good practice.

Or,well,the list is as long as your arm,but they are judged guilty of taking their eyes off the ball and we are looking now at a long and difficult road back. I’ve no doubt it will be achieved,but there will be some blood-letting and sacrifices along the way. There may also be a change in the corporate structure if the Celtic Supporters Trust have their way. What has to be admitted is that the current set up is long past it’s sell-by date,and a new path has to be forged.

We will probably find out on Monday if PL is to be in charge of that new path,or whether he is to stand aside and leave the carcass for some other poor sod to breathe some new life into. The latter will hopefully lead to an entire change of direction,particularly on the football management side. Most of us will want to see a top quality manager,well versed in all the current technological and statistical aids,ably backed by his own trusted back room staff. We would also like to see a proper Director of Football in place,one who can agree footballing budgets with the new CEO and manager and then agree on targets with the manager. And who can be strong enough with the CEO to remind him of the new set up should he ever get ideas above his station.

As things stand,I don’t see Dermot Desmond standing aside or selling up. In actual fact,I would be quite happy to see him stick around for a while yet,even if it is only to oversee the above transition and getting it operating smoothly. He is,after all,a very capable and successful businessman with his fingers in lots of pies. Though I’m willing to bet that he doesn’t eat the ones at Celtic Park too often! But DD didn’t become a success by doing the day to day stuff at his businesses,nor by allowing the towering ego and ambition of a micromanager to dictate it either. But I don’t see PL or NL leaving before the end of the season.

So what I would like to see done over the next three or four months is to identify the new manager and Director of Football,charge them with the recruitment needed for the upcoming season. And for DD to find a new CEO and hopefully a new team of N-E-Ds who can change the direction of the club and get it back to being focused on success on the playing field and not on empire building. And as is the case with many CEOs in business,it isn’t entirely necessary that he has a previous knowledge of the club or even of the football business,only that he knows how to operate a business successfully and how to implement agreed action plans. It would help mightily if he knows how to listen as well.

This season is a write off already as far as most of us are concerned. Prolonging the agony for NL is beyond cruel as we watch his pre or post match interviews where he simply ticks off the list of available excuses for managers who have watched another garbage performance. But it is now too late to bring one in to replace him as should have been done some time ago,as the new man will not have the time left to change things. We can mark that down to another board failure,but then they never listen anyway as they always know best. But we have to be assured of a definite plan being in place to turn things around in short order,or the small protests seen recently will grow and grow. And so too will the membership list of the CST,all willing to pony up their cash to do it for them.

And the biggest worry of all for the hierarchy at the club must be the certain knowledge that many of us will protest in an even more tangible way. By withdrawing our funding. That is probably the deciding factor for them. And it is one that they ignore at their peril.

Above article by BMCUWP