Numbers didn’t add up for Neil
McKay must be brought in pronto so director of football
THE departure of Neil Lennon as Celtic manager was hardly surprising.
Football is a results-based business and when those are on the poor side, it is the man in charge – the manager – who carries the can.
Results this season have not been good, with early exits from the Champions League, Europa League and Betfred Cup. Although a Scottish Cup was picked up en route, Celtic are now 18 points behind Rangers in the league. That is what cost Neil his job.
He has been a good servant to the club, both as a player and manager, and Celtic fans should be grateful for what he achieved over the years.
I, for one, thank him for his work and wish him all the best.
It’s a big day tomorrow for Livingston and St Johnstone at Hampden in the Betfred Cup Final.
A final is always an important occasion for any side involved but for both these teams, it becomes even more significant as their previous records in the competition are far from impressive.
St Johnstone have been finalists just twice, in 1969-70 against Celtic and 1998-99 versus Rangers, losing both times.
Livingston have only made the final once before, in season 2003-04, and won the trophy, beating Hibs 2-0.
I played in that 1969-70 Final against St Johnstone, an occasion with more than one unusual feature.
The season before that, we were due to meet Hibs in the Final but a fire in the South Stand at Hampden caused severe damage and delayed that showpiece for a few months.
It eventually went ahead on April 5, 1969 and we beat Hibs 6-2 with a guy called Craig scoring Celtic’s sixth – with his left foot!
Only six months later, our second League Cup final in the same year went ahead at Hampden on October 25 against the Saints.
Celtic’s physiotherapist at the time was Bob Rooney and at centre-half for Saints that day was his son Benny. Talk about conflicting loyalties. We were without Ronnie Simpson, Tommy Gemmell, John Clark and Bobby Lennox through injury but we scored the only goal through Bertie Auld in the second minute.
With St Johnstone eighth in the table and Livingston fifth, the odds might favour the West Lothian side.
Let’s hope football is the winner.
The new manager and director of football should be unveiled right behind him.
Not in a month. Not in two months. Certainly not on July 1 in McKay’s case. Now.
I listened to the head of Scottish Rugby, Mark Dodson, during the week saying McKay will not be leaving early to take up the chief executive post at Parkhead but staying until his notice period is up.
Celtic need to fix that. Pay what it costs to get him out. If the guy has to walk away early, so be it. Just get it done.
Dodson might have thought his joke about McKay “having a very full in-tray” upon his arrival in Glasgow was funny but no Celtic fans are laughing.
The club are in a state of shambles at the moment and the drift needs to be halted for the repair process to begin. It’s almost hard to comprehend just how much work is needed to be done in this rebuild. On the park, it’s enormous.
I spoke about it before Neil Lennon left and it’s worth reiterating because even more things have changed with the news an injured Christopher Jullien may be out until October.
Celtic don’t have a goalkeeper for the Champions League qualifiers. With Jullien crocked, Kristoffer Ajer set to leave, Shane Duffy, Diego Laxalt and Jonjoe Kenny going back after their loans, the entire back four will consist of Stephen Welsh and Greg Taylor.
In midfield, they’ll at least have Callum McGregor, David Turnbull and James Forrest.
But who else, really? Ismaila Soro? Maybe good enough but we don’t know yet. We’ve only got about 10 games to base a judgment on and Scott Brown will be 36.
Up front? No one. Odsonne Edouard will go, Leigh Griffiths and Albian Ajeti can’t get fit enough, while Patryk Klimala isn’t good enough. Vakoun Issouf Bayo’s return won’t solve it.
Pre-contract signing Liam Shaw might turn out to be good but not that good he can fill seven places. Celtic need an entire strike force and a new backline.
They don’t have a manager and we’re entering March.
At the moment, there’s also a guy at the head of the recruitment department in Nick Hammond whose arrival was sanctioned by a chief executive who is walking out of the door for a manager who has already gone.
You can add into the mix that his track record to this point is pretty dreadful based on the £13million squandered on Klimala, Ajeti and Vasilis Barkas.
It’s an absolute nightmare. The fact Ajer, Edouard and Ryan Christie have been allowed to get into the last year of their contracts has just made the situation worse. It happened because of the Ten. We know that. But what a scenario.
Celtic were a club noted for clear and concise decisionmaking. It’s what made Lawwell’s name but it has been all over the shop.
Chairman Ian Bankier said a fortnight ago that the club
and manager can get to work on fixing broken squad
would not be rushed into hasty decisions. Yet Lennon was out of the door less than 48 hours after the team were defeated by Ross County.
Ask yourself this: if Celtic had won 4-0 in Dingwall, would Lennon have been in charge for today’s game against Aberdeen? I think we all know the answer. So things do change and Celtic need to make things happen.
There is so much to sort out and it simply can’t wait. The work has to be under way and there really has to be a chain of events that are completed in the right order to get the process started.
For a start, get McKay in the door. None of us are silly. We all know Dermot Desmond is the man who really pulls the strings and he’s the one who will make the big decision on Lennon’s successor.
But even though he’s the constant, the optics of Lawwell being the CEO who appoints a manager for the next incumbent to inherit just doesn’t sit right with me.
McKay should be the man in place when the new manager is appointed but that can’t wait until July 1. It’s unthinkable. Celtic have Champions League qualifiers later that month.
It needs to happen quickly and it needs to happen because fans will sit tight and so they should. They cannot be blamed for not paying out for season tickets until they get a clear sight of the future.
And Celtic are going to need that seasonticket money to start funding the process of rebuilding the team, which means the managerial appointment has to come and then the director of football.
These two have to work as one.
In a perfect world, it would be the manager who almost got to choose who the director of football would be to ensure perfect harmony but I understand that’s not always possible.
McKay should be the man in place when manager is appointed but that can’t wait until July 1
Some will say the director should actually be first then help the CEO decide on the manager. I’m not too fussy on that one. All that matters is things start to move swiftly.
Celtic gave away three months with Neil staying on too long. Had he gone when I thought he should have, following the Betfred Cup loss to County, Celtic could have been building and planning in the January transfer window. Not making one loan signing of Kenny. That time was wasted. Quite frankly, Celtic don’t have any more left to squander.