SILENCE IS FAR FROM GOLDEN
Celtic supporters stage mute protest against club board as Deila’s men flop
OUT of touch, possibly. Remote, certainly. But Celtic’s board of directors are neither blind nor deaf. When even the Green Brigade are doling out the silent treatment they must sense the revolt in the air.
The club ultras were delivering a statement of sorts. A carefully choreographed huff, the brooding protest reflected the growing chasm between supporters and a board of directors they feel are short-changing them.
They said their piece before kick-off: unravelling a series of banners betraying their deep disillusionment with the way the Parkhead club is being run.
‘Lawell (sic) and Desmond’s legacy. Empty jerseys, Empty Hearts, Empty Dreams, Empty Stands.’
The news of Ronny Deila’s end-of-season departure was supposed to end all this. It was choreographed to release the pressure and buy some time. To stir a reaction and broker some unity.
At the end of a dismal, uninspired 1-1 draw, a fifth successive title can still be won at Tynecastle if Aberdeen drop points next weekend.
Nevertheless, these are dangerous, strange, worrying times for the Celtic board. Season-ticket sales hinge, now, on a statement of ambition. The announcement of a Celtic manager deemed worthy of the title. They need a rabbit and they need one fast. The air of deep, rumbling anger is undeniable and unmistakable.
The confirmation of Deila’s departure at the end of the season was timed to take the sting from this stuff. An amnesty between supporters and club in the title run-in was the plan.
Nine points clear of Aberdeen with four games to play, they are almost there. Yet the boos which rang around Celtic Park at full-time suggest there will be no triumphal procession to the title.
Deila is stumbling towards the league trophy. Staggering towards the line, his paymasters hoping he can cling on until mid-May without further mishap.
That Ross County left Glasgow chiding themselves for failing to take all three points said it all.
‘There’s no doubt we created the opportunities,’ said Jim McIntyre, positioning himself as a potential manager of the year. ‘That’s the one little criticism — we never punished them on the day because they were golden opportunities.”
The game was typical of so many at Celtic Park. Apathy and lethargy hung in the air, the football leaden and unimaginative. The sight of Lubo Moravcik making the half-time draw offered supporters the chance to jab directors in the ribs. To remind them of the kind of player Celtic used to sign.
There was one moment of inspiration in the first half. It came, once more, from Leigh Griffiths.
Without his 38 goals, this Celtic team would have found themselves in a deeply sorry state. In a worse state than now, certainly.
With one goal in seven, Colin Kazim-Richards shows no sign of being a viable alternative. Carlton Cole has disappeared.
All of which makes Griffiths the man. The difference between mere mediocrity and something more abject altogether.
He took his 23rd-minute goal superbly, collecting a short pass from Kazim-Richards 20 yards from goal and steadying himself with a couple of touches to make the space to thump a rising shot into the top corner from 18 yards.
Ross County stood off and gave him a free crack. The League Cup holders have shocked Celtic in a cup semi-final at Hampden, but on a flatter occasion altogether they took time to turn up.
Restored to the Celtic starting line-up, Tom Rogic — the penalty sinner against Rangers last weekend — had a chance for atonement.
The Australian had a terrific chance to make it two in 27 minutes, but was unable to guide the ball into the net as he timed his run to meet a deft Patrick Roberts centre.
County troubled Craig Gordon for the first time in 39 minutes when Ian McShane smashed a low effort from the edge of the box.
It was an opportunity that came from the first of a series of troublesome crosses by Jonathan Franks. The No17 also created an absolute sitter for top-scorer Liam Boyce four minutes before the interval. A looping cross from the right touchline found the Irish striker onside. A foot either side of keeper Gordon and County were level. Instead, he headed it straight at the keeper.
It was there for County. Celtic, as so often this season, had nothing about them. They were flat and insipid throughout.
Michael Gardyne, a former Parkhead kid, had another golden chance after the restart, blazing a Boyce headed back-flick high over the bar. The Celtic fans sat quiet, shaking their heads.
There was another golden chance for the away team in 58 minutes.
Alex Schalk was one on one with Charlie Mulgrew. The Dutchman had Boyce in support eventually, but took a touch before blazing over the bar. Another opportunity for an equaliser — and God knows, there were a few — had gone begging. Paul Quinn blew another, taking a fresh air swipe from three yards. But this much was clear. There would be more chances.
County took one in 64 minutes. Finally. Through a ruck of bodies, midfielder Stewart Murdoch smashed a superb swerving shot from 25 yards. Celtic Park was already silent. But the joy of the small County travelling support was unrestrained. The scent of blood was now in the nostrils.
‘I’ve never hit one quite like that,’ said Murdoch. ‘The ball just dropped to me and I just swung at it. I have a powerful strike on me, so when it flew in I was delighted.’
Celtic’s attacking was sporadic and half-baked. Griffiths smashed a freekick which Scott Fox spilled, and the County keeper almost did the same with a drilled left-foot shot moments later. Roberts had a chance as well. But frustration was growing.
Not least with Kazim-Richards, who finally had the opportunity to add to his solitary goal against East Kilbride in the Scottish Cup with 13 minutes to play. What a chance he had from 12 yards, blazing a thudding shot wide to groans and no little anger.
It was, for many, the last straw. Deila sent the call out to Kris Commons to get stripped to ironic cheers from the home support.
Some have never forgiven the playmaker for his outburst in Molde and, despite denials, Deila might be one of them.
Yet the sparing use of his talents rates high on the charge sheet against the Norwegian. His introduction for the last 10 minutes drew the loudest cheer of the day. Ross County lapped it up.
‘In the second half the game was there to be won,’ said County scorer Murdoch. ‘We could tell the crowd were getting frustrated and we were happy with the way we played. We would have been happier with the win but we will take the draw.’
It was a draw which carries Celtic closer. They are almost there; almost touching five-in-a-row. Rarely has glory felt so hollow.
WANTED: Desperate man. Salary and terms negotiable, chances for advancement open to interpretation. But here is the most important part: Must be available to start immediately. That can’t be emphasised enough.
Seriously, does anyone think Celtic can afford to amble on to the end of this season with a lame-duck manager still at the helm? The only good thing to say about this course of action is it allows Ronny Deila to receive an extended and heartfelt — if hypocritical — farewell from fans virtually unanimous in their desire to see him leave.
There is certainly no good footballing reason for the likeable Norwegian to linger like the ghost at the banquet. With a Champions League qualifier looming before the hordes in brightly-coloured ‘casual wear’ descend upon Royal Troon for this year’s Open Championship, time is very much of the essence.
In a brutal situation, the sensitive best shield their eyes while the decision makers make the necessary calls.
So apologies if you’re feeling fragile after a hard weekend marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death by behaving like country justices let loose on cheap mead. This next bit might be a bit bloody for your delicate tum. But you’ll know that the Bard — as ever — penned something to suit the situation.
‘If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly,’ is one of the more familiar lines from Macbeth, that famous ‘Scottish play’ about an ordinary Joe — a lowly thane, even — with a pushy wife and a knack for regicide. No crib notes are required to explain how that applies to this situation.
So what is staying the hand of the Celtic board? They can’t genuinely believe that Aberdeen remain a threat to a fifth successive title. The Dons have completely run out of steam — and will need to improve merely to equal Celtic’s current points total.
Nothing would be lost, unless there is some compensation clause of which we’re unaware, by allowing Deila to begin the next chapter in his life immediately. John Collins, John Kennedy, development squad boss Tommy McIntyre… almost anyone could steer the champions-elect over the line.
To those Celtic fans who persist in believing their club should be better than this, that they must always meet a higher standard of decency, well, get over yourselves. Football is a pitiless business and, if Deila has to suffer a little indignity in exchange for a year’s salary, the fact he’ll be giving his successor a better crack at the gig will only enhance his reputation as a diamond geezer.
With hindsight, a majority now agree with those who argued Deila shouldn’t even have been given a second crack at the Champions League.
The European qualifiers coming up on July 12 or 13 can’t be taken lightly. Appointing a new manager now would at least allow him to judge whether Scott Brown is ever likely to recover the athleticism that made him feared in his prime.
The next boss will also need time to run the rule over guys who haven’t always made Deila’s starting XI. Can Kris Commons go another year? Has Scott Allan atrophied completely through lack of exercise?
These aren’t decisions to be made in pre-season friendlies.
The situation, then, is best described as pressing. And that calls for a manager who simply can’t afford to fail.
That is one thing that makes David Moyes so attractive as a candidate. Even if the variable fortunes of Louis van Gaal caused people to judge the Scot’s time at Old Trafford a little less harshly, the fact remains he was hardly a roaring success as the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, while the least said about his spell at Real Sociedad the better.
Malky Mackay did a good job at Cardiff, remember, before the racist text controversy and he has certainly made a persuasive public pitch for the Celtic gig, talking openly about the magical 10-in-arow target.
Roy Keane? Well, Roy Keane certainly thinks Roy Keane is just ace. But he has yet to convince as a manager.
Neil Lennon ticks a lot of obvious boxes, including previous first-hand experience. Having proven himself to be much more than just the rabble rouser portrayed in some quarters, he desperately needs to prove himself again after the nightmare of Bolton.
Other contenders with varying attributes will surface and sink, laying claim to the throne or being dismissed as pretenders, over the coming days. Those days cannot afford to become weeks.