Changed Times

Wilfried Nancy was unveiled and the Celtic fan media were not invited to the press conference. He cut alone figure with no CEO or Chairman with him in an unusual step by the Celtic board.  Only the main stream media got the invite to Lennoxtown instead of the usual Celtic Park. Hiding the new Celtic manager away from the Celtic fans is not a good look.

The club seems now to be run like a dictatorship or a Mafia as a friend commented to me on Thursday morning as we sat in Glasgow airport waiting to board our flight back to Ireland.

When Dom McKay arrived at Celtic Park, remember him? The CEO who replaced Peter Lawell after Celtic failed to deliver 10IAR or a trophy. Neil Lennon got the sack and Peter went on holidays until the Chairman’s position came around and he returned to the directors box.

Dom McKay welcomed Ange Postecoglou to Celtic and invited the Celtic Fan Media to a special press conference and they both introduced themselves to us. Ange’s stint was a successful one. He delivered 5 trophies in two years and his brand of football was exciting to watch. Dom would not last so long for reasons which remain unknown to anyone except those who sit in the Celtic board in positions of power.

Pic: Erin Boyle from More than 90 Minutes at the press conference when Dom McKay introduced Ange to Celtic Fan Media 

Maybe a young forward thinking CEO who we were told was headhunted from his position as No. 2 in Scottish Rugby was too much for the old guard in the board room. On Friday for the first time independent Celtic Fan Media were shunned from the press conference since Dom McKay’s forward thinking of embracing fan media. He knew we were not the enemy but sadly now Dermot has said NO those pesky fans will have to go.

As Dom exited his office, Peter Nicholson was appointed interim CEO and with things going well under Ange he slipped into the role on a full time basis and Peter Lawwell came in the back door to take his seat at the top table once again. The old boys club were now back together.

Sadly once again we are talking about the disconnect between the Celtic board and the Celtic fans and not about the appointment of the new manager or what he will bring to the team. We did however get an interview on Celtic TV with Peter Nicholson and he assured us that Wilfried was Celtic’s No. 1 target to replace Brendan Rodgers and they have been aware of him for a while.

Sadly neither the Celtic board or the Celtic recruitment team were aware of a striker in two transfer windows capable of replacing Kyogo. Going into this transfer window let us pray that Wilfried can influence them to replace him after a full year.

Today’s game v Hearts at Celtic Park kicks off at 3pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed by Celtic TV outside Ireland and the UK.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast