The team that Michael Nicholson chose to destroy

Celtic appear to be utterly leaderless as the team continues to falter. Step forward Michael Nicholson

Our largest shareholder remains in the background, as he always has, calling the shots but remaining in the shadows.

Still more committed to golfing with the stars than running the football club he claims to love.

FRONT MAN ONLY

Fronting up Dermot Desmond’s investment is CEO Nicholson, charged with running the club to his masters orders, and failing miserably.

Nicholson is paid a pretty penny to be the man at the helm, to do the part that Desmond doesn’t fancy, but he is clearly no leader. And that lack of leadership can be seen all across the club, especially on the pitch.

Sunday’s defeat to Dundee was a new low point in Brendan Rodgers time at Celtic.

There was a lack of fight and purpose to the team that has led to questions being asked about his ability to motivate and set the team up.

He may have been stripped of some of his best players, but the fans are watching capable players fail to score in six of their last eleven games. Unable to beat Kairat Almaty from Kazakstan in the Champions League.

Players are currently performing well below their own standards.

Perhaps this is a season too far for some of them who have delivered so much success over the past four years.

THE SQUAD THAT ANGE BUILT

We know Daizen Maeda wanted to leave the club in the summer. A fair request from the player who gave the club four months notice of his intentions.

It appears that others such as Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate may also have come to the end of their time in Glasgow.

The remnants of Ange Postecoglu’s team have delivered us a huge trophy haul but this season appears to be one season too many for some of them.

The club should have found and recruited a suitable quality replacement to have allowed Daizen to move on in the summer.

And the same should have applied to any other player who was looking to move on, or the manager decided needed moved on.

The scary truth is, the disastrous summer transfer window that Michael Nicholson presided over should have been far more encompassing than it actually was.

Nicholson was unable to recruit replacements for Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah and it looks like many more players could and should have been replaced.

Our CEO also failed to address the current managers predicament.

Working the last year of his contract, we are left guessing as to whether he wants to stay beyond next summer or if the club want him to stay on.

This situation should also have been resolved in the summer.

POST-IT’S AND THE IN-BOX

It’s a frightening thought that there was a whole lot more on Nicholson’s desk in June and July beyond recruiting the two wingers and a striker (as a minimum) he failed miserably to get in.

All of which can no longer be kicked down the road.

A complete overhaul of the first team could be looming large, along with recruiting a new manager.

And Nicholson is currently responsible for delivering all of that.

Tasked with recycling Daizen Maeda, Nicholas Kuhn and Adam Idah in the summer, Nicholson sold off two without replacing them properly and held on to the guy who had been asking to leave since February.