Celtic confirm complete corporate failure

Celtic have confirmed that they have made no progress in five months towards appointing a manager.

The relief at avoiding an appointment in the showers on Saturday has given way to the cold reality.

While Martin O’Neill was saving the skin of the board by delivering a domestic double Michael Nicholson has been Missing In Action.

The £17,000 a week CEO was all over Wilfried Nancy, the outstanding candidate to succeed Brendan Rodgers.

Nicholson was so confident about appointing the seventh best coach in the MLS Eastern Conference that he twice gave interviews to Celtic TV.

Not a peep has been heard from Nicholson throughout 2026.

Quite clearly the so-called leading sports lawyer can’t be trusted to appoint a manager. If the CEO can’t do that he shouldn’t be in post.

Nicholson however performs a useful function for the ultimate authority at Celtic. Dermot Desmond is happy to fill the post with an empty suit while he makes the big decisions in-between tee-off times in the Caribbean.

CELTIC DOING CELTIC THINGS

It seems that Desmond has a very crowded diary this week. Too crowded to decide on who will be Celtic’s next manager.

After a shambles of a season involving four management teams and failure to reach the Champions League there is no sign of competency inside the club.

Urgency is required, it has been required since at least January. In reality a managerial appointment has been needed since last summer. Or the day that Kyogo Furuhashi was sold with the intention of undermining Brendan Rodgers.

Stephen McGowan is the go-to guy for this sort of news. A positive spin can always be applied to the most depressing of news.

O’Neill teed up expectations for a managerial development this week. Talks were expected to take place this week but with no sign of Desmond that issue has been pushed into next week.

The phrase that O’Neill used was talks with ‘the owner’.

Despite being wholly inaccurate no explanation was required. Desmond owns 34% of the shares in Celtic. He is a Non Executive Director, he has been since 1995, that stat alone explains how badly Celtic has been run.

Tonight O’Neill is in Belfast for an Awards night. Any questions about his future will be answered in the usual elusive manner.

A deal for O’Neill could have been announced by now. It might have pushed through some Season Ticket renewals.

In the real world away from media interviews there has clearly been contact between O’Neill and Desmond.

Having been given no support in the January transfer market it wouldn’t be a shock if O’Neill was having second thoughts about continuing as manager.

No one knows better than the 74-year-old the extent of the rebuild required. And the lack of ability inside the club to identify and complete deals.

Meanwhile the clock is racing towards the resumption of pre-season training. Friendlies will follow, the new season starts on August 1/2 with the Champions League Play Off following soon after.

On the back of three transfer windows that have added virtually no quality to the squad Celtic face a huge rebuild this summer.

Whether Nicholson and Chris McKay are aware of this is anyone’s guess.

Marcello Saracchi is one of the few loan players that have justified a permanent deal.

He provided the initiative that led to Daizen Maeda’s vital goal against Hearts in the title decider. Saracchi was the perfect back up for Kieran Tierney.

The word from South America is that Celtic haven’t made a decision on Saracchi. Not a yes, not a no. That sounds typically Nicholson.

There isn’t a single position that Celtic have adequate cover for.

Decisions were needed in January. O’Neill brought success and breathing space.

Unfortunately at a club that is completely dysfunctional that time has been wasted.

Celtic fans have watched this movie many times.

With each passing week the board are throwing away the temporary goodwill created by O’Neill’s double delivery.