Martin O’Neill has no intention of working alongside a Director of Football. To put it mildly.
When O’Neill started of in management the notion of a Sporting Director/Director of Football was railed against by that generation of managers.
Influenced and inspired by Brian Clough, O’Neill was very much his own man with John Robertson and Steve Walford the only others that he trusted.
Football and management in 2026 is almost an entirely different animal.
Recruitment is truly global, nutrition has transformed the lifestyle of top players with the backroom staff on matchday now consisting of 20 people detailed into a variety of roles. Celtic even has a set-piece coach.
With that expanded workload clubs at all levels have a Director of Football or equivalent brought in to oversee the entire operations.
The idea is that the DoF frees the manager up to concentrate on the training ground and getting results on the pitch.
It has never been an idea that has appealed to O’Neill.
When he arrived at Celtic in 2000 Kenny Dalglish was quietly removed from that role. Dalglish had been specifically brought in to mentor John Barnes, when that plan ended there was no role for Dalglish.
At Monday’s meeting with supporters in Greenock the idea of bringing in a Director of Football was raised.
MARTIN O’NEILL- BAKED INTO OLD SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
O’Neill was so opposed to it that he decided it was his job to answer rather than Michael Nicholson!
Chinese whispers have emerged from Monday night’s ‘secret meeting’.
Ryan 118 has cut through the fog to provide brilliantly detailed analysis of what was actually said.
After being contacted by someone at the meeting he asked members of his You Tube channel what they’d like to have asked if they were at the meeting.
Nine questions were put to the person who supplied detailed answers. Those answers were then put to a second person at the meeting who agreed with the detail of the answer.
Through a few hours of graft and questioning Ryan 118 has provided a great service to Celtic fans.
With that sort of forward thinking and detail to his work there is clearly no place for someone as creative as Ryan, someone close to supporters and thinking on their wavelength.
Almost every club in the Champions League employs a Sporting Director.
O’Neill’s old school answer might seem funny but is really frightening. It goes a long way to explaining the wasted signings made this year at Celtic such as Junior Adamu, Joel Mveuka, Sam Johnstone, Oliver Sorenson and Jordan Lotomba.
A DoF provides a greater degree of continuity than a manager and have a strategy for how the club should develop at every level. From Academy teams through to developing first team ready players.
With that degree of certainty a club can recruit to fit into a certain profile.
Celtic made four significant signings during the summer. Two of them were Champions League strikers of very different profiles. Not great for a team that only plays with one striker.
WHEN RECRUITMENT GOES BADLY WRONG
A Sporting Director with a strategy would have signed Kasper Hogh or Camilo Duran. Not both. By signing both players Celtic are getting the best out of neither.
Hogh or Duran should be a first choice striker being supplied by two genuine wingers. When Hogh plays he usually has an out of position Duran on the right looking to cut inside rather than supply crosses and passes.
When Duran plays through the centre he isn’t fully effective because the wingers are sub-standard. Three years ago Ange Postecoglou brought togetherJota, Daizen Maeda, Liel Abada and James Forrest.
That was fleeting.
There are gaps throughout the Celtic squad. Left-back is a recurring problem. Callum McGregor has been played out of position for years because Celtic just don’t seem interested in signing a physical holding midfielder. In Europe that area of the pitch is constantly exposed and exploited by opponents.
Secrets, the Celtic way.
The club has no confidence in who is involved in recruitment. Other clubs have functioning and performing recruitment departments.
At every level they operate.
CELTIC V CLUB BRUGGE
Two years ago Celtic drew 1-1 at home with Club Brugge in the Champions League. Today the Belgian side has nine Champions League points from four matches, Celtic are pointless in the Europa League after three matches.
By every metric Brugge outperform Celtic despite playing in a 29,500 capacity stadium on the doorstep of the German Bundesliga. Director of Football Devy Rigaux seems to be doing a decent job.
Since summer 2023 Celtic have signed around 40 players, almost all of them have moved on or remain with little impact.
Success was delivered by the squad brought together over Ange Postecoglou’s first two transfer windows then in two windows after Brendan Rodgers took control from Mark Lawwell.
There is no strategy or continuity at a club that handed senior roles to Lawwell Jnr and Paul Tisdale.
Which leads to the current situation where a no-mark like Nicholson is drawing a huge salary with nothing world class about how Celtic operate.
Recruitment is a lottery, youth development non-existent and that is reflected in the Europa League table.
And Nicholson constantly trots out the line that it is all down to communication problems. It isn’t.
With Nicholson and O’Neill in place the future direction of Celtic is assured. Continuing the path put in place by the sale of Kyogo in January 2025 with no attempt at replacing him.
And so it continues.
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