And with that failure comes the consolation of playing in the Europa League group stages – an achievement Nicholson will no doubt highlight in the future when accusations of lacking ambition are levelled at him again.
Possibly doing part of your job properly after five years of trying having banked around £4 million in wages is not to be celebrated.
We may never know if O’Neill was making his feelings know to the board but it shouldn’t take that, along with fan apathy and the impending loss of our talismanic striker from last season to green light an ambitious signing.
All of the failings we pointed out last season have now been repeated and no excuse is going to wash this time around.
It all started before the season even kicked off when the club imposed a three match suspended ban on the Green Brigade while they were preparing tifo tributes to John Clark and John Fallon.
Scottish football first opened itself up to the use of alternative facts when Rangers F.C. went into administration back in 2012 followed by the inevitable liquidation.
Allan Preston, Ryan Stevenson and Tom English didn’t hang around long after the final whistle to get the ball rolling with the fabricated allegations of Celtic fans assaulting Hearts players. Five days later the evidence remains elusive.
All they had to do in the renewal campaign was hint that at least some work was being done to rebuild the club infrastructure, find the new manager, implement the structure he will need, recruit the players.
Unsurprisingly when you abandon the tenants of journalism, the powerless are attacked with some bizarre argument put forward that Celtic fans should forgo their right to hold public servants Police Scotland to account.
All of the fake reasons that have been trotted out for the ban reek of the same thing – an attempt to stifle and stop the ultras from criticising the club and their treatment from Police Scotland.