When appointed as interim manager in October, Martin O’Neill did not know how long he had in the role, so would be inclined to make few dramatic moves. This time he has a straight run until May. That gives him scope to make a sustained change.
As a manager, Martin has seen footballers decline with age, it was a feature of his last season in charge at Celtic. Much is said about the impact Henrik Larsson leaving in 2004 had on the subsequent season, but 2004-05 was also the time the years caught up with 35-year-old Paul Lambert. 33-year-old Chris Sutton also toiled, as Celtic’s engine stalled.
Goalkeepers always perform better behind a competent and settled defence. Kasper Schmeichel has not had that luxury this season, however, his decline from the excellent form he enjoyed last term is marked.
The first name on the team sheet on Saturday, will be the first big decision Martin makes in his stint as interim manager. Lessons from 2005 should inform his thinking.
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Great to hear from Mark Guidi that Nicholson rode to our rescue on Nancy. Further evidence of his stellar leadership. We’re lucky to have him.
Mark Guidi
Media Management & PR Consultant….
thats his linkedin
Mark Guidi knew a bullyinerrr
Not to be taken to seriously PLB
Hh
VALEBHOY – re Plan A’s and B’s – as a glass half full ghuy, I’d hope the club had a contingency plan/list. Also, I don’t believe our suits are just as wholly inept as some want to depict.
THUNDERROAD et al – re Gogic… I liked him way back at Hamilton where he was calm and robust alongside Ziggy Gordon. Now, I’d see Alex equivalent to an Aaron Mooy signing given Aaron was same age as Gogic is (31) when he signed for us.
That said, I cant imagine asking for him in the days after BR’s very creditable Munich games. Our standards are slipping!
BURNLEY: we can exchange emails via P67. There are CSCs in Philly & DC. And mibby AIPPLE will come up to see his Baltimorian pals as well !
QUADROPHENIAN on 7TH JANUARY 2026 11:07 PM
VALEBHOY – re Plan A’s and B’s – as a glass half full ghuy, I’d hope the club had a contingency plan/list. Also, I don’t believe our suits are just as wholly inept as some want to depict.
With all due respect, the evidence was stark and self evident in 2025, the club is in complete turmoil
Appointments such as Tisdale and Nancy were catastrophic for the club, who made them ?
Its the reality we are facing
glass half full through the reality of what MO’N and his team can achieve, not the suits
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 7th January 2026 10:15 pm
Some excellent ideas there . Some possible additions sanctions for unsporting habits which are becoming widespread;
Players waving imaginary cards. Keepers going down feigning injury so that managers can have a wee tactical enclave with players . Players not retreating at free kicks . Players feigning injury to break up the game. Players coaches throwing a second ball on to the pitch to break up play . Bear hugs at corner kicks . Etc. Etc .
LR – clearly the club is in self-inflicted turmoil.
But another bottom line is we’ve been researched and accoladed as one of the best run clubs in Europe (FairGame Index?)
So we’re highly profitable and lauded despite many seriously grave bungles.
Imagine how far we could go, if all that shit got sorted out !
As the footballing world expand their horizons embracing and chasing talent wherever they can find it
Using all the modern recruitment tools at their disposal
CQN recruitment extends across the length of Scotlands central belt
Glass half full hoping that Shaun and MO’N are casting a wider net
QUADROPHENIAN on 7TH JANUARY 2026 11:30 PM
Sorry Quad a web site rating ?
League table we are currently 3rd
Lost last two domestic cup finals
Recent Europa cup tie Roma enjoyed a very comfortable win at once was called fortress parkhead
That’s the reality that the Celtic fans like me have watched live in the stadium
MO’N knows he has a massive job to deal with, I don’t think his team talk this Saturday will be a web site gives us a triple A rating
I will be there on Saturday welcoming and optimistic that the MO’N positivity will deliver us a result and 3v points, small steps forward
Take care in the heat
An Tearmann
………..
I say black – you say white.
I’m an adult – You are a child.
I see everything – not just what you permit me to see.
I stood with Corbyn before he sold out.
I stand with Galloway who has the only balls to get REAL Scottish Indy NOT fake EU slaves trap.
You voted Snp then didn’t have the courage to admit it for 17 years of being dumbed down to gutter levels.
I walked out of Parkhead in 2005 with MON after he warned about “THE SLOW LANE” PLC cheap pishy players trap.
You joined in the smearing of MON as a “LONG BALL DINOSAUR” etc.
We were a football club who became a business because we had been weakened with the death of, DESMOND WHITE RIP.
We said ZERO about the “TAYLOR REPORT” which was based on a pack of lies about, unsafe terraces.
We just sucked up that lie and almost closed down, because we bowed to a pack of lies.
Thirty years down the road and the Celtic name is used as a capitalist halfway house, were poor fathers have to pay for 2 season tickets if they have a child which is everything you need to know about how “Celticness” has totally been erased from Parkhead.
I’ve got another 4,000 words to type…but what is the point when you won’t even read a single one?
You are not my hero anymore. So get it round you.
Be careful out there all kidding aside….
HH
oot.
I think it was Monday morning Mark Guido gave us all an exclusive.His contacts at Celtic,had told him the Board were giving Nancy this window,and the Summer window.
So much for ITK.More like,IKFA..
Fans still believe these twats..
A Celtic team plays with 2 strikers in every game.
3-5-2 3-5-1-1 4-4-2 4-4-1-1 etc, etc, etc.
Wingers are easily blocked out of the game if you play with one striker.
4-4-1-1 in the Nou Camp 2004 knocked Ronaldhino led Barcelona out of the Uefa cup.
Brilliant stuff.
Thank you MON and your merry mhen.
HH
oot.
QUADROPHENIAN
“ There are CSCs in Philly & DC.”
————————
Hi Quadrophenian:
The DCCSC folded this season after a 28 year run. Sheer disgust at Lawwell and the Board’s sabotage of the team by their refusal to sign a striker or strengthen the team led to apathy, declining interest, then outright absenteeism. The CSC is no more.
HH
INIQUITOUS IV😊
No need to be sorry, LR – you’re free to rubbish it, or read up about it to understand it better.
The Fair Game mob is a lobby group with a website: set up to assess how well clubs are run, focusing on financial sustainability, governance, fan/community engagement, and ethics, to advocate for a fairer, more sustainable future for the sport and support the incoming Independent Football Regulator.
I never said FairGame was the bee-all… but as an indie analysis welcomed by several big clubs, it seems to corroborate CFC is a well-run concern. I’ve called out our suits’ many gaffes I think we should be enjoying better success on and off the pitch.
https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2025/09/10/fair-game-index-finds-english-football-shocking-state/
INIQUITOUS IV – thanks for the Stateside heads up.
If you’re based around there, any good CSC boozers to meet up in ?
QUADROPHENIAN
Fire off a quick email to me at iniquitous@verizon.net
I’ll let you know the best pubs in MD, DC and VA. I have 2 ex team mates with tickets for the Haiti and Morocco games coming down from Boston to see me in between these games.
HH
Iniquitous IV😊
Cheers bud will do !
Good Morning Celts…
The Battered Bunnet @ 12:35 pm,
Thanks for the response.
There were many ways the club could have officially announced Brendan Rodger’s departure.
For instance this was Mark Lawwell’s…
”By Celtic Football Club
Share
01 Mar 2024, 4:12 pm
Celtic Football Club today announced that Mark Lawwell, Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment, and Joe Dudgeon, Lead First Team Scout, have resigned from their positions and are leaving the Club to pursue fresh challenges.
Jay Leferve on the other hand didn’t seem to get an announcement at all.
Brendan “tendered” his resignation.
Tom McLaughlin @ 1:06 pm,
Puts it this way…
”I always began my resignation letter with “I hereby tender my resignation from my position with the company…”.
As AI puts it…
“Tendered resignation” means formally and officially notifying your employer of your decision to quit your job, usually by offering a written notice (letter or email) stating your intent to leave and your final day, often with two weeks’ notice. The word “tender” implies a formal offer or submission, making it a professional way to say you are officially resigning, rather than just walking out or informally mentioning it.
Tendering your resignation is regarded as the formal and professional way of resigning.
I’m not at all sure people’s motivation for sticking up for this Board, of course for Burnley78 it seems to be based on commercial and personal relationships and that’s fair enough as far as it goes, others will have their own reasons.
Yet in the last six months a lot of people like me, that had a deep suspicion that the Board are dysfunctional, unprincipled and inept in several aspects of the business, have been proven to be correct – beyond all reasonable doubt.
So, it is important to understand that Brendan Rodgers resigned in a formal and professional manner.
It is also important to understand that after the formal and professional club announcement, there was a very unprofessional, vindictive statement from a senior Board member.
Both notices were published on the Club’s official site.
Afterwards there were four members of staff summarily dismissed for reasons as yet unknown.
That is far from the norm, the Celtic Board acted in an unprofessional and crass manner.
”I’m content with the vocabulary. Much more of this and we’ll end up splitting the hairs of the angels dancing on the head of the pin.”
Undoubtedly you have a point, yet under the circumstances laid out, I believe the semantics are hugely important.
I’m not content with the circumstances that led to it. That is a different matter altogether.
Quite
Hail Hail
“Pour some Sigur on me…” 🎶
DefLeppard CSC
QUADROPHENIAN on 8TH JANUARY 2026 1:30 AM
Any port in a storm Quad for support of the suits
English football has had a terrible series of small town community clubs going bust
Politicians love a Lobby group its there gravy train, Fairgame is primarily about financial stability to stop small English.community clubs going bust, with 80 million quid in the bank we could probably buy the 25 clubs that make up the Fairgame lobby including the politicians
IMO We are entering a new era in the SPFL, Hearts with a new direction and serious purpose underTony Bloom R2angers have new owners and now seem to be finding there feet under Rohl as manager, the landscape is changing, we have competition, there is a lack of contrition, humility and connection from the suits to the wider fanbase (CQN tiny exception) on the collapse of the football operation, it is in chaos, 4th manager in recent months and team sitting third in league is self evidence of it, MO’N as he has stated himself, he has agreed to come back (Thank you God) and give Big Dog time to resurrect a football dept worthy of a club with a history and fanbase of Celtic football club, we the fanbase won’t be consulted or involved in that process as the absentee Landlord doesn’t do humble humility interaction, he rarely attends games, never attends AGMs, in anyones analysis that is contempt
CQN Suit division will be on the attack soon
Watch out for the sunstroke
aff oot
The suits running Celtics football operation are in disarray, that is the consensus in the Celtic world outwith CQN, by any measure you want, Celtic park was emptying rapidly d
Good morning CQN
Another fine day to be a Celt.
Wrap up out there !!!
I’m glad Martin and his crew have got a full week to work with the lads.
In the absence of a Celtic match, some really good games in the EPL last night (judging by the highlights packages mind)
GDT – last night. Cheers. Some good thoughts there.
I quite often make comparisons on here between football and rugby union.
When it comes to changing the rules of the game to make it a better watch? … Football is much more conservative than Rugby Union.
QUADROPHENIAN
🎶 Last Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away.
This year we burst into tear, – when you gave to Wilfried Nancy 🎶
Wham CSC
INIQUITOUSIV on 8TH JANUARY 2026 12:38 AM
QUADROPHENIAN
“ There are CSCs in Philly & DC.”
————————
Hi Quadrophenian:
The DCCSC folded this season after a 28 year run
Sorry to hear that – I was out in Porto last night with the family (serious good food about) and was wearing my Bhoys US Tour t-shirt from the pub they hosted games for DC United game – seemed a good club.
Tex
Maestro @ 10:00pm – cheers.
I hadn’t looked in on Phil MacG for a while
I’d love to see Evan Ferguson on loan with us but I don’t think its likely.
There’s always a chance Roma would have to pay Brighton a (penalising) chunk to cancel his loan .. which MIGHT make him affordable to us.
I recently posted a link to Callum Wilson’s contract at West Ham potentially being cancelled.
(Apologies to the CQNer for not responding to their comment about CW – soz, can’t recall who)
Wilson is maybe equally unlikely .. but interesting nonetheless, IMHO.
Fitness issues for sure but he’s a strong, quick player, a good finisher and a proper leader.
Cancelling his contract during a transfer window is clearly not an accident.
Maybe he’s got a trip to Arabia lined up already.
Warm, dry weather is good for sports injuries … if the number of NFL players retiring to Arizona is anything to go by.
There were some comments about Mark Guidi above knowing nothing about what is going on at Celtic, then I read this about the moment Martin was asked to come back again to replace Nancy:
But he had the fear when he saw Irish tycoon Desmond’s name flashing on his phone this time around.
He said: “I was with Mark Guidi, who had organised the event a way back, immediately after I had left. I was having a coffee with him up in Duke Street thinking about coming to the function.
“Then I saw Dermot’s name come up… I was worried in case I had said something the previous afternoon at a function that I might be reprimanded for, you know.
“I thought I had said something out of turn, that was my immediate thought.”
Made me laugh.
TURKEYBHOY on 8TH JANUARY 2026 12:26 AM
I think it was Monday morning Mark Guido gave us all an exclusive.His contacts at Celtic,had told him the Board were giving Nancy this window,and the Summer window.
So much for ITK.More like,IKFA..
Fans still believe these twats..
—————————
Made me laugh 😆
“Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My oh my, what a wonderful day,”
” We have got Dermot and Michael too”
“Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
CQNWaltdisneypositive.CSC
I’m not sure about the reference to Callum McGregor below is all about but here is a report from a Croatian newspaper.
Niko Sigur (22), one of Hajduk’s most valuable assets, valued at four million euros by Transfermarkt, could leave Poljud this winter after four years. After Premier League club Wolverhampton showed interest in the Canadian Croat, Scottish giants Celtic also got in touch, 24sata has learned.
The player’s representatives from the SA33 agency have very good connections with Celtic’s leaders, with whom they have done more than 50 million euros worth of transfers of players such as Liel Abada, Matt O’Riley, Callum McGregor in the last few years, but the best reference for Sigur is certainly Croatian national team player Josip Juranović, who played two excellent seasons in the green and white jersey. Both Juranović and Sigur are right-backs, both played in Hajduk’s academy for a short time, both are represented by the same agency, and therefore Celtic’s interest in the Canadian national team player, in whom they see the new Juranović, is understandable.
quadrophenian on 7th January 2026 11:30 pm
LR – clearly the club is in self-inflicted turmoil.
But another bottom line is we’ve been researched and accoladed as one of the best run clubs in Europe (FairGame Index?)
So we’re highly profitable and lauded despite many seriously grave bungles.
Imagine how far we could go, if all that shit got sorted out !
Quad, that last line fairly summarises my feelings over the last few years. Why didn’t it get sorted?
Ave Ave
TexasTim on 8th January 2026 7:55 am
Tex; our US/World Cup trip has stop offs in San Antonio & Houston.
In your part of the Texan world ??
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 8th January 2026 8:18 am
The Ferguson option is a bit of a long shot
Given Tony Bloom (the owner of Brighton) is also a shareholder in Hearts
Not sure he would sanction the move to help Celtic
But you never know – money talks !!
67ECW
EmeraldBee \o/ A Double Niner!! on 8th January 2026 9:29 am
quadrophenian on 7th January 2026 11:30 pm
LR – clearly the club is in self-inflicted turmoil.
But another bottom line is we’ve been researched and accoladed as one of the best run clubs in Europe (FairGame Index?)
So we’re highly profitable and lauded despite many seriously grave bungles.
Imagine how far we could go, if all that shit got sorted out !
——
Quad, that last line fairly summarises my feelings over the last few years. Why didn’t it get sorted?
EmeraldBee – mibby an article for P67 to tackle. Or, an interview with PL could explain a lot; tho I’d wages an NDA is in place ;)
As for why didnt we become bigger/more ambitious… I think the ghost of Leeds Utd and Peter Ridsdale’s experience might still haunt many a fitba CEO ? HH
OldFirm.com is the reason it never got sorted.
Quad @ 9:23
Yes – we live North side of Houston.
We’ll be in Boston June 11 to 20 for the first two games though. If you’re in TX after that let me know.
You have been sent this email because you are following CELTIC PLC (SC003487)
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08 Jan 2026 Group of companies’ accounts made up to 30 June 2025
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Should make for interesting reading.
TEX – we should be visiting Houston around25th. Be good to grab a brew! 👍
Morning all.
Can I firstly apologise to the blog for my posts last night, as a consequence, I will be withdrawing from the blog.
I have met some fantastic Celtic minded people over the years, however, I am embarrassed that I allow myself to engage with someone who IMHO is a clown.
I will continue to lurk and I will continue to be a Celtic supporter.
HH
Brian