My friends in Celtic, you and I have discussed this subject for over two decades, seldom in that time has the club been in such disarray. No one football game determines the health of a club, but yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at Fir Park perfectly illustrates what a soft touch Celtic are.
Credit to Motherwell, this is as good a side as I have seen from them, but they are not a Champions League-level team. However, they out-thought Celtic and controlled the game throughout. The list of Scottish clubs who have already done this, this season, is significant: St Mirren, Hearts, Dundee and Dundee United have all beaten Celtic and bossed them, at least once each. Kilmarnock were denied a point by an added-time penalty, 10-man Aberdeen by two goals after the 87th minute, while a truly awful Livingston twice took the lead against us.
Wilfried Nancy inherited much of this mess. Three misfiring transfer windows proceeded Brendan Rodgers departure and Wilfried’s arrival. Despite significant spending the squad was left imbalanced, the new manager had to cope with that, but he is far from blameless.
When plans meet grass
Few of us looked forward to last night’s game expecting yet another new formation. I am sure this made sense on a flipchart at Lennoxtown on Monday but it was destroyed from the start by a Motherwell squad which benefited from a total spent this summer of £250k.
The lack of structure which caused the alarm in the first half was not due to a lack of a decent striker, it was a consequence of what was written on that flipchart. The second half saw a return to the formation which won the previous two games, and allowed Celtic a degree of control of the ball, but roles were changed. McCowan came on at wingback, not the inside role he has been enjoying so much success in. Maeda, whose crossing was a real asset in recent weeks, was hooked, while Shin Yamada was given the lost striker role. Better than expecting Reo Hatate to plug the gap, I suppose.
We are at the cusp of the ‘favourites for the league title’ shifting from Celtic to God knows who. Either one of two poor-to-average teams who because of Celtic’s inept performances are likely to win the league.
Football fans love a scapegoat; take your pick. None of the players involved last night were to blame, nor was the referee. The result was a failure of team planning and the team planning failure was a consequence of the second successive poor managerial appointment by the board.
When appointing a manager, I support Celtic looking outside the box. We will not out-perform unless we follow different leads to our wealthier competitors. On paper (or a flipchart, if you prefer), finding someone with a bit of form in the MLS ticks this box, so I was happy with the appointment. The diligence and transition planning, however, was woefully short.
20 years ago, Gordon Strachan started his Celtic managerial career with a terrible defeat and an alarming draw (at Motherwell). Despite winning three successive league titles and taking Celtic into the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first and second times, he never quite recovered in the eyes of some supporters. 20 years on, the world has not become more tolerant. Wilfried could recover and win the league, but it will not be enough for some.
Layered on top of this is transfer planning. The head of recruitment brought the manager in and the manager has plans to spend many millions in January. This is what the club hopes will deliver salvation from what ails us. Players suited to the formation in three or four positions might work. The return of Jota and Kelechi Iheanacho, then Callum Osmand and Alistair Johnston, will help. Our prospects of a league title this season are circling the drain, but they have not yet flushed.
The other side of the equation is equally important. It is easy to destroy but difficult to build ‘What next?’ Sack the manager is easy, subsequently recruiting someone who can deliver the kind of success Celtic has come to expect not so much. Sack the board, that’s easy done too. Replaced by what? I’ll save you a lesson in corporate governance structures, but if you think any fool can run a successful Celtic, you are the fool.
My expectation is that Celtic will not win the league this season, despite that being entirely possible right now. Head of Football Operations Paul Tisdale has been thrown in at the deep end in at a level he had little experience of. We are not Exeter City. Nor are we Columbus Crew. Our football structure is simply not operating at the level we were even two years ago.
To our board, I suggest they reflect on how we got here. Why was Brendan brought back, who was inevitably going to play the same games he did during his first spell and resulted in the summer debacle? Why did we move from importing Manchester City’s recruitment imprint to that of Exeter City? Celtic is a big ticket job, recruitment analysts across Europe would jump at the chance to work here.
I expect the club will throw the dice in the January transfer window in the hope of landing some sixes. The fallacy of sunk costs is powerful. You and I do not have all the information, so we should also consider where we are on the Dunning-Krugger chart. People on the outside who believe obviously clear decisions are not being made are usually at the first peak.
Personally, I would have a chat with Shaun Maloney this afternoon. I might be one of the fools, but he is not. We have talent at the club. There is a squad with potential to achieve more than they currently are. There is enough money in the bank to fix whatever is wrong – all a consequence of years of good work.
It has been a real honour sharing 2025 with you. The blog can sail through the good times with little of substance to contribute. It is needed most when clouds gather and perspective is low. Some may regard today’s as being light on perspective, but there is no point having a blog if we do not step forward and say when we believe things are going wrong.
Very best wishes for the new year. I hope you have a healthy and happy one, and I hope we see Celtic back bossing the land once more. Take care, all.
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Tontine
We dont need to inform sfa anything bout change of manager,players yes in the case of Cadete etc.
Also
“Seemingly there were celebrations like NEVER seen before in the Boardroom when he left”
If so TT that shows to me the stress some were under from day1 of Brendans return.
Top down stress Dermot wanted《》board didnae.
Big cheers from those who spent from day1 of BR2 stressed due to a DD decision.
DD messed then memoed his seething anger on Celtics page 20 mins after Celtic to of him going. and double erred by his boy telling fans aff!.
A lot of our problems are in communication,the whole BR shebang and since it looks as tho they had a little stress communicating with each other.never mind us.(in board term com is daen whit DD wants)
Celebrating there was unity again at board level,DD agreed wi them.
Hail Hail
Is Nancy still the manager? Have we signed a striker yet?
Says more about Scotland, than it does about the Brickie.
Keep saying it.All the blame for the predicament we are in,lies at the doorstep of this,amateurish,sometimes,imbecilic Board.Not BR,not Nancy,not the players.
Who would hire MON to come in and steady the ship,watch him do it,including a great Euro win,then dump him.
The guy they are dumping him for,hired at the most intense period of the season,with one days meet the players,then off you go,with your new way,formation,of playing,with an injury ravaged squad,depleted of strikers.Into the bargain,you will have no time between games to coach what you do have.
This is incompetence,cluelessness,on a scale even battle hardened Board decriers,would not have anticipated,but there you go.They are pouring fuel on this inferno by not relieving him off his duties,for some other,imbecilic reason.
I despair.
Is Julian Araujo the Spanish translation of Scott Marshall? :)
Julian Chapel, on the banned list
——————-
The surname Araujo is of Galician and Portuguese origin and is a topographic name meaning “small altar”.
The name derives from various places called “Araújo,” and it is commonly believed to trace back to the Latin “altariculus” or “arauciculus,” which translates to “small altar” or “small place of worship”.
Julián Araujo, the professional footballer who plays for AFC Bournemouth and the Mexico national team, has notably honored his roots by getting a tattoo with the Spanish phrase “Hijo de Inmigrantes”, which translates to “Son of Immigrants” in English. His mother is a translator for a school district, and his father was a farmworker, highlighting his family’s immigrant background.
expect this to rampup if thems beat us. their blogs are already bleating about it as a possibility.
ignore hearts,
win the league
hope the big cup winners also already qualified in their league position.
get more uefa points to keep ahead of olympiacos, bodo and copenhage,
easy peasy.
—————–
One of the main principles of the new European club competition format post-2024 is the important role of the club coefficient – namely, a club’s performance in European club competitions over the current five-year period.
It is for this reason that should the Champions League winners have also qualified for the league phase via their domestic league position (as is now guaranteed to be the case this season), the club with the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying (the domestic champions of the national associations ranked 11 to 55*) will enter the league phase directly instead of the original round they had qualified for according to the access list.
Ahauro has hardly played a game.Very quick to get a loan signing in,no t so quick on a striker who will cost money.Is this guy a better option than,Stephen Welsh,fully fit,or or Nawrocki who we could have brought back from loan?
This is madness.
Is Nancy still the manager? Have we signed a striker yet?
—
no, Nancy got sacked.
but yes, we have signed a striker.
his name is Nancy.
and he will play as manager.
Not as a right sided centre back???
Saint Stivs
Ye can’t build a house without a brickie ;)
Celtic first and always…but as I live in Toronto area, I follow Toronto FC. I watched AJ years ago and thought he would be a great addition to TFC or any Europe based team.
I think Kai Wagner of Philly could be a good left back choice for Celtic…much like AJ.
Brass Man on 1st January 2026 9:17 pm
Celtic first and always…but as I live in Toronto area, I follow Toronto FC.
*did you follow them when the wee trackie seller was their coach
I thought today was friday
now have an extra day of stress till saturday….
Until Celtics high performing executives announce the 3rd episode of St Martin, it’s just rumours and bollox
On players going out and in…
Callum is 32 and, according to Celtic’s famed trading model, would be an automatic sell if anyone offered us decent money for him (and by decent I’d guess north of 8mill quid).
For Callum, playing in the Saudi league would likely be financially irresistible to Cal himself. As this table shows, his earnings could be on a parallel with Ruben Neves (alleged EU 17million per annum).
Tho we’re in a pickle, it might be attractive to the club and to the player – tho mibby not the team.
On the rumoured ins, ages of players quoted dont seem to align with ra famed model – guys at 26, 28 – if true, has big Peter taken the young punts reckoner into retirement with him ?
And before we get too excited by the Bournemouth back, he struggled to oust Max Aarons for while and his ops to prove himself were limited in his early Cherry career.
It still feels like a mess; ideally ‘world classness’ would have seen us manage the transition of the coach and team in a much better way.
If we lose to the huns, they’ll probably give Shaun and Foz a run til the end of the year to see if they’re made of the right stuff. Alternatively, Musky Muscat or Robbie Keane are at least deserving of a call – the players would sure buck up their ideas under either.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes CSC
Apols: https://www.capology.com/sa/saudi-pro-league/salaries/
Too many of our players lack height pace power and technique.
It’s not as simple as they have stopped trying .
TT
“P67 Personally, I would have a chat with Shaun Maloney this afternoon.” Read the room guys. It is all the board have left.
brilliant stuff from the english premiership today.
seen it all live on sky.
4 games.
8 teams.
only 2 of those teams scored.
and they were in the same game
the one that no one was watching
😴😴
Too many of our players lack height pace power and technique
—
that has exactly been our problem for 20 years or so.
thats why we do fk all in europe.
sutton, hartson, lennon, petrov, agathe, mahe, larrson, mjallby, etc etc, and etc
where to stop.
we used to build a squad that could look after themselves in europe.
we now have a squad that get bullied in motherwell.
“Too many of our players lack height pace power and technique
—
that has exactly been our problem for 20 years or so”.
According to the interweb Celtic have won 35 major trophies in the last 20 seasons (2005‑06 to 2024‑25): 15 league titles, 9 Scottish Cups and 11 League Cups.
Oh well.
Brendan would need to offer £20m for Cal in January and even that won’t be accepted but WILL cause a problem.
If Cal wants the move ( and he might not) then £18m in the summer will be the price.
Win, llose or draw I think the Sevco game will be Wilfrieds last game.
An absolute shambles of an appointment but if we act quickly we can still win the league.
I think the players will win the game themselves.
*On Saturday
Tontine
Who is the Trackie Seller. It has been an endurance test for a few years now . The problem with MLS is that there is no Relegation. So coaches have at least a year to get something on the field then really put it to work the next season. I would imagine Big Wilf did the same at Columbus…maybe that’s his problem
Trackie Seller is Judas, our former striker.
“Le Petite Merde”
Laxalt
I’ll bet you a pint that Celtic don’t sack Nancy within the next fortnight .
TT
I’ll bet you another pint that nobody will pay at least £18m for Calmac ,at his age ,and only proven in the SPFL.
Tt
Flashscore have Calmac valued at £4.4m
As a barometer.
TT
garygillespieshamstring on 1st January 2026 10:48 pm
Trackie Seller is Judas, our former striker.
*thanks i was looking for a name without having to use his, I stopped watching TFC when he was there.
Calmac will ask to leave as this shambles will be on his shoulders whilst Desmond and his puppets hide.
Other players will be asking their agents for an out especially those with World Cup aspirations.
Trusty for sure will go and the Japanese players.
The fans are directing their anger at the board online and in the stadium. However that will change soon enough if we lose on Saturday.
I wouldn’t blame any player who wants out from this chaos which is entirely of our own making ( soz typo entirely Rodgers and the fans fault copyright paul67)
valuations mean nothing until someone actually pays the cash to match.
you could say your house is worth a million quid.
but until someone pays that million quid then its a meaningless number.
TinyTim I bet you that pint they do.
Laxalt one
£20 million for a 32 year old???
lol
Not a chance
clunks on 1st January 2026 11:44 pm
£20 million for a 32 year old???
lol
Not a chance
Surely to jaysuz if it can be a structured rumour it can be one with a price Clunks :-))
HH
Mulgrew Pitch To Par (Charlie Mulgre youtube golf channel)
DEREK RIORDAN | FINAL ROUND OF 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYcvKuFnoTk
Riordan is an absolute chav….