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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I stopped at …..Nancy inherited this shambles
No he inherited a team who had just beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam!!!!!!
From going toe to toe with Munich and getting praise from all quarters ( was it this praise that sickened some ? ) we somehow contrived to reach last night’s humiliation that was a 4 0 game in all but scoreline
Talent costs money …the gems are dwindling
If I was writing for Huns quick news …I’d be writing a generation of domination is nearly upon us ….win this league and the riches of CL awaits our rivals are in total meltdown with a manager 10x worse than Russell Martin……you reap what you sow …by fk we’ve been planting for years
Pete the Beat at 12.54
In many jobs, there is a notice period of three months or whatever after you join, where you can be let go if your performance is unsatisfactory.
‐–‐———-
How do you know that is not the case with Nancy?
I personally know of at least 2 SPFL clubs who announced managers on X years contract, but put in a probation period.
From convos with the Chairman of said clubs, I was told it is standard process at many clubs, and all you need to do is look at the number of managers who leave just on 3/6 months.
AIPPLE on 31ST DECEMBER 2025 1:02 PM
LionsRoar
“RoboCop directive” made me chuckle. Needed that. Cheers!
Wish I could claim it but it was GLENOWEN on 31ST DECEMBER 2025 12:41 PM
Very funny
I’ve got tickets for ASCOM gig with MON on Friday……I hope it’s cancelled…..
maybe they’re not as stupid/inept as we think…maybe the plan was to get someone in who would fail spectacularly before appointing maloney…maybe maloney was their plan all along…
I’ve nothing further to add to the reams of commentary on last night’s match. It was a watershed moment for the club and the manager from which there is no way back. It’s simply a matter of time before Brother Wilfried is put out of our misery.
The worry – as Paul alludes to – is that we have key positions filled by people incapable of performing in those roles.
Brother Wilfried is the most high profile example, floundering pitifully as his credentials are shredded by a succession of managers barely known outside of their own household.
It was quite something to watch on last night. It looked as though we were playing a quality team in European competition, such was our inability to keep the ball and do something with it. And when we gave it away, we conceded a chance virtually every time. It was Motherwell.
WTAF.
Brother Wilfried’s approach to football is that of the fantasist. He simply does not have the knowledge, experience and wherewithal to compete with the journeymen of Scottish Football Management. It’s astonishing that he is actually the manager of Celtic.
WTAF.
Our Head of Football Operations has ZERO experience of working at elite clubs or of scouting elite players or of developing players with elite potential. He does not know the requirements and has no meaningful or relevant credentials for the job he holds.
WTAF.
And a squad of players, none of whom is a goal scorer cos we sold the ones we had and didn’t replace them. Although we do have 5 guys whose natural position is left wing, but only one – a veteran – who can play on the right wing.
WTAF.
Our CEO is a trained and experienced lawyer. He has many years of experience providing legal advice in the football sector at board level. He is well thought of in that role. He was Celtic’s Director of Legal and Football Affairs, attending to legal and contractual matters across the business for many years before being appointed CEO. He is not a business manager, has ZERO experience of managing a business, let alone a complex business like Celtic’s, let alone actually leading such a complex business.
WTAF.
Oh, and the one guy who actually does know what to do, who does know how to lead the club, who can provide advice, direction and mentoring to the hapless CEO, resigned from his role as Chairman as the curtain on this reality TV shitshow was about to be raised.
Welcome to WTAF FC, where the key roles are filled by individuals who should not be anywhere near the jobs they hold.
Where do you start?
Honestly. WTF do you even start?
PureScunnertCSC
Bada
I’s rather the cancelled the game on saturday…
praying for storm nancy
Brendan’s games – wanting to bring quality players to the club. How dare he!
Reference to ‘you and i’ (generates a team ethos) – check
Negative mention of Brendan – check. Actually a few in there today
Negative mention of fans – check
Superfluous mention of Dunning Krugger – check
Tenuous mention of previous manager 20 years ago (who had an excellent knowledge of all football played, north of Carlisle) – check
Any critical analysis of the underlying issues here – nope. No mention. ‘Board’ mentioned as a collective, though no individual responsibility
Robocop Fourth Directive still applies
Genuinely, one of the worst articles I’ve ever read on CQN. A real pity as this was once the gold standard and really was anything but ‘lazy journalism’
Where is Burnley? I demand to hear from him! I crave his wise counse! We need his leadership at this time of crisis. Vindication awaits!
Paul67…did Brendan take a dump in your dinner…your almost as tiresome as kevjungle
Wee Burney come out ……
I was hoping I’d wake up to an apology from you Paul. Many of us foretold this shambles over the last couple of years but we were the ones who had no perspective.
There are many things wrong with our club and I fully agree we have flaws in every area.
However having an experienced and quality manager makes a difference. It always has and did with Brendan until there was a breakdown in relations with DD and the board.
Signing players is also vitally important and whomever is responsible for that has fallen away short.
The semi final v rangers was the most physical we have been in years and years against them. We won’t play like that on Saturday.
We will almost certainly lose.
We need Nancy to be relIeved NOW and that gives us a chance to win the league. Persevere with him and we are done. Rangers will win the league however poor they are – and they really are poor.
Why we are messing about is beyond me. Weak leadership springs to mind, basing decisions on ego and pride.
What a mess of a club we are. I have no confidence in those running it or those playing for it and I certainly don’t have any in the man managing them. How you can say you were happy with his appointment makes me consider your knowledge of the game. It is another example of change is for the best when often it is not.
His cv is shamefully inadequate to run our club.
Glasgow and Scottish football isn’t for poor communicators to try their idealistic plans out.
Get him out now.
Celtic FC are not an Elite club.
Anyone telling you otherwise is pulling your leg.
Elite clubs are not run like Celtic FC.
This is why Celtic remain in the purgatory of their own making.
Tictastic
Kevjungle has very many valid points amongst the mad stuff
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full
Thank you for that.
I agree with many things you put forward.
However, will the charlatans on our board take any of your suggestions seriously?
There needs to be proper peace talks between the board and fans or the carnage continues.
Transparency and accountability, for me, are key.
We are divided as, arguably, never before. At least the Kellys, Grants & Whites were Celtic supporters.
Change must come.
I don’t think 5 years would be acceptable to the fans.
Happy new year to Paul 67, thanks for this forum; the madness, the mayhem, the real good laughs and the love of a football club, regardless of where we came from, what school we went to, this is what makes Celtic’s dominance in Scottish football so incredible, the odds were are stacked against it from 1887!
However,
‘Wilfried could recover and win the league, but it will not be enough for some.’
I’m afraid with this manager, with his mad set up and endless obsession with playing people out of position, asking them to do jobs they’ve never done in their professional careers, that has a probability rating of 0%.
Dearie dearie me
If I had time I could pull that blog leader apart bit by bit.
Suffice to say we had a multi trophy winning manager in place which as you and I have discussed wasn’t supported by the board who were determined to win the Willie waving competition. Tidsdale…hilarious CV and even more tragic performance since.
We can laugh at the Huns summer but when they rebelled against a hapless CEO, DOF and Manager they got rid of the lot and to an e tent have stabilised.
Us…oh we go to war with the fans, ban them and their fan media and double down on the board tidsdale and Nancy.
From Allianz to Also Rans in under a year. Relegation firm in the Spl. Quite an achievement.
But it was all Rodgers fault of course.
There is a structure behind all the success is a complete myth. We have had no competition for 2 decades and failed miserably in Europe over the period.
The Board is light weight and outdated — everything is couched around what will Dermot think ?
CEO Michael Nicholson —- give me a break. Clueless and that is me being nice to him.
Football dept a complete shambles covering first team,
Women’s Team, Academy and recruitment.
A club at war with its own fans
A club that is allowing a shareholder to issue Saturday night rants on one of our most successful managers ever.
A club using the manager as a human shield.
This is what DD and his yes men have done to Celtic They have run it into the ground whilst £80 is jealously guarded.
They ain’t finished yet !!
Glenowen on 31st December 2025 1:19 pm
You see it too.
On a long enough trajectory everyone who is economical with the truth gets found out.
The chicken’s are coming home to roost and we may be seeing the beginning of the end here.
When the formula used is highlighted, it is difficult to unsee it every time it makes and appearance.
The disingenuousness of what is being fed on here lies in the theft of goodwill. It pilfers the language of camaraderie and support, as a vehicle to deliver a biased point, hoping the friendly wrapper will lower the recipient’s guard against the payload.
Steven McLean ref
Clancy var
WN manager
What chance we got
Really Paul67 ?
Is that your analysis of this utterly avaoidable cock up ?
I don’t blame “the board”, I blame individuals charged with certain duties who have proved themselves to be totally incompetent.
Who (not the board) decided someone with the experience of scouting for Exeter City, was an ideal fit for Celtic FC ? Is that persons position now being reviewed ?
Is Risdales position being reviewed ?
Is Nicholsons position being reviewed ?
Nancy is a charlatan, a fraud, an egotistical prick who hides behind vague, philosophical bullshit.
He simply hasn’t a clue. But he doesn’t let that bother him.
Nope, he has free rein to destroy our season because the cowards who appointed him would sooner a disasterous season than admit to their incompetence.
Giving money in January to a buffoon is doubling down on the cockup. Buying players to suit a system that will not work, even with a proper manager, is total folly.
Sack Nancy today, sack Tisdale today. Deal with the CEO in time.
Get MON and Sean back and allow them bring in some talent during this window.
Employ MON as a director and let him seek out a new manager.
Happy New Year to all my fellow Celtic Ghirls and Bhoys, whether we disagree with each other from time to time or not.
Áthbhliain faoi mhaise daoíbh go léir 🍾
‘There is enough money in the bank to fix whatever is wrong – all a consequence of years of good work.’
There is money in the bank that should be on the field. Proper investment in the team would have had us competing in the CL. Whichever one of them it was that reckoned being in the minor European competitions showed the level of ambition they have. They hired a good manager then asked him to work with dross.
Sack the Board
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 31ST DECEMBER 2025 1:18 PM
Terrifyingly accurate summary of where we are.
I think we are in for a difficult couple of years now,will be no major changes that are required, what enjoyment does Desmond get out of Celtic?
Ray Winston earlier.
Have you (or others) noticed that, whenever the question “What then?” is asked …
… it is never answered?
The CURRENT board?
I’ll play along.
They are thieves, bastards, cnuts, jersey shrinkers, spivs, piss, parasites, prawn sandwich eaters, fools, spiteful, sabotagers, greedy, patsies, non-entities, jobsworths, despicable, unaccountable, bad actors, superior, freeriders, smoke and mirror artists, shitebags, incompetents, intransigents, lickspittles, toxic, hypocrites, lackeys, chaotic, smirkers, liars, inactive, crooks, arrogant, vindictive, unsuitable, decaying.
(All taken from the last 15 hours of CQN)
All are opinions.
But I’m happy to treat them as facts.
Here are some (repetitive) facts to consider alongside these opinions.
Whether I (this one guy) like or even know their plan is irrelevant.
The board are here, in place, in control, in situ, the status quo, the current orthodoxy, the key holders.
You and others want them out?
Fine. Roger. Understood. Sold. Deal. Aye.
Here it comes …………
How?
What, then?
Luke McCowan not a happy boy
Looks to me like he says “I’m so f***ing sick of this”
https://x.com/Shannonhendoxo/status/2006135891719238053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2006135891719238053%7Ctwgr%5Ec4a564ea1f4e362a763b24ef3203da2a0c5a1720%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fceltsarehere.com%2Fluke-mccowan-fury-caught-on-camera%2F
Vale bhoy @ 1:30pm – Nice one.
“There needs to be proper peace talks between the board and fans or the carnage continues.
Transparency and accountability, for me, are key”
Agree 100% on both.
Respect.
Aye hiring Brendan was a disaster for us…just the 4 trophies and our best European performance in a decade!
Some of us have been saying for years that the Club was coasting and the strategy was outdated. Ironically, despite Paul67’s dislike of the “messiah manager” it’s largely been that exact thing which kept the wolf at the door until now when Brendan got fed up (and it became toxic) and MON was let go.
Desmond and the Board have well and truly entered the “Empire end of days” phase – complacent, stale and treating those who criticise as “stupid” or “disruptive” and alienating the core of the support. Post-Covid season we had the chance to reset but instead followed that other feature of failing Empires – nepotism (Lawell Jnr, return of Peter) and yes men appointed (MN replacing McKay).
All too predictable and Desmond has dug in – acting just how he described BR in that he’s driven now by his ego/need to be right instead of what is best for the Club. Doing the exact opposite of what he praised MON for.
State of the Club? A shambles!
ROBERTTRESSELL on 31ST DECEMBER 2025 1:04 PM
Who did bring in Tisdale? Genuine question.
….
Heard from fellow season ticket buddy Dermot met him at a wedding.
Youcantmakerhisstuffupcfc
Rodgers would stiil be in the building and winning games if the club had stuck to their word and backed him, instead they sold our best player and replaced with dross and projects.
We replaced rodgerd with a manager who has no workimg knowledge outside the usa.
All the while we have built up tens of millions in the bank.
The stadium and the envious of the stadium have never looked so bad in modern times.
Our board who are apparently not fools, have managed to create a disconnect between the customer base and the business.
The board have managed to attack share holders, supporters, employees and former employees.
The environment around the club is toxic.
We have a new indoor pitch and a few new portocabins at barrowfield, but the same old coaches developing next to nothing for the fiest team.
Any other business operating like this would not be riding out the storm they would be gettingnto work to improve all aspects of the club.
Our club will try to empty a few bodies from the first team, bring in a few loanees from around the globe, add a couple of cheap poorly identified targets and tell us we are all daft wee boys cause we cants see all the great stuff going on at celtic
Where is the reflection?
HH
Celtic’s biggest threat has always been complacency.
Keen on selling players at the first available opportunity but failing to replace them.
Now that Peter Lawwell has gone it’s safe to say that we have appointed the wrong manager twice in a row it seems.
By extension could we not say that the criticism here of Tisdale being appointed is another indication of poor recruitment. That’s 3 decisions- key decisions on recruitment that have gone spectacularly wrong. That being the case and by extension can we not even air the case that player recruitment might be as bad if there is involvement by the same people that appointed Rodgers, Tisdale and Nancy?
How much in monetary terms are these mistakes costing the club?
Part of me really wants the whole thing exposed rather than getting some form of redemption now.
How many independent managers does it take to tell the club the players they are recruiting are not good enough.
We wistfully seek better players then hanker for the ones we sold that we knew weren’t good enough to take us further. Kyogo wasn’t scoring as many as he should have and Idah was a disappointment. Giakoumakis was good but not quite good enough but we would take any of these players back now in a heart beat. Not good enough before and still not as good as we should be getting.
Are people starting to see now that we have been lucky to be in a one club league with a clubbed to death Rangers and others who were not run professionally? The runs at the league have been easy – too easy. The ask to demonstrate capability in Europe has been severely illustrative of how easy it has been for us. Squads assembled on the cheap with no ambition to structure the place properly.
You reap what you sow.
Have a Happy New Year and always look on the bright side of life whatever Celtic throws at us.
Long term issues have been well aired by others. Two immediate ones:
1. despite how they are playing under WN, and obvious gaps, we have the best squad in the league.
2. We have money in the bank no other team in Scotland has. BUT if we give a penny of it to WN we might as well burn in. He will go in February or March (when the league is long gone), leaving high earning players no one else wants.
He has to go. What terrifies me is that if he gets a scrappy draw on Saturday that will give the Board an excuse to keep him.
“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? “
No it didn’t and Paul67, you bear much more responsibity than most for the situation Celtic FC find themselves in.
Peter Lawwell was supported by you and was pretty much unemployable as a Football Exec anywhere else as his career shows…
Over 20,000,000.00 from one club
He’s probably not as rich as Brendan Rodgers, that must smart but how did Brendan amass his money…
Got paid a lot of money as head of Chelsea’s world class academy
Got paid good money with Swansea City
Got a successful multi-million pound buy-to- rent business going
Got paid very good money at Liverpool
Got paid good money at Celtic
Celtic got paid a record compensation fee when he went to Leicester City
Got paid good money at Leicester City
Got offered a position in Saudi, decided to go back to Celtic where he got paid good money
Now off to Saudi where he gets paid good money.
Brought in record revenues, record profits, record player sales to Celtic.
That’s why Brendan Rodgers got hired, got rehired and gets multiple offers.
Compare to PL… who never navigated Celtic through a meaninful challenge without screwing up.
So why did Celtic pay out a fortune to a foitball exec who was unemployable anywhere else in football.
He crashed Celtic in 2020, he’s crashed Celtic again in 2025… while his toxic, machivellian style corrupted every aspect of our football club and this blog.
Hail Hail
Stock Exchange now closed – please put us out of our misery Celtic. I wanted to give WN a chance but still playing Ralston and the fall off in performance from the squad is truly shocking.
Unsurprisingly BR is roped in to the shambles. So 4 trophies from 6 and best CL results for decades is part of the problem apparently……
I am not rewriting BR last few months but this is just nonsense.