CELTIC supremo Dermot Desmond admits the club “have made some wrong calls” during a wretched season.
The Irish multi-billionaire businessman also moved to reassure the process of searching for a successor to Neil Lennon is underway.
And the principal shareholder also revealed that the club knew they would be going through a transitional period in the forthcoming campaign.
Asked if the announcement of a new team boss was imminent, Desmond, speaking to the club website, responded: “As with any key appointment at Celtic, there is a process which involves research, investigation, interviewing and negotiation. This process is underway and is taking place privately and when complete, the Board will make a public announcement.
“We are mindful of the fact that there is a huge amount of interest and speculation among our supporters and the press. However, we have to respect the privacy of potential candidates and the integrity of the process, and so I think it would be inappropriate to make comment on the type of candidate we are looking for.”
Asked about his analysis of the campaign, Desmond said: “Firstly, the season is not over yet, as we are still in the Scottish Cup. However, my current thoughts are that this season has been extremely disappointing.
“Decision-making in football is not an exact science and I accept without qualification that we have made some wrong calls. We will endeavour to learn from those.
“However, the conjecture coming from some journalists, commentators and pundits that they foresaw the outcome of this season is entirely disingenuous in my opinion.
“Regardless of whether we won the league or not this year, we knew that the 2021/22 season would be a transitional year for the team.
“A number of the existing squad would more than likely be departing or returning to their parent clubs, but we felt that, in order to give the team the best chance of success this year to achieve the overriding ambition, we should endeavour to retain these players, despite receiving a number of substantial bids.
“In so doing, we recognised that this would add to the recruitment requirements for the subsequent season.
“We recognise that we have under-performed both on and off the pitch and must do better.”
Queried about his hopes for next season, Desmond added: “That we recruit a manager that plays football the way that all Celtic supporters want and that we give that manager the time to implement their own plans.
“After that, I am sure much more success will follow.”
