What’s going on?

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As we digested the team news on our way to Celtic Park for the Premiership clash with Hearts on 7 December we all struggled to guess how Celtic would line up.  Wilfried Nancy had a ‘get to know you day’ and one training session before throwing a completely new formation on the players.

This was an unnecessary and arrogant gamble.  In the weeks since, the same aloofness led to the squandering of momentum in the title race and the loss of the League Cup Final.  By his fourth consecutive defeat (at Dundee United), it was clear the course we were on was not about to quickly resolve and would ultimately lead to the loss of the league.

Respite came against 10-man Aberdeen and in uncomfortable fashion at Livingston, but Celtic were bossed by Motherwell, then by a Newco side who have never won so easily against Celtic.  Results were not just bad, they were historically so, and notwithstanding the mess left behind after Brendan Rodgers, six defeats in eight games was down to Wilfried Nancy’s inept tactical decisions.  He admitted players did not have time to learn and that the squad was not a fit for his requirements, but he persisted in some naive hope that things would magically improve.

His substitutions and tactical changes never once benefited Celtic, in stark contrast to those made by opponents during his short reign.  My worry when he remained in position yesterday morning, was that we would beat Dundee United on Saturday and delay the necessary change until it was too late.

Paul Tisdale put Nancy’s name on the table but was not responsible for the appointment.  By the board’s own words and deeds, they have made two successive bad managerial and one bad chief exec appointments since 2021.  After so many decades of managerial excellence, that is a significant slip in standards.  To quote Marvin Gaye, What’s going on?

We should all be grateful to Martin O’Neill for answering the call one more time.  He will be 74-years-old in seven weeks and he is clever enough to know what a challenging environment he steps into.  Far more so than the one he left last month.  Success, even against Dundee United, is not guaranteed.

Transfers are hard enough in January but they need to happen as though we had a permanent manager in place.  It will be difficult, try selling ‘The manager wants you but he’s leaving in May’.  This is not in a good starting position.

We are now in an 18 game season with momentum against us.  Hearts, Newco and Celtic all know they can take this title; the eventual winner will be required to put in an enormous effort.  And you just know, the last game of the season is bound to be at Fir Park.  On the positive side, if we overcome the travails of this season and win the title, they can pave over Ibrox.  If anyone else cannot win the title this season, we all know they never will.

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  1. Really,just what are the Collective saying that annoys these people?..

     

     

    Why can’t they see,the Board are Cnuts

     

    It really bewilders me that Celtic fans can look at what we have become,and look to blame anyone but the Board.

     

    Hope this does not upset Tom Mc Laughlin.He is getting very tetchy at the moment.

     

    Lawellwithdrawal,I think is the medical term.

  2. Tom McLaughlin on

    TURKEYBHOY

     

     

    You and TET should get together and form the WE-WANT-OUR-PETER-BACK cult.

     

     

    PS What is a t*at?

     

     

    PPS Did you know you can set your display keyboard to automatically put a space after every comma and period? Obviously too complicated for you. Ask a local street urchin to show you how.

  3. Re Shaun being in charge of signings.

     

    Earlier on, I did a search to see which players he signed in his stints at Hibs and Wigan.

     

    Almost all were frees or loans, with only two north of 300k.

     

    Course, he also rubbed shooders with De Bruyne, Hazard, Kompany and Lukaku while assisting at Belgium.

     

    Let’s hope our analytics and recruitment team was working on two lists; Plan A) potential Wilf signings and Plan B) possible squad improvement signings in case of a balls-up.

     

     

    El scorchio here downunder; forecast 45deg for some towns as heatwave sweeps the Eastern seaboard.

     

     

    AirConOn CSC

  4. FAVOURITE UNCLE on

    quadrophenian on 7th January 2026 11:49 am

     

    Re Shaun being in charge of signings.

     

     

     

     

    Earlier on, I did a search to see which players he signed in his stints at Hibs and Wigan.

     

     

     

     

    Almost all were frees or loans, with only two north of 300k.

     

     

     

    How much did those teams have in bank.

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