“It’s your job.”
Roy Keane’s famous words have echoed around football for years, and they feel particularly relevant when looking at Celtic’s current transfer window.
Because getting transfer deals over the line isn’t somebody else’s responsibility. It’s theirs. It’s their job to negotiate transfers, remove obstacles, make the key decisions, complete the paperwork and ensure players are signed in time to prepare properly for the season ahead. That’s exactly what they are paid to do.
Supporters are watching another crucial summer drift by while the club’s two highest-paid executives, Michael Nicholson and Christopher McKay, take what has been reported as two-week holidays.
That’s four weeks of executive holidays between the pair of them during the busiest and most important period of the football calendar.
Why?
This isn’t the middle of the season. This isn’t a quiet international break.
This is the transfer window.
This is when clubs are expected to move decisively, complete deals and ensure new signings have time to settle before the Champions League qualifiers.
Yet supporters continue to wait while negotiations drag on and another pre-season slips away without the squad being properly strengthened.
The frustration becomes even greater when the salaries involved are considered.
Michael Nicholson receives a total annual remuneration package of more than £820,000, while Christopher McKay earns over £530,000.
Together, Celtic are paying well over £1.3 million a year for their two senior executives.
For that level of remuneration, supporters are entitled to expect leadership, urgency and accountability.
Nobody is suggesting people shouldn’t take holidays.
But timing matters.
The transfer window is arguably the most important period of the year for those responsible for running the football club. Every day lost is another day closer to the Champions League qualifiers without new players bedding into the squad.
Supporters have invested their money, buying season tickets, shirts and merchandise while watching the club build up substantial financial reserves.
In return, they expect the people leading Celtic to show the same commitment and urgency.
Because, as Roy Keane would say…
It’s their job.
Do Celtic supporters have the right to expect more urgency and accountability from executives earning more than £1.3 million a year, particularly when such a crucial transfer window continues to drift by?
