There comes a point when patience runs out.
For many Celtic supporters, that point has arrived.
Every transfer window brings promises that the club is working hard behind the scenes. Every summer we’re told to trust the process. Yet here we are again, with another crucial pre-season slipping by and supporters still waiting for the kind of first-team additions that should already be through the door.
The responsibility now falls squarely on CEO Michael Nicholson and Head of Football Operations Chris McKay.
These aren’t junior roles. These are two of the most senior football positions at Celtic, carrying significant responsibility and salaries that reflect the importance of the jobs. Supporters have every right to expect decisive leadership.
Instead, all we have is silence.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is torture.
I’d much rather be writing about exciting new signings, analysing how they’ll improve the team and looking forward to seeing our new-look Celtic side take shape. That’s the conversation every supporter wants to be having.
Instead, we’re left asking the same questions every single day.
Why is it taking so long?
Are Nicholson and McKay failing to get deals over the line? Or are their hands tied because every significant decision has to be run past Dermot Desmond before anything can happen?
If it’s the latter, then the club’s structure has to be questioned.
If it’s the former, then serious questions have to be asked about whether the right people are in these positions.
Supporters understand that transfers are complicated. Nobody expects every deal to be completed overnight. But what fans do expect is urgency, ambition and evidence that the football department is doing everything possible to strengthen the squad before the biggest games of the season.
Right now, that evidence is difficult to see.
This feels like last chance saloon.
Either step up, show the leadership these roles demand and deliver the quality signings Celtic need, or accept that supporters will continue to question whether you’re the right men for the job.
Nobody wants to criticise the people running Celtic.
We’d all rather be praising them.
The ball is in their court.
Do you believe Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay deserve more time, or has the time come for major changes behind the scenes at Celtic?
We desperately need change at boardroom level. The current incumbents are stale in their thinking,out of depth with current best practices, lacking in ambition and by their ineptitude actually cost the company money. The lack of investment in the team has, for too long impaired the managers we have had and caused us to miss out on the champions league which would improve both our profitability and reputation. The current structure is out of date. Time to move on.
How unprofessional is it when Nicholson decides to take a holiday before the most important transfer window in years. The board don’t care about how it looks to the fans and it’s a total lack of football intelligence.
Apparently the CEO has just returned from annual leave and now the CFO is off on leave (according to ACSOM… ). So, the guys that do the deals alhave their out of office on at the busiest/most important time of the year?! They have no clue
I think we can all agree that Dermot Desmond is a significant obstacle to Celtic adopting a modernised & fit for purpose set-up but there’s no escaping the blame & negligence of Chris McKay, Michael Nicholson & many others on the board.
Both Nicholson & McKay, seem to be well out of their depth but having been promoted beyond their capabilities, it is up to them to step aside for the betterment of the entire organisation. Such is Desmond’s grip however, it would seem likely that he’d be appointing the next subservient ‘yes men’ to replace our currently underperforming CEO & CFO.
What a pickle!!
Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity fc are doing their job with some gusto , their heads right up to necks in the trough of bigger pension pots and bigger salaries, that’s their job spend zilch fill their pockets , the season ticket holders have given them carte blanch to zilch. Stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
It’s abundantly clear that Desmond insists on everything being ran by him before completion and that these two men are clearly out of their depth. It takes far too long for anything to get done we’re now twenty days into the window and we’ve resigned the Ox, time will tell if that’s a good decision but personally Saracchi and Iheanacho make more sense to me as signings both from what they gave the team last year and also age wise. We’re a one hundred million pounds business being ran by guys who look like they’ve won a Blue Peter competition to see how much damage they could before the supporters say enough is enough. I’m not holding out much hope for the remainder of the window and if Martin isn’t backed in a meaningful way don’t be surprised if he walks away from the club and who could blame him, he did on the eve of a season at Aston Villa and we all know he doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
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[…] Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay are the two men entrusted with delivering the football operation, yet reports of holidays during one of the most important periods of the season have only fuelled supporters’ frustrations. Whether planned long in advance or not, the optics are dreadful. When fans are desperate for leadership, the perception is that nobody is steering the ship. […]