Principal shareholder Dermot Desmond and the Celtic hierarchy have admitted to mistakes this past year.
Faithful supporters have concerns and gripes and they should not be dismissed.
Football club chiefs have to accept scrutiny and questioning from their own people and the lack of a managerial appointment is currently a source of deep frustration to some.
However, criticisms over a perceived lack of recent information on that front do seem a bit off the mark.
Neil Lennon left his post on February 24. Work in the background is going on, but a lack of precise detail within a statement released by Desmond on the Celtic website recently caused some ire.
Fair enough, there was literally nothing in it, but what else could realistically be expected?
Maybe he could have put this out last night:
February 28: Phoned Martin O’Neill to see if he’d put some feelers out.
March 2: Spoke to Eddie Howe. He’s sitting tight to see what happens at Crystal Palace.
March 5: Got a message back from Martin that Roy Keane fancies it. But we’re seeing who else is available.
March 8: Phoned Shaun Maloney to see if Roberto Martinez would be interested. Nae response.
March 14: Saw Chris Wilder had left Sheffield United. He likes his golf and could partner me at the Dunhill. Candidate.
March 21: Some character from Norway phoned asking if I’d take Ronny Deila back. Blanked that voice message.
March 28: Watched Scotland’s first-half display against Israel and crossed Steve Clarke off the list. Watched second half and put him back on.
March 29: Got word that Lucien Favre wants it. Belled Paul Lambert to do some digging about him in Dortmund.
March 30: Noticed Thierry Henry saying he’d be up for it. Told him to get out of his vineyard and off the vino.
PS: Got a few other irons in the fire, I’ll keep you posted.
Apologies if that appears flippant on a serious football subject, but, given you can’t say that, what else really and truly can Celtic say other than the normal, sadly dull, comments that appeared.
Unfortunately, business deals and negotiations have to be kept under supreme secrecy. As frustrating as it is for fans, it’s how it has to be.
Now maybe the critics are spot on. Maybe Desmond is too busy with other ventures to be bothered.
Maybe Peter Lawwell has a giant half-finished jigsaw on his office desk and spends the rest of the day putting golf balls up and down the carpet into a tea mug and not giving a Stefan Klos about who gets the job as he’s leaving anyway.
But let’s face it. None of those are the case and everyone knows it.
Of course every Celtic fan wants a new manager ASAP. The Champions League qualifiers come quickly. That’s £30 million on the line.
The Premiership title is worth that again next season due to the automatic entry to the competition for 2022/23 just a couple of years before UEFA finally fulfil their dream scenario and announce the new format is an annual six-team competition between Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich where the sides play each other 56 times a season to decide the European champions.
Celtic fans want clarity soon and that’s perfectly understandable.
But, at the same time, surely every switched-on fan would also prefer their club takes its time and explores every single avenue before making this next huge call as opposed to just rushing someone in the door for the sake of it.
It’s been a painful season. Yes the Quadruple Treble was won, but the loss of the 10, the European disasters and forking out 600 bangers for a season-ticket seat you haven’t sat on once has made it extremely tough.
These fans want details of the recovery plan and you can understand that perfectly.
But, for the sake of another couple of months patience in hope that absolutely the right men are appointed, it must surely be worth sitting tight and trusting the best things do indeed come to those who wait.
