The Ego has landed

 

The Ego has landed

Celtic don’t do crisis mode that often these days, but the current shambles at the club certainly meets the criteria. Not since the shabby treatment of Jock Stein by the old board in 1978 have we seen such a poorly handled exit. Brendan Rodgers’ decision to resign took many of us by surprise, though his increasingly barbed comments at press conferences would have signalled that not all was well behind the scenes. It comes at a time when sections of the support are at war with the board, and the team is stuttering like a second-hand Honda. Key players are injured or struggling for form and the club is in need of renewal from top to bottom. The biggest shareholder, Dermot Desmond, released a statement that was as scathing as it was ill judged. In it he accused Rodgers, among other things, of contributing to a toxic atmosphere around the club…

‘Regrettably, his words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving. They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the Board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable. Every member of the Board and executive team is deeply passionate about Celtic and acts at all times with professionalism, integrity, and a shared desire for success. What has failed recently was not due to our structure or model, but to one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.’

I’m sure Brendan Rodgers has been unwise in some of his utterances over the past few weeks, but to pin recent failings on ‘one individual’s desire for self-preservation’ is to tell half the story. We mere mortals who buy our season tickets and stump up for merchandise will never be privy to the goings on behind the scenes at Celtic Park, but it is clear to us that there needs to be a collective responsibility for the club’s poor start to the season. It’s only 8 months since we watched Celtic draw away to Bayern Munich in the Champions league after a 94^th minute equaliser from the Germans. At that point we were hoping to build on a position of strength for the 2025-26 campaign, but Celtic being Celtic, we failed to capitalise on an excellent season. Kuhn, Idah and Taylor moved on. Kyogo was allowed to go earlier without adequate replacement. The club failed to bring in the quality that was required despite sitting on a pile money and the team has regressed. This situation has been compounded by serious injuries to key players as the current campaign began and Celtic now find themselves 8 points behind in the league.

The personal and fairly vindictive tone of Dermot Desmond’s statement on the departure of Brendan Rodgers is unbecoming a senior figure at a club like Celtic. It may be that he was keen to get his version of events out there, but it was worded in an unnecessarily harsh manner and implied that Rodgers was both dishonest and selfish. There has obviously been a major falling out between two big egos, but whatever the truth behind the departure of Brendan Rodgers, a little dignity and reflection should be in order from all at the club. We win together, we lose together and we shouldn’t wash our dirty linen in public.

A million words will now be written about Rodgers’ departure, endless hours of chatting on podcasts, radio phone-in shows and social media will try to decipher what the hell went on. The bottom line though, is that Celtic now need to appoint a manager to salvage a season that is damaged, though not yet beyond repair. He needs to be a manager the fans will respect, who has a proven track record and he needs to be given adequate funds to reinvigorate a squad that many feel, has reached the end of its cycle.

Football supporters need to have confidence that those running the club are pulling in the same direction as they are. We thank Brendan Rodgers for his undoubted contribution to the club, but football waits for no one. To stand still is to go backwards. We all want the best for Celtic, so come on Celtic, spare us any more of this tabloid, soap-opera nonsense and move on. Bring in a manager who will excite us and once more give us dreams and songs to sing.

The King is gone. Long live the King.