When Celtic FC drew 1-1 with St. Johnstone in Scottish Premiership play on Sunday, they must have needed to squint to see Rangers. Earlier that day, the boys from Ibrox had thrashed Ross County 4-0 to go 13 points clear at the top of the league. That’s right. The same eleven who, a week earlier, had upset the Bhoys 2-0 at Celtic Park in the Scottish League Cup, prompting riots outside despite COVID-19 restrictions. That is a six-goal swing.
As another writer mentioned on Belly Up Sports, that travesty had followed a 4-1 defeat at Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League. And for those living under a rock, that had also been Sparta’s winning margin in Glasgow. In fact, Sunday’s draw was actually Celtic’s best showing in five home matches! Meanwhile, Rangers haven’t lost since last summer’s defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League sweet 16.
Recently, I did a poll on my Twitter feed in which I put out three factors for Celtic’s struggles–board, manager, and players–and an “other” category. Only fifteen responded, but five faulted the manager, Neil Lennon. Thus, it’s best we start with that factor.
The Easy Way Out: Blame the Manager!
Like their counterparts in other team sports, soccer fans’ gag reflexes turn on the manager when things go wrong. After all, it is he who selects the squad for each game. He has to keep the team motivated after landmark wins. He also must explain room for improvement after disappointing results. Above all, he needs to string together enough good to great results to keep his job. When he doesn’t, he often takes the fall.
There is much truth to that recourse. Lennon, who has managed Celtic FC since taking over for Brendan Rodgers in the middle of 2018-19, has looked downright clueless. How else do you explain 3-4 to CFR Cluj? How do you justify 1-2 to Ferencvaros? Oh, that’s right–the Magyar side made it to the UEFA Champions League group stage. Blame injuries. Blame COVID-19. We’ll still ten-peat, no questions asked. After all, we learned to ditch three at the back!
Meanwhile, fans crowd outside Parkhead day after day to demand change. We can’t bring back Rodgers, but maybe somebody who preaches defense will do. Just get Lennon out of here! Once he goes, we can win again. Crash barriers have flown at police, players, and other personnel associated with the club. Your arrests won’t stop us from getting our way!
Seriously, though, the issues that Celtic have endured as of late have roots that predate Lennon’s return or even Rodgers’ tenure. To explore these issues, then, let’s look at the other side of the administrative equation.
Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond, et al.: Asleep in the Boardroom
The other, more recent target of supporters has been the Celtic FC board. In Britain, soccer clubs are run by private holding companies. These businesses have boards like any corporation, with shareholders and corporate officers. In this case, the main officer is Peter Lawwell, who has overseen Celtic Football Club since 2003. Dermot Desmond, who once owned shares at Manchester United, is Celtic’s chief shareholder. Along with Lennon, both were subjects of a second round of protests outside the stadium on Sunday.
Although Lennon must bear his share of the blame, I assign the bulk to the board. In my view, a modern major football club is like a house, and the board serves as the foundation of the building. After all, it is the owner and their shareholders who must pay the transfer fees to get players. The board also pays wages once personnel are secured. It doesn’t matter who manages the team or otherwise coaches players. If your club’s board is hopelessly foul, it’s garbage in, garbage out. Celtic’s signings have been examples of this.
Questionable signings
Celtic FC has spent approximately 20 million pounds ($26 million) on signings that haven’t panned out. Republic of Ireland international Shane Duffy has been a terrible failure. Uruguay international Diego Laxalt hasn’t been too much better. Part of the struggle to secure defensive players good enough to win championships has stemmed from Champions League qualifying failures. The problem is that Rangers haven’t been stopped despite not playing UCL ball since 2011-12. They are on track for a first title since 2011.
“Sacking the board” is the second-most common gag reflex as to solutions for a club’s struggles. In Celtic’s case, it does hold more water than just dumping Lennon. Indeed, a new chairman and other new bosses could give the club a better look, especially when the time comes to find a new manager. As I said, the issues predate Lennon.
Complacent club culture
Perhaps after Rangers’ original holding company died in 2012, a bad cultural shift occurred crosstown. Without their derby rivals making much noise, Celtic might have slacked off. Rodgers improved the Hoops’ European fortunes for a while, but then he left for Leicester City. Better, I guess, was one top-flight title in England than 50 in the other fatherland of the game. This degeneration in culture has known no bounds of managerial regime. One could put Tim Brewster in charge of Celtic and things wouldn’t get much worse. At Ibrox, by contrast, the new holding company wasted no time setting RFC’s house in order.
Conclusion: Clean House on the Touchline and in the Boardroom
The best solution doesn’t involve the knee-jerk sacking of Neil Lennon. However, supporters can’t expect that merely changing who sits atop Celtic FC’s board will fix everything. House cleaning has to occur in both of these parts of Paradise. To that end, I would start by targeting Lawwell and Desmond. Their money-flinging and complacency make them and their board mates the first targets of reform. They must either change their ways and stop sleeping on the job or leave the club. At the same time, was Lennon really the best choice for a new manager midway through 2018-19? Other clubs endure injuries and win anyway. Lennon has added to the detriment with his questionable tactics, which were exposed in the first Old Firm derby of the season.
Again, though, I would hold off on sacking Lennon until at least the January transfer window. Then, Celtic FC will have some opportunities to re-evaluate the situation. Of course, if Celtic lose to Hearts in the much-postponed Scottish Cup final on 20th December, they may be forced to act then, if not earlier. It’s hard to see any high-profile candidates replacing Lennon, though. Some questions simply have no easy answers.
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