Celtic’s cautionary tale of stagnation and complacency

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The Celtic Star

·28 août 2025

Celtic’s cautionary tale of stagnation and complacency

Celtic Football Club, once a symbol of ambition and pride, now stands as a cautionary tale of stagnation and complacency…

Celtic Park. Celtic v Livingston, 23 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

On paper, the club should be a powerhouse. Indeed the trophy haul since 2000 suggests it is. Currently it sit’s on a significant cash pile, has one of the largest fan bases in European, maybe even global football, and enjoys the financial rewards of Scottish dominance. Yet, despite these advantages, Celtic have failed to qualify for the Champions League in NINE of the last 12 seasons, squandering opportunities to re-establish themselves among Europe’s elite.

Vidéos OneFootball

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

At the centre of this malaise lies absentee majority shareholder Dermot Desmond, the so-called “landlord” of Parkhead. Desmond rarely appears, seldom communicates, and has allowed a compliant board to take the reins and the P&L suggests they have been rewarded handsomely over the last few seasons.

That board, in turn, continues to collect millions in salaries and non-executive payments while providing little evidence of vision or accountability. Communication from the top is worryingly still non-existent. No clear statements of strategy. No Town Halls. No consistent PR. Supporters are left in the dark, forced to rely on rumour, podcasts, or social media speculation. This feeds dis-information and mis-trust only fanning the flames and pouring fuel on the fire.

Celtic line up Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

On the footballing side now post Kairat, the picture is equally bleak. Celtic’s recruitment strategy is a mess. Despite appointing a director of recruitment, Paul Tisdale and a myriad of other lurkers in the shadows with iPad’s; there appears to be no cohesive joined up thinking or pipeline of talent.

Last-minute loan deals and overpriced targets such as Simpson-Pusey, Idah, Engels, and Trusty—reportedly costing up to £25m last season alone—highlight a scattergun approach. Clubs see us coming a mile away and add a considerable premium when it comes to finally transacting. The club once talked of a youth-focused policy, but that vision has withered on the vine. Instead of developing a factory of promising talent, Celtic offer the odd exception, like Donovan or Murray with most prospects stalling before breaking through or are pushed out on loan. Young Scottish talent also ventures abroad when we could easily swoop in and give them 2-3 glory seasons with the Hoops and raise their asking price.

Anthony Ralston of Celtic substituted for Colby Donovan of Celtic. Celtic v Livingston, William Hill Scottish Premiership, Football, Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, UK – 23 August 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

Contrast this with clubs across Europe or the Premier League like Brighton and Brentford, who have embraced modern scouting technology, data analytics, AI and innovation. Celtic, meanwhile, seem stuck in the past, ignoring proven and reliable data and AI tools that could give them a competitive edge. Our own intransigence and arrogance hurts us in a world hurtling towards following the data. We are analogue in a digital world.

Brendan Rodgers manager of Celtic Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

The backroom staff, bloated in size, enjoying the comfy new dugouts at Celtic Park this season can’t even drill players in the basics. Watching the paucity of execution week in and week out when it comes to Corners, free kicks, set pieces—areas where a well-coached team can gain points—remain a recurring weakness.

Suddenly, our fitness levels are often questioned, Calmac has lost it, in a dizzying array or side passing and backward passing over the last 12 months now we seem regressive, hesitant and almost negligent for large chunks of a game and yet nothing changes. Even in goal, Celtic persist with a 38-year-old injury prone who, for all his service, now looks more liability than leader. Mobility has been compromised for histrionics and gamesmanship.

Celtic Park. Celtic v Livingston, 23 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

The culture of the club is another problem. Too often, ex-players and pundits on the burgeoning and bloated medium of podcasts and fan media and phone in shows dominate the discourse, clinging to the idea that being “Celtic-minded” is enough. It isn’t.

Modern football demands more. Facilities tell their own story. Celtic Park, once one of Europe’s most revered stadiums, is falling apart through chronic under-investment. Ambitious plans for hotels, hospitality, and other ventures have been floated, but no meaningful follow-through has occurred.

Celtic Park. Celtic v Livingston, 23 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Thousands have been sharing that the current Matchday experience has also suffered. Fans complain about poor catering, broken WiFi, and weak transport links to and from the stadium. Worse still, the club has offered little legal or moral support for its supporters kettled by police or subjected to discrimination.

Instead, the board has chosen to alienate vocal groups like the Green Brigade, punishing dissent with fines and bans. This is the very heartbeat, passion and energy that drives the team forward but is almost being gagged and suppressed when it steps out of line. Political discourse met with censorship.

Meanwhile, Celtic continue to operate more like a retail PLC than a community football club. Every season brings five or six new merchandise launches, extracting more cash from loyal fans while investment in the actual football product lags behind. Arrogance and apathy have set in, corroding the culture and mood of the club.

Celtic Park. Celtic v Livingston, 23 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

What’s missing here is a plan. A hero. Celtic Park is now a complete Roadhouse. We need a Dalton (Patrick Swayze) who rides into town, will stand up to the status quo and turn the rundown and chaotic “Double Deuce” into a well run and commercially savvy, credible Operation and stand firm bringing leaders along for the ride with new “blue sky” thinking, strategies and optimism, confirming “This is our club and don’t you forget it”.

A clear, communicated three-to-five-year strategy, backed by real investment and followed through with discipline. Instead, communication remains opaque, confusing, or absent altogether. The club prefers to hark back to the “good old days” or “prudence” rather than look forward with vision. Post-match reports, across a slew of media channels, too often descend into blame games and finger-pointing rather than accountability and solutions.

Celtic supporters, Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Celtic’s future depends on change. Change in leadership, change in culture, and change in communication. It’s fast becoming a tired old narrative and product. Supporters deserve more than silence, stagnation, and empty rhetoric. They deserve a club that matches their passion with ambition, a club that invests in its infrastructure, its youth, and its identity. Celtic FC is at a crossroads: continue on the current path of drift and decay, or rediscover the boldness that once defined them.

Celtic fans in the stands Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Now with Yang and Idah potentially gone before the end of August and possibly the most underwhelming Glasgow Derby feeling like a damp squib for both sides of city, it’s hard to find the spark of inspiration we need as neither team know which team will turn up – Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde which means it could be a 3-3 draw or a dour 0-0. We need composure and a North Star to help us out the mess we need find ourselves in. Follow the yellow brick road or should we sign Rory McIlroy before Sunday so Mr Desmond at least shows some interest in the Club again as he’s posted missing along with Messrs Lawell, Nicholson and others.

Barry Flaherty

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

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