John Hartson believes that the dwindling crowds at Celtic Park should be setting off alarm bells.
Regular crowds are around the 30,000 mark under Ronny Deila with more and more season ticket holders deciding to stay away.
During Hartson’s days under Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan attendances rarely dropped below 50,000 with crowds of 58,000 and 59,000 not uncommon for games against St Johnstone or Dunfermline.
A number of factors have contributed to the decade of decline but with the stadium half empty the Welshman believes it’s time for action from the top.
“Celtic SHOULD be wiping the floor with every other club in the league,” he said in his column with The Scottish Sun. “That’s why it’s simply not good enough for me when Celtic fail to beat teams like Dundee but the most alarming thing of all is the huge number of seats which lie empty at home games these days.
“I wasn’t at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, but I have it on good authority there were less than 30,000 inside the stadium.
“What does that tell Peter Lawwell? And what does it tell the supporters who criticise ex-player columnists like me?
“The bottom line is there are thousands and thousands of fans who are staying away. That’s because they’re unhappy with what they’ve been seeing. I know fans who have season tickets but still stay at home.
“The Celtic board of directors aren’t blind. They can see the apathy at the games these days and I’m absolutely convinced they have long since decided to axe Deila when the season ends.
“That makes sense because, for me, there is nothing to be gained by wielding the axe now.
“Chances are Celtic will beat Morton by a few goals tomorrow to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. Then they’ll get back to winning ways in the league as they go on to clinch the title.
“On the day the trophy is lifted, there will be huge cheers for Deila with a lot of supporters forgetting the anger they’re feeling now.
“That’s what annoys me. It’s too easy to paper over the cracks.”