A report in the Daily Mail lays bare details of the massive rebuild that Dom McKay faces as he takes over as Celtic CEO in July.
Over the years Celtic fans have been fed a constant line about a well run club with a successful business model but below the surface of a Quadruple Treble it seems that the infrastructure is far from perfect. Indeed, it seems to be in need of complete reconstruction.
While the domestic trophies piled up the litmus test is always how Celtic perform in Europe with the hoops becoming increasingly disconnected from the Champions League.
Malmo, Maribor, Cluj, AEK Athens and Ferencvaros suggest a pattern of failure as unseeded but organised and focused clubs inflicted early season damage on Celtic.
A variety of reasons can be put forward but for every Virgil van Dijk or Moussa Dembele uncovered, polished and sold on millions have been squandered on players such as Teemu Pukki, Derk Boerrigter, Marian Shved and Vakoun Bayo with £9m spent last summer on Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti.
At the same time the club’s Academy has virtually dried up with only Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor making a direct impact at first team level over the last decade.
These chronic issues seem to have been identified with plans already underway to create a modern club, fit for purpose and the challenges of the digital age.
In a Special Report into the problems facing Celtic, Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail reveals:
This season Celtic have paid a heavy price for years of stagnation. When chief executive Peter Lawwell retires this summer, Dominic McKay will move from the SRU to oversee a huge overhaul of the club’s operations.
The aim is to create a modern, data-led footballing operation and that process began last year with the appointment of outside consultants to review best practice in some key areas of modern football.
Technology and data analysis were identified as areas in need of upgrading to increase the chances of competing in Europe, selling players for big money and improving the club’s academy system.
A new sporting director will also be recruited to revamp scouting, youth development and set an ethos and identity for the club. No one knows, any more, what kind of club Celtic want to be.
If the goal is to be a modern progressive, Champions League club then the player recruitment of recent seasons has to improve.
The issues detailed above seem like the remit of a CEO but for now McKay remains at his desk in Murrayfield while others make strategic decisions about the club he will oversee in four months time.
Who is going to recruit the Sporting Director is critical with almost all of the club’s hopes placed on a revamp after years of stagnation and back-slapping under Lawwell.
