GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 03: Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson, chief financial officer Chris McKay and interim chairman Brian Wilson during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on January 03, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Five days into 2026 and Michael Nicholson has lost a manager and a Head of Football Operations.
And a Glasgow Derby but the anthems of hate from 2,500 away fans will have comforted Celtic’s bungling CEO.
How long he can retain that title and salary is now the big question.
When it comes to footballing KPIs Nicholson is a monumental failure.
NICHOLSON THE FAILURE
Selling off players has earned him the back-slapping of the Balance Sheet Bhoys but that is now seriously impacting on the football side- with a knock on impact on profits.
Surely after the sackings of Wilfried Nancy and Paul Tisdale the current CEO has to follow them out the door.
In no sane organisation can Nicholson be involved in the recruitment of Nancy’s successor. Not even the corporate basket-case that is Celtic. Lauded as Europe’s best run club by their compliant media partners.
Now also sack those that appointed both Nancy and Tisdale, starting with Nicholson pic.twitter.com/VpvfQtHQnm
— JimLeitrim2 (@JimLeitrim2) January 5, 2026
Nicholson has been out of his depth since day one but carried by the successes of Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers.
When he attempted to emulate a managed decline like his mentor it backfired spectacularly.
Peter Lawwell got away with undermining Rodgers until the Lockdown season when Neil Lennon’s management fell apart.
Nicholson tried the same, put his trust in Dr Football and is now the architect of a disaster.
THE NANCY EXPERIMENT
Nancy has six defeats in eight games, including a cup final and Glasgow Derby on his CV. So too does Nicholson.
He got so cocky with himself that he gave two interviews to Celtic TV. Gerry McCulloch won’t need to prepare another script any time soon.
The delay in sacking Nancy and Tisdale is almost certainly down to reluctance on the part of Dermot Desmond to admit a huge mistake.
Nicholson can’t escape his responsibilities as CEO. Someone to show leadership and guide with his decision making.
He bottled out of appearing with Nancy at a media conference and couldn’t put his name to today’s sacking statement.
Hopefully some mediocre law firm are looking for a ‘leading sports lawyer’ to bring an end to Nicholson’s horrific management of Celtic. Oh, and he also has the appointment of Mark Lawwell on his CV.
A wee horrible scum bag of the highest order
The odds of us now retaining the title have improved, whoever takes charge to season end.
And Tilsdale takes the fall for the appointment.
As for Nicholson,
it makes sense if he stands down after the interims are announced in February?
Nicolson takes the fall for ‘lower than expected’ half-year financial results,
and for a full year forecast revised downwards ?
Desmond should be the first to go. He oversees every application.
The loyalty of his lackeys is to him not the club.
What a disgrace they all are.
Desmond sells up to who?
Other shareholders
Nicholson is an utter failure and needs to go away, but he has no honour whatsoever and I expect he will try to cling on. An utter parasite and a complete failure failure as a human being with his obvious contempt for those he considers as lower class. His education at School was wasted with no understanding of the meaning of AMDG. His God is MONEY/
I always thought Maloney had been lined up before BR was sacked.
Back door for the job now?
Let’s not take our eye of f the ball here pardon the pun.
We are on a good run here with the shite that’s been swept out the door in last few hours,but that’s only minnions that are gone.
Editor: Next time you mention a certain dead convict you’ll be scudded out on your next holiday.
MON till end of season.
Talk about shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.
He will bring stability & organisation.
It might not be pretty but the rest are gonna see an entirely different team now.
Really looking forward to the next game now.
Aye – Lucan going now would be the icing on the cake !
I’m of the mind that dd has had it with this bunch of losers , pl gone , pissdale gone nancy gone , i would like to think he took his eye off the ball , his comments on BRs were from the briefing from pl , i am sure he will regret it to his dying day and how he was sucked in by that lying unscrupulous?cnut .
I’d love dd thought on tisdale ? he conned him hook like and sinker
Never did I think Dermot would capitulate to the will of “Commodus on a keypad” and his frenzied hate filled followers.
One comment was to Tar and Feather a Celtic FC Administrator. I have seen the result of a symbolic Tar and Feathering. A student was stripped naked, covered with molasses and thrown into a wagon full of mill run. He was then paraded outside the Residential Buildings with the chanting “Come out and see a thief”. Shamefully, I and others did not condemn or try to stop their actions. We did not see it coming.
A day later we heard the victim of humiliation was suffering from a mental disorder. Many actions by Celtic Fans and bloggers calling for change were irrational and resemble antisemitism by the German people during the 1930s. All fomented by Hitler’s Nazis. The torpidity amongst the team is real but is not the individual players fault. The Football Doctor’s prescriptions were wrong. It was correct to have him “struck off’.
Nancy and his entourage should have stayed as a reminder to Admin and above, that Celtic FC is not the best run Club in Europe. The Marist Brother’s objectives were achieved long ago. I am unsure that Celtic FC has a reason to be.
Editor: You won’t get any sympathy here mate, head back to the lads at CQN for sympathy over the demise of Nancy and Tisdale.
Well done to everyone on here that spoke out and criticised the twin chancers.
Now to step up our efforts to get rid of Nicholson and send Thick News into deeper mourning.
As Joe would say, enjoy the bowling season over at Celtic Thick News.
Can Nicholson survive and dare to face the cold accusing finger of public scorn, without stepping down?
Not for much longer, if he has any sense.
So glad Nancy and Tisdale gone. Martin and Shaun will do a good job and if they deliver the championship or double Maloney would have every right to apply for the job in the summer without Martin.
Also if MN delivers a quality striker and can start to mend some relationships with the fans and can show he can learn from mistakes then his position could be evaluated again on the back of a championship win.
Ushering in outsiders like Nancy, tisdale and Dom McKay hasn’t worked well in the recent past so maybe that’s why a lot of our appointments seem to be in-house guys that can be trusted.
Not ideal I agree but between now and the summer everyone try and come together and see if its possible they have learned from mistakes?
Editor: Nicholson has contributed nothing, caused havoc and extracted millions. Sounds like he has learned well from his mentor. The quicker he is removed the better, no way back.