Celtic fans see straight through Brian Gaslighting Wilson

Every so often a Celtic board member says something that makes you stop and reread it. This week’s contribution came courtesy of interim chairman Brian Wilson.

Apparently Celtic have eight World Cup players.

And apparently Martin O’Neill will be backed in the coming weeks.

Let’s start with the first one.

Eight World Cup Players… Is That Supposed To Impress Us?

Wilson proudly pointed towards Celtic having eight players heading to the World Cup.

On paper, that’s true.

Alistair Johnston.

Benjamin Nygren.

Sebastian Tounekti.

Hyunjun Yang.

Kieran Tierney.

Anthony Ralston.

Daizen Maeda.

But the way it was presented felt like supporters should be standing up and applauding.

As if Celtic had somehow achieved something extraordinary.

Let’s add some perspective.

There are 48 nations at this World Cup.

Each squad contains 26 players.

That’s 1,248 World Cup players.

Celtic contributing seven or eight players works out at roughly 0.6% of the entire tournament.

Hardly footballing domination.

By the time O’Neill took Celtic to Seville in 2003, the squad was packed with international experience.

Larsson.

Petrov.

Lennon.

Baldé.

Valgaeren.

Agathe.

Hartson.

McNamara.

Mjallby.

And these were not players making up numbers in international squads.

They were key players.

The majority of the Celtic players going to this World Cup are bench players.

More importantly, how many of those players will still be Celtic players when the tournament finishes?

Maeda continues to attract interest.

Johnston will inevitably be linked with bigger leagues.

Nygren looks set to leave.

Others could easily attract attention if they perform well, such as Trusty or Tounekti.

The reality is this squad is heading towards a major rebuild.

The World Cup may end up increasing that need rather than reducing it.

So while Wilson seems keen to celebrate the number.

How many players will need to be replaced this summer?

The answer could be quite a few.

Martin O’Neill Will Be Backed… Eventually

Then came the promise supporters have heard for years.

The manager WILL be backed.

Fantastic.

Wonderful.

Excellent news.

The only issue is the timescale.

Wilson stated this would happen over the coming weeks.

Weeks. I highly doubt this.

Granny Speed Recruitment

Target number one becomes too expensive, target number two takes too long. Target number three isn’t convinced.

By August we’re signing target number five while being told it was the plan all along.

Then comes the familiar lecture.

Be grateful.

Trust the process.

Stop being negative.

Support the club.

Any criticism is immediately treated as disloyalty.

As if wanting better recruitment somehow makes you anti-Celtic.

It doesn’t.

It makes you ambitious.

The worrying thing is how often debate around the club now falls into a strange “with us or against us” mentality.

Question a transfer?

You’re negative.

Question recruitment?

You’re a hater.

Question the board?

You’re causing division.

The Rebuild Starts Now

The good news is that Martin O’Neill appears to be getting his chance.

Most supporters will welcome that.

The challenge now is whether the board matches the ambition of the appointment.

Because backing a manager isn’t done through interviews.

Or statements.

Or promises about the coming weeks.

It’s done through action.

The World Cup players will come and go.

Some may stay.

Some may leave.

But one thing is certain.

This squad needs strengthened.

And if Brian Wilson wants supporters to believe Martin O’Neill will be backed, then the board needs to start moving a lot faster than they have become accustomed to.

Because Celtic supporters have heard promises before.

Now we want proof.

We want actions, not words.