Michael Nicholson goes AWOL

Alongside 45,000 Season Ticket holders, Michael Nicholson decided to give Saturday’s glamour friendly with AC Milan a miss.

For the second week running the club CEO was absent as his summer of inactivity turned Celtic Park into a ghost ground.

Season Ticket holders decided that there were better things to do with their £20 than watch a squad that no-one in the Celtic boardroom seems interested in investing in.

For Nicholson there is another dynamic. He is paid £17,000 a week by Celtic with fans wondering exactly what he does to justify his salary and title of Chief Executive Officer.

What does he do day-to-day? How does he fill his hours, what does his time sheet consist of. How do his bosses is the boardroom assess his (under) performance?

Shortly before kick-off Ipswich Town announced the signing of Daizen Maeda.

Nicholson would have signed off on that deal, to the delight of his boardroom colleagues. On June 11 Brian Wilson did promise a very active few weeks. Maeda, Kelechi Iheanacho, Marcelo Saracchi, Maik Nawrocki, Luis Palma and Stephen Welsh are off the wage bill.

All that a CEO has to do with an outgoing transfer is say yes or no. Those deals are driven by agents and the buying club. Once the right fee is offered Nicholson smiles and the player is off.

At the very least Nicholson should have been at Celtic Park to meet and greet the big hitters from the Italian guests.

NICHOLSON POSTED MISSING- DID ANYONE REALLY NOTICE?

Share some small talk, find out the issues and challenges that they face. The solutions, how they deal with the developing transfer environment.

There might even be a player or two that Milan are looking to offload. Or a mention of a young player needing to go out on loan.

Networking. Like dealing with football agents is a basic task for a CEO.

Perhaps Nicholson is just ‘socially anxious’, a modern phrase for someone with no character, personality or presence.

Which leads to the question of just what qualities does he bring to his £17,000 a week job? One that requires Chris McKay to be paid an equally ridiculous £12,000 a week to do.

Nicholson’s qualities are hard to define other than the obvious.

He’s there to keep an eye on the paperwork left behind by his mentor, former CEO and Chairman Peter Lawwell.