Last night, Brendan Rodgers told fans who are worried about signings, or the lack thereof, what he already did last week, but he emphasised it as strongly as he could in case anyone missed it back then. He said that transfer matters are out-with his control.
This is one of two things; either he is passing the buck or he’s expressing his anger in the only way he knows how, and the way that will be least damaging. It doesn’t matter. His comments are on the record and they are very damaging indeed.
Those who have urged patience on the grounds that “Brendan knows what he is doing” have been left in no doubt that Brendan himself has no intention of being the scapegoat for things that aren’t being done. He’s telling us that this is down to the board.
This is bad in oh so many ways.
First, a manager of his calibre should be able to get what he wants, and if not that then he should certainly be able to get what he needs. That he feels the need to go public with his frustration, even in this low key way, is telling, and it is worrying.
Before we take to the field tonight alarm bells are ringing loudly at Celtic Park.
Do not underestimate the seriousness of this.
The manager is telling the fans as straightforwardly that he’s not happy right now. He is saying that he has doubts over whether the club will sign players and he’s saying that if it doesn’t happen and there are consequences “don’t blame me.”
Brendan is telling us to blame somebody else.
Let’s stop kidding ourselves that everything in the garden is rosy at Celtic Park.
There is a schism between the boardroom and the boss, and that is serious stuff. Brendan has said he is concentrating on working with what he’s got, but he’s not hiding the fact – and he never has – that he wants more.
For the first time he’s apportioning blame for it not being delivered.
I have a deep sense of foreboding about the next couple of weeks.
Coupled with events off the field, in the background, this is a troubling development. Our board appears neither to be focussed on making us as strong as we can be on the pitch or with securing reforms and justice for us in Scottish football beyond the games themselves.
The idea that we were busy behind the scenes on the first priority has been scorched by a manager whose frustration level is palpable.
Don’t even get me started on the second.
For all Lawwell’s alleged influence we seem not a step closer to justice than we’ve been since 2012. His pal Doncaster is at the centre of the Five Way Agreement, and I know for a fact it was the protection of Celtic which kept that man in the job he still holds.
We have never been stronger … but our response to the myriad challenges we face on all the various fronts seems pitifully weak right now. Our manager, the most important person at the club, has no idea whether signings are progressing or not and has pushed the questions about them as far away from him as he can.
No wonder fans are biting their finger-nails.
If the guy in the dugout doesn’t know what the Hell the strategy is, how are we expected to suss it out?
I’ll tell you this, if we crash out of the Champions League on the back of this that guy is not going to hang around the next time an offer from England comes in. Backed properly, there’s no telling where this guy can take us … but if the board doesn’t support him they will push his loyalty to breaking point. He still wants a career after Celtic Park and he will not allow those above him at our club to hang their failures around his neck.
We have been warned.
“In Brendan We Trust” only works as long as that man has the juice inside Parkhead to get what he needs.
He told us last night that he doesn’t.
So the question for today is this; who exactly are we supposed to trust now?