Charlie Nicholas increasingly sounds like someone who has lost all sense of proportion or restraint when it comes to Celtic.
He is irrational on the subject.
Over the last week he has desperately flailed at every Parkhead target within his radius.
To be frank, he is starting to sound deranged, like someone who has begun unspooling. It does not paint a pretty picture if I’m being honest.
I have thought, at times in the past, that Nicholas was a guy in need of some quiet time in a dark room, but this takes the cake.
Here’s the worst of it; I don’t entirely disagree with him.
I think we’re still in a bad, bad place and with the wrong guy in the dugout.
Last weekend did nothing whatsoever to change my mind; indeed, it has reinforced my suspicion that the longer Lennon is in charge the dimmer our prospects of winning this title become. Sunday cemented rather than challenged that view.
I agree with Nicholas that the squad looks under-trained and unfit.
It’s hardly a new criticism; indeed, one of the things that most annoys me about Nicholas is that he has never had any original thought in his life.
He has long been the master of stating the obvious. If he stuck to that he’d be just another boring wannabe hack like his pal Walker … but he also throws in the occasional idiotic personal observation as well and this is my real problem with him.
Nicholas is a brainless dolt, and really has little of value to offer the game as a commentator.
For someone who has spent his adult life in or on the periphery of football it is staggering how little genuine insight he has about the sport.
For a guy who’s been so long in the media it is mind-blowing how disrespected he is within its ranks.
On top of that, he takes things way too personally.
It’s obvious why he’s gone on his latest ranting rampage; he is stung by the criticisms from Martin O’Neill and Chris Sutton. Nicholas is a thin-skinned individual who really can’t handle being taken to task on some of the garbage that he comes out with.
His scattershot responses to it make him sound absolutely wretched, and today’s are no exception.
During the summer he accused us of trying to build a team on the cheap.
We kept every major player. We spent serious money. Whatever I have accused the board of in the past few months, I have never accused them of letting the manager and the fans down during the last window. They backed Lennon in full. Nicholas’ argument never stood up to scrutiny.
Still, there he is today trying to re-litigate the summer’s stupidest debate as if it could possible matter right now.
You can say the signings haven’t been up to snuff as you wish, you can argue that the manager has miss-used the squad if that’s what takes your fancy, but to repeat that the club was lazy and went cheap is just nonsense and to try and re-write the meaning of those words so that your argument suddenly has teeth is absolutely pathetic.
Nicholas ought to shut his trap for a while, for his own good.
With every word that comes out of his mouth he only reveals his own ignorance and lack of credibility.
One of the worst things about our current malaise is that when he criticises Lennon and the coaching staff at Parkhead, and sometimes individual players, he sounds as if he’s talking sense … I really don’t like being in the slightest agreement with him on anything.
It’s another reason for wanting all the issues we’re dealing with at present sorted out as soon as possible.
Nicholas has a problem with Celtic and that’s been true as long as I could remember. I don’t know of any other great Celtic player of that or any era in my lifetime who’s stock with the average supporter is so near to rock bottom. The amazing thing is that he never even asks himself why.
Please read our article on our new Facebook strategy, and bookmark the sites mentioned in it.