Under normal circumstances, I would never listen to a single word that a pundit on Radio Clyde spat out.
But these are decidedly abnormal circumstances, so much so that I’d go as far as to say we’re in virtually uncharted territory.
We know that the club talks to these people on and off the record in a way that it doesn’t do with the supporters. We know that they sometimes use journalists and pet hacks to drip-feed stories into the public domain.
Mark Guidi has contacts at Celtic.
How much they’re willing to tell him is anybody’s guess, but they probably do have him on the “useful idiot” list.
But if it was just the suspicion that they’d use someone like him to get out important info I wouldn’t even bother repeating it. It’s the info itself, and how much sense it makes, that I am interested in … and even a little bit encouraged by.
Guidi has no idea who the new managerial candidate will be and he freely admits that, but his comments on the things he claims he does know are a little too on the nose to be mere speculation and a little too close to reality to dismiss as his usual nonsense.
He says that McKay is already active at Celtic Park behind the scenes, and that our incoming CEO has signed off on the plan to appoint a technical director/director of football.
This is music to my ears, although I hope it’s the latter and not the former. McKay does not have the knowledge to interfere in football matters; a director of football is a must for our club.
The difference between the two is that the technical director hires and works with the staff for the football operation whereas the director of football works with the management team and has a role in the contracts and signings of the players.
They are separate things and shouldn’t be confused.
We need the latter, not the former, if we’re to break the old cycle.
Still I am pleased with the idea that McKay has a role already.
He should have a role already, and he should be part of the process that hires the next boss as well.
Now, the board might try to sell us on the idea that he backs Lennon remaining in post but if they try that McKay has to resist because it will taint him from the first. The whole club needs a clean break.
McKay’s involvement isn’t the only take-away from Guidi’s remarks; apparently we’ve already started sounding out the candidates on our shortlist.
That is less surprising, as one of the names has already leaked and the blogs have done good work on finding out all they can about the Manchester City’s Fergal Harkin, who was involved with their transfer team.
Now, this is additional good news as the technical director at a club doesn’t deal with transfers but the director of football does … it suggests that we’re earmarking Harkin, or whoever, for that very important role.
Again, I’m glad McKay has a say in this.
The reason I believe this story is that it just makes pure good sense.
McKay is going to deal with these guys every day, and he’ll be judged on how they perform.
Nobody with any smarts would step into the shoes of the CEO after the outgoing CEO has already made all these changes without his input.
To me it sounds a little like Lawwell is a lame duck chief executive, and although he’s formally in post until June his power at Celtic Park is already ebbing away.
We live in interesting times, folks.