On Friday, this blog highlighted the Roy Keane story which appeared in The Scottish Daily Mail in which Stephen McGowan confirmed that he’s in the running for the big job.
The following day I highlighted another story in the same paper, by the same journalist, that basically blasted the idea that Keane might get the job. McGowan is close to Peter Lawwell.
It seemed perfectly plain to me that McGowan was being teed up to put the negative spin on the news by someone inside Parkhead, probably Lawwell himself.
I speculated that this was, in part, a last gasp attempt from the CEO to leave behind a legacy that was not associated with the wreckage of this campaign but which made the next one better.
This morning, Paul Rowan of The Times (the London Times, not the Evening Times) published a piece which also trashed the idea of Keane as manager, and this, too, feels significant.
This one suggested that talks might not have gone well, the first time we’ve heard that claim.
It feels as if whoever put the original story out about Keane is now being beaten back … in short, that there are divisions within the boardroom and they are significant ones.
Keane has major opposition inside Celtic Park, and whilst I have hoped for our directors to stand up to Desmond at times the back and forth briefing on this is creating the impression of anarchy inside the walls.
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Disagreements in private are one thing … this one looks as if it’s spilled over into the public eye and the look … well, it isn’t good.
To add to the general sense of surrealism around this thing, my good friend Paddy Sinat has published a piece which says that A Celtic State Of Mind appeared to confirm these suspicions today when Paul John Dykes intimated that people on the periphery of Celtic have more or less told him that this is all true.
Not that I doubted it, mind you, but it’s good to get some verification, and informed opinion on it.
Because whilst I was speculating, Rowan of The Times was not and neither is Paul John Dykes.
They have both heard something if not official then close to it.
But what happens now if Keane is appointed?
We will all know that he doesn’t have the unanimous backing of the board.
We all know that significant opposition had to be overcome, but that real doubts will remain inside Celtic Park.
This is another problem with them dragging this out … for God’s sake, this club badly needs to get this appointment done so that we can all move on.
The constant swirl of rumours is bad enough but when some of them are plainly coming from inside the club to discredit others involved in the process we’re just making a grim situation worse.
And all the while, friends, that clock continues to tick down and down towards deadlines that right now we honestly don’t look as if we’ve got a hope in Hell of meeting.