We heard from Michael Nicholson today for the first time since his internal appointment a week and a bit ago.
Not that we actually got to see his face or actually ask him questions.
It wasn’t that he submitted himself to the media for actual scrutiny.
He didn’t even get in front of our in-house cameras for a few pitifully easy softballs.
No, instead he penned a long winded report on the last 12 months, in which he played a peripheral role, for the annual statement which announced the £11 million loss which is all over the news today.
As an example of corporate communications it was no better than fair.
Which isn’t a compliment. Corporate documents are, at the best of times, designed to put insomniacs to sleep.
Anybody looking for fireworks got none.
Anyone looking for insight got none of that either.
It was a bald setting down of last season’s events; a decent blogger would have livened it up with some jokes or something, or maybe added a few personal thoughts.
But that would have elevated it above the level it pitched for, and I guess this is fair enough except that it’s the first we’ve heard from this guy.
How are we supposed to judge him on the basis of this?
The obvious answer is that we’re not, because those running the club have no interest in our opinions anyway. It is looking more and more likely that this guy is going to get the gig on a permanent basis, and that is just plain wrong in every way because it will give fans no confidence in him.
This role needs to be advertised and fought over by top tier candidates.
There are any number of them out there. Don’t buy into this crap about football not being like other industries; if Nicholson is so good he can be the point man for those areas where it genuinely is different.
If McKay’s mistake was not listening to advice, that can be communicated to the next guy before he’s even in the door. It is easily remedied. It will not excuse a closed shop process.
The standout phrase in his communique was his promise to bring “revolutionary initiatives”; as an example of meaningless corporate gobbledygook it’s a beauty. It’s one of those phrases that is pitched so vague that the listener can interpret it any way they like.
In the real world it means exactly nothing, it’s simply a piece of modern sounding phraseology with all the substance of air.
Fans aren’t going to be fobbed off with meaningless waffle and buzzwords; there’s no meat on those bones at all, and that’s what we’re after here. Evidence that there is a plan.
The appointment of Michael Nicholson to the role as Celtic CEO will simply not do.
We have to be out there looking for the best person for the job, someone who can bring fresh ideas and who has the gravitas to carry them through.
The last thing we need is some corporate drone without an original thought in his head.
Those of us who scrutinised his words today for any sign of those were disappointed because they just weren’t there.
On Friday he’ll have been in the job for a fortnight.
If this is the best he can do in terms of communicating with us, it’s a joke.