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The Phoney War is over. Celtic must prepare for what comes next.

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From September 1939 until April 1940, the whole of Europe was paralysed by what became known as the Phoney War.

What was the Phoney War?

Well, Britain and France had declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, but for almost eight months there was virtually no land war activity in Europe at all. The UK and French forces did attack Norway, and the French attempted an offensive in the Saarland, but for the most part, nothing of any consequence happened across the central European landmass.

The major conflict — what we now know as World War Two — didn’t really get underway until May 1940, with the German invasion of Holland and Belgium and then their sweep into France. The Manstein Plan — or Case Yellow — finally brought the major combatants into large scale military conflict and confirmed that there would be no easy end, or quick solution, to Europe’s burgeoning conflagration.

For about six months now, it’s felt like Scottish football has been stuck in a bit of a phoney war. All this takeover/fakeover stuff has been boiling away under the surface, and now, finally, it’s over.

The Ibrox club has new owners — or at least a new board of directors — and it has new majority shareholders in charge. So soon, we’re going to find out what these people have in their locker.

I think the whole way this has been covered has been phoney from the start. The notion that these people are going to just throw money at every problem they encounter, that they’re going to funnel tens of millions into the team, is manifestly ridiculous.

There are so many reasons why that won’t happen that it seems crazy to keep going over them again and again.

I’ll say this much, though: the £20 million that’s been mooted doesn’t sound like a lot of money to me, even if every penny of it was going to be made available to their manager — which we already know it isn’t.

Even if they are allowed to spend it, it’s not an awful lot more than the average Ibrox boss has been allowed in the course of a summer transfer window in recent years.

Nothing suggests this is going to be transformational.

Nevertheless, we can’t operate as if it isn’t happening — and we certainly can’t act like a transformation over there isn’t at least possible.

Because let’s be honest, it is. At the very least, the operation is about to become much more professional and much more structured, and that presents problems of its own, because we’re so used to seeing them be a complete mess.

Regular readers know that I don’t subscribe to some of the crazier theories out there — that our club needs them, or that our fans want to see a strong challenge from Ibrox. None of that is true, as far as I’m concerned.

But I can tell you this: a weak Ibrox leads our own board to become complacent. It leads them to believe they don’t have to try that hard.

One of the reasons Kyogo was allowed to be sold in January is because there was no league race worth the name. If there had been, I don’t believe that would ever have happened.

We’re now in a position where a potential threat has emerged.

I say potential — but even that ought to be enough to make us dramatically up our game. And that’s why I’m glad the phoney war is over.

That’s why I’m glad this matter has been settled. Because now the opposition is starting to take shape, and very soon we’ll know what we’re up against — in terms of their new manager, in terms of the kind of players he’s likely to try and buy.

Soon enough, the picture will become clear.

And of course, this isn’t just about us — it’s about them too.

Because for a while now, since this takeover story first appeared in the press, the people involved in it have been able to coast on hype and supposition.

The media hears what it wants to hear, believes what it wants to believe, and writes what it thinks its readers want to read. There’s no fact in any of it.

But that too is about to come to an end.

Because these people aren’t going to be able to get by on just talk anymore. They’re in the door now. They’re in the offices. They’re in the big chairs. They have the power.

And however they intend to run that club — whether it’s on a break-even basis, a for-profit basis, or if they intend to piss more money against the wall — this is the moment where they’re going to have to show their hand.

They’re going to have to put together a coherent plan to take our club on — and our club is going to have to respond to whatever that plan turns out to be.

I see no real reason for concern there, because from this moment on, those in charge of our own club have to be wide awake. They have to be focused on improvement and progression.

I know Rodgers will insist on it.

And that’s nothing but good news for us.

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James Forrest has been the editor of The CelticBlog for 13 years. Prior to that, he was the editor of several digital magazines on subjects as diverse as Scottish music, true crime, politics and football. He ran the Scottish football site On Fields of Green and, during the independence referendum, the Scottish politics site Comment Isn't Free. He's the author of one novel, one book of short stories and one novella. He lives in Glasgow.

19 comments

  • hans says:

    There’s only one reason the Americans have invested in the Ibrox club. They want access to the Champion’s League money. And they see only one obstacle. Us.
    Anyone who thinks things will continue as they were is an idiot.

  • Dan says:

    Therangers just have to improve their consistency against the other teams in the league, as from the league cup final onwards they have had Brendan in their pockets, no proof from our side yet that will change, Brendan had the better players by far but he could not get the best of that advantage to beat them after being very fortunate to get to penalties and winning the league cup final

    • Cgreen123 says:

      Totally agree. Wouldn’t matter how much we spend on transfers if we continue with the same system.

      We were skelped 3 nil by Barry Ferguson and that should have rang alarm bells but it didn’t.

      I hate to say this but last season the board were completely blameless and it was down to the team selection and tactics which did for us. i.e. scraping passed week after week.

      When Nawrocki scored with that header it looked like we had a genuine threat at corners but of course that’s not the one you’re getting…

  • dex says:

    We shouldn’t need to be “upping our game” and that speaks volumes of this board.We should be doing pur utmost to give our manager the tools he needs to do the job.If no challenge domestically then for europe.The fact this board is coasting bcoz there was/is no domestic challenge leaves a bad taste in the mouth.As ypu have said James,it’s a lack of ambition.We need restructuring with a football department separate from the corporate entity with a set budget.We need the CEO,DD,directors removed from the football operations.

    • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

      Won’t happen Lawwell hasn’t spent the last 20 years with the Club in his grasp to give up any semblance of control.
      He’ a control freak. The Invisible CEO is his proxy but St Peter has him dangling at the end of a tight chain. No way has our Chairman settled for dishing out the ‘tea n’ biscuits’ at Board meetings. He never left the building after the 10IAR Debacle.

      He was probably watching his so called successor McKay like a Hawk trying to institute changes and didn’t like it. Look how seamlessly Ange fitted in and how smoothly recruitment went. Nary a dud in sight or paying over the odds due to poor brinksmanship. Just have to look at the last window with the Invsible Man ostensibly in charge £20 mill spent on Idah and Engles playing a poor hand badly and in desperation having to pay that on the last day of the Window. Expect more of the same this Summer. If so BR will walk next year.

  • Paddybhoy67 says:

    I wouldn’t mind a new board myself, James. And a new chairperson. And a new manager.

    • Johnny Green says:

      Yeah, that makes a real lot of sense. Let’s totally dismantle the hierarchy of the Club that has produced so much success in the modern era. The hierarchy that has caught and overtaken a trophy haul that looked totally uncatchable not that many years ago. Lets destroy a winning formula because we didn’t win the Treble this season.

      FFS, get a grip.

  • micmac says:

    We need a change of tactics in the new season, There is a place for possession football but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all, We need urgently to use set pieces more productively, our conversion rate from corner kicks and set pieces within 40 yards of our opponents goals is abysmal. With pacy players up front a through pass into space now and then wouldn’t go amiss, with KT at L/B and AJ at R/B along with a couple of fast wingers, surely we should be marauding down the flanks rather than our wingers continually turning inside or turning back. In other words give us a Plan B or C and a wee bit more gambling from our team.
    The 2nd half of last season was boring, predictable and uninspiring, let’s be more adventurous next season, maybe in European football we’d have to be a bit more cautious in certain games, but surely we could be a bit more adventurous at domestic level

    • Jim m says:

      Spot on micmac , couldn’t have described it better

      • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

        Yep – Agree Micmac…

        Why has Brendan got these players PETRIFIED to lift the ball over the top to a greyhound like Daizen !

  • Johnny Green says:

    Micmac, there is nothing wrong with our playing system, we just need better quality players to execute it properly. Yes, we need to think quicker and act quicker, but with more skilful players to produce the needful. A bit of variety in our play may also be called for if things are not going entirely to plan, yes that would also be welcome, but first and foremost we should be perfecting Plan ‘A;

    • Dan says:

      Johnny, we already had a lot better squad than Therangers but Brendan could not use those tools to beat them and Aberdeen. He had a massive advantage in those games. Lavishing more money on Brendan’s choice of players would be a big financial mistake

  • Itsgeorgie says:

    Nothing wrong with our playing system? Not sure which team you’ve been watching the past 4 months. Tippy-tappy sideways and backwards passing, with games going by with barely a shot at goal, never mind on target.

    • Johnny Green says:

      So how come we managed to average three goals per game then?

      • Dan says:

        Against very poor opposition, Celtic have an enormous financial advantage the likes we have never seen, why do yo think we won a quadruple treble. That would never have happened in previous eras. I’ve watched Celtic since the 60’s and never haz ig bedn such a one horse rzce

        • Johnny Green says:

          I have been watching us since the 50’s and all I can say is….long live the financial advantage, give me more Trebles ,and and long may the one horse race continue. What’s not to like, all of our previous suffering due to their cheating s being compensated for and now it’s their turn to suffer.

          Get it right fkn up them!

    • Johnny Green says:

      @ Its Georgie. Since the turn of the year Celtic have scored 3 times on 6 occasions, 4 times just the once, 5 times on 5 occasions and 6 times on one occasion. So can you explain to me what you have actually been watching in the last 4 months,

  • Johnny Green says:

    In conclusion from me. I have been watching Celtic for a lot of years, good and bad, and I take nothing for granted. I certainly have no sense of entitlement, not like some on here. My advice is to enjoy the good times while it’s going, appreciate what we have got, wanting more of course is healthy. but let’s be thankful from where we have come from to where we all are now. Enjoy our success and everybody else’s misery and let’s stop continually looking for fault.

    Keep the faith and we will be true to the till death.

    • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

      12 trophies outta 14 is pretty BRILLIANT from Brendan…

      I’m of the ilk that cheating apart I don’t care what way I get them…

      Just as long as we get them…

      But while 2024 calendar year was pretty awesome, 2025 calendar year has been a worry…

      1 point outta 9 v Sevco simply cannot continue…

      We need a Plan B and we need that Plan B the day before tomorrow at that !

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