GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 19: A General View of the Corner Flag during a UEFA Europa League Play-Off First Leg match between Celtic and VFB Stuttgart at Celtic Park, on February 19, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
There was always a comforting fantasy floating around the edges of the coming summer at Celtic. Many of us are concerned. Others are trying hard not to be.
If things didn’t work out, if the pressure built, if the season ended in disappointment, there was always the Ange option. The return of the man who restored belief. The manager who gave the club its identity back. The easy fix. The emotional reset button.
That illusion is now gone.
Ange Postecoglou has ruled out a return. He has made his position clear. Whatever happens this summer, whatever situation develops at Celtic, he is not coming back. And the truth is that this doesn’t just remove a popular option.
It makes the summer visibly more dangerous in a way no-one can deny.
Because the Ange narrative was never really about Ange.
It was about comfort and the belief that if things went wrong, there was a safe pair of hands waiting. It allowed people to think that there was an obvious solution sitting there, ready to be picked up when needed. There isn’t. There never was.
The board already played the Ange card once. They used the emotional capital of his success to stabilise the club at a critical moment. That card is gone now. It cannot be played again.
Martin will not stay beyond this season. I’ve made the case for us offering him another campaign to restructure, rebuild and restore. I have since been told that he won’t take us up on it even if he’s asked. Which means that, for the first time in years, the club is heading towards a potential managerial change without an obvious safety net.
And that is where the real risk begins.
Because Celtic’s recent history shows a pattern. When the board does not have a clear strategic plan, it looks for shortcuts. It looks for the easy story. It looks for something that will sell the decision rather than something that guarantees success. That is exactly why the conversation around the Motherwell manager has begun.
Let’s be honest about what that discussion represents. It isn’t serious football planning. It is narrative management.
This is the search for a cheap, convenient, low-risk appointment that can be sold as bold thinking.
We have seen this before, and we know where it leads.
The danger this summer is not that the board cannot find a manager. There are plenty of good coaches out there. The danger is that the board convinces itself that it has found a clever solution when what it has actually done is take another punt.
This is what supporters need to understand.
Without Ange as a fallback option, there is no emotional shield this time.
There is no goodwill reserve. There is no honeymoon period guaranteed by nostalgia or past success. The next appointment will stand or fall entirely on its own credibility, and that means the bar has to be higher than ever by people who may not be able to clear it.
Celtic must not go down the road of hiring a project manager. They cannot be looking for someone to learn on the job. They should not be looking for potential. This club ought to be looking for authority.
The next manager has to walk into the dressing room and command instant respect. He has to walk into Celtic Park and convince the support that he belongs there. He has to bring a track record that removes doubt before a ball is even kicked.
Anything less is a gamble. The Motherwell manager would be more than a gamble; it would be lunacy. People talking about him because he’s had one good season in the SPFL is the equivalent of what’s known as Sky Sports scouting; thinking that because someone has a few good games in a row when his team are being shown live that there’s a superstar.
I cannot say this plainly enough; this is not the moment for another gamble.
The context matters. This current league race is tighter than it has been in years. Financial margins are narrowing. Champions League qualification carries enormous consequences. One mistake now does not just cost a season. It can cost tens of millions of pounds and shift the balance of power for the next couple of campaigns.
This is why the idea that there is an easy solution is so dangerous.
There isn’t one. This board is going to have to work their bollocks off, starting early, to avoid disaster. This summer requires something the club has avoided for too long. A proper managerial search. A serious one. A process built around football criteria rather than convenience or public relations.
That means looking beyond Scotland. It means looking at coaches who have already won titles in competitive leagues. Managers who have succeeded under pressure. People who have built teams, not just managed them.
It means doing the hard work.
The problem is that hard work brings hard choices. It means competing financially. It means presenting a convincing football structure and showing ambition rather than caution.
And that is where the anxiety comes from. Because the board has not always shown that kind of ambition.
There is a temptation, especially among sections of the support, to believe that Celtic will always find a way. That the size of the club will attract the right manager automatically. That the job sells itself.
Wilfried Nancy should have foresworn all of us off ever making that assumption again. And that disaster should be the moment we recognised that these people cannot be trusted to take us into this managerial search.
Good managers have options. They look at structure. They look at recruitment power and decision-making clarity. Those people look at whether the football department actually controls football decisions.
If Celtic cannot demonstrate those things, the best candidates will simply go elsewhere.
Which brings us back to the real danger.
Without Ange or O’Neill as the safety net, without nostalgia to lean on, without a ready-made hero waiting in the wings, this board has to prove that it knows what it is doing, and who around here has faith in that anymore?
Supporters should not kid themselves. There is no easy appointment out there. There is no obvious name these people can bring in to calm the nerves. Most of all, there is no shortcut back to stability. There is only the process, and if that process is weak, the outcome will be weak as well.
That is why the Motherwell conversation matters, even if it sounds absurd.
It tells you how quickly the narrative can drift towards convenience. It tells you how quickly expectations can be lowered if people start convincing themselves that this is the level Celtic should be operating at.
Celtic’s next manager should be coming from a position of strength, not promise. From success, not potential. From achievement at a credible level, not a single good season.
This is not arrogance. It is basic risk management. Because the cost of getting this wrong now is higher than it has been in years.
Lose this title and the financial gap narrows. Lose Champions League access and the gap widens.
The rebuild is already enormous.
Make the wrong appointment on top of those things and you risk a cycle of instability that takes seasons to correct.
That is the reality of this summer. It is not comfortable. It is not simple nor easy. Now that the Ange option has disappeared it is no longer able to distract people from the real level of risk.
It removes the last illusion that this was going to be easy.
2021 — Postecoglu was a leftfield / Hail Mary punt and nothing more.
To the execs he was cheap and available — his energy / desire / ambition was not on their radar or their wish list.
Postecoglu plus a proper functioning CEO saved us in 6 weeks.
Great manager / limited coach but he got us moving.
We are an easy fix if the execs just do their job.
Summer 2026 will be similar — we need energy / desire / ambition …
Plus some humanity that Nancy forgot to bring.
Postecoglu was always the wrong option — so great news it has gone.
Motherwell bloke — he is what we need as in a great coach / great at detail / leader.
So if it is him then great / if it is better then double great.
It is off the scale arrogance to think that we are too good for him.
At the moment our failing squad is getting schooled by Falkirk and Dundee.
Given a footballing lesson by journeymen / happy hoofers / loanees.
We need to move on.
Anyone who can sort out our failing squad will do.
They are the issue not the guy in the dugout.
We are paying far too much for the effort that they deliver.
So a new broom is what we need.
Plus a new captain.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the idiot board decide it’s time for Neil Lennon part 3, assisted by Sean Maloney and Scott Brown.
Don’t even joke about that FFS.
Quite simply put…
WHO – IN – THEIR – RIGHT – MIND – WOULD – TAKE – THE – JOB – UNDER – THESE – BASTARDS
Eh…..Me, I’ll do it for nothing Clach. 🙂
All I would need is a wee tactics board and a pair of green gutties.
Doesn’t matter who the next manager is.
As long as Dogbert Despot runs the show nothing will change.
His board lackeys will do what they’re told and Celtic will continue to diminish, possibly to the point of no return.
Celtic, as we have known it, is gone.
It’s been a helluva party, but all good things come to an end.
I’ve been privileged to be a part of it since early childhood.
A real shame.
James, you can bang the anti Jens Berthel Askou drum as many times as you like from now until the end of the season, but you certainly won’t turn my mind against his appointment, for I am pro JBA and will remain so. I’m not sure if you are trying to convince everyone else or convince yourself that he is not ready to step up to a Club like Celtic, and comparing him to Nancy is a lazy comparison, for Wilfried previously operated in what was a Mickey Mouse league where it was schoolboy stuff he was used to, a 6 half time 12 the winner scenario.
Maybe what you are saying with your comparison is that the SPL is also a Mickey Mouse league and there is no doubt that Mr Mojorisn will probably agree with you on that one…..pause for thought….. now that’s worrying, God forbid and sorry for the insult. 🙂
Whats goin on here? Am in the same camp!. Play good football adapts well, even with 9 men. Takes defeat ok , calls out shite. Speaks well. Sets up well.
All i can say i got there first mate.
Let’s hear it for the Bhoys….. c’mon the Hoops
Come on you Bhoys in Green
Bombscare goalie does it again,passes ball to opposition and then they score
Get KS tae fuck ,this man is just another wage thief, and a fat tit tae boot.
My God that was shocking from Schmeikel. I’d have saved it myself. Jesus.
Why are we playing without a goalkeeper?
An average SPL keeper would have saved two, possibly three of those goals tonight. And this guy is rumoured to be our highest-paid player.
Not a fucking clue. Schmeichel needs to never set foot on the pitch again. Worse that watching fucking weans play.
Surely the fucking board have to see what a fucking cuntup they have made of this team. Im in fucking despair.
Total fucking embarrassment
Ach well, that’s Europe out of the way now, time to concentrate on the league I suppose.
??we need to make sure we have a keeper for the rest of the season. Time to get rid of Schmeichel- he juat doesn’t have it any more. We were like children playing an U9 game..total pish
Robbie Keane.
That’s definitely Kasper’s last game for Celtic. No-one in their right mind would put him in goal for these crucial matches coming up. Stuttgart obviously did their due diligence on his injured shoulder and just placed a shot and a header to his left side. He took an eternity to attempt to get to the ball and he needs to be put out of his misery right now. A Scottish league two side wouldn’t field a goalkeeper with a shoulder injury that prevents him from training and causes him to put on weight. It beggars belief that Glasgow Celtic are acting as his care home.
That match shows the rebuild is massive. We need new centre backs, a new goalie, a couple good experienced midfielders and at least a wide man.
On Schmeichal, fans booing him are a disgrace to the club.
Schmeichel,s a disgrace to goalkeeping,,,,
That’s nonsense John Smith. He’s been a great goalkeeper all his career. It’s Celtic’s fault that they keep playing him. He’ll probably have to declare himself that he’s done at this level before Celtic have the guts to tell him.
Well said Danny.
Swap the goalkeepers and we win the match 2 – 1.
Stuttgart were nothing special — Moroccan winger had a bit of class but their 2 CB’s were not far above donkey class.
Obviously the result was not the main event.
The protest was self indulgent / self harming beyond belief.
The support weren’t taking the game seriously so why should the team?
We will be lucky to come third in the SPL this season.
Team is in freefall / squad are honking / appetite for the game is non existent.
Our training standards must be beyond bad — we played like strangers.
MON was never the answer.
Nancy would probably got more out the team.
M/well bloke — please take our calls.
Big Parkhead Euro night atmosphere — blowing in the wind now.
Anyone writing about this historical fact now is a fan with a keyboard.
How do we win 2-1 by swapping the keepers?
We only scored one goal.
Nygren second chance early in the second half.
Chipped shot from 15 yards low to the keepers right.
Their keeper made a meal of it but kept it out.
Schmeichel would not have saved it.
We had chances but either blew them through a lack of belief / poor set up by the manager or their keeper did his job.
They had a similar number of chances but scored most of them.
I posted on here earlier in the week that we should play Sinisalo against Stuttgart to see how he stood up in a major game, with a view that he keeps the jersey if he passes the exam. Sinisalo must start against Hibs after that performance from KS. Whatever injury he has is obviously long term and becoming more of a problem for him. His performance does not justify the booing from the fans though – that was embarrassing.
And I hope those who bring their silly protests and interrupt the match were listening to MON when he made it very clear the impact this has on the players. Or will they claim to know better than a real football man and deny any effects on the players?
Hate to hear to fans boo CS but my God he was shocking. And this is not new, he’s been playing very poorly for a long time, he’s over-weight and his reflexes are really slow. Bad reflection on MON that he selected him over Sinisalo. Terrible night for us but maybe it will lead to a belated response from the Board.
I’ve defended Schmeichel for a while after a few bad performances but he has to be taken out the firing line now, it’s a massive call to change your keeper at this stage but he’s either injured or worse, his performances dictate that he needs dropped. That doesn’t excuse the morons booing him, embarrassing and classless.
Trusty and Scales are fatigued and need a break whether we like it or not, we’re just a shade too slow moving the ball along the back so every player is under extra pressure and doesn’t have space.
When we played long we never picked up any 2nd balls which was really annoying. Bernardo was missing, hiding and Hatate had more touches in his first 10 minutes than Bernardo had the whole game because Hatate doesn’t hide. The whole team needs to be braver with the exception of Araujo, who was quality again.
Overall it’s fair representation of where we are, 4-1 didn’t flatter Stuttgart, we have no obvious style. MON might keep things as they are banking on the fact we won’t play a team that good domestically (even though they weren’t great) and save the big problems for the summer.
Get the fans back in and fan media NOW.
Stuttgart are no great shakes — would be just above the relegation scrap in the EPL because they have very little quality. Stuffy side with good tactics and a good press but then again so do Brighton.
Swap the goalkeepers and we win 2 – 1.
We lost three of the worst goals imaginable — even the 4th was a shambles.
Schmeichel’s reactions were so poor he would have taken a blow to the head if the ball was 200mm lower — he was never going to save himself.
Defence was shocking.
M/F was like a Swiss cheese.
Attack was low energy / low confidence all night.
Even when they were 3 – 1 up and took a step back we just wasted opportunity after opportunity.
We are so bad that I fear Mossad is involved.
The Irish Raj will not be out of pocket but we are now a laughing stock.
Madmitch shows his creds…or lack there off
Guess you haven’t noticed our opponents are fourth placed in the German 1st division.
Bit of a gulf between them and our poxy SPFL.
Madmitch, well named.
The problem is so simple. Laziness and fear.
The “passing probing” game is an excuse for very average players getting rid of the ball as if it were a hot potato.
Even the talented fall foul of the MacGregor disease. What in god’s name has happened to Tierney?
The board are at fault. We need to buy midfielders who can hang on to the ball as opposed to passing it to the nearest unmarked team mate out of fear.
I give up .
Laziness Laziness Laziness.
O’Neill has one Achilles heel – Goalkeepers…
Two words…
Rab Fuckin Douglas !
You want big Roberto between the sticks clach? Even more mental than I thought you were
Sign of the collapse yet to come — our first corner.
Bernardo special — can’t be ersed edition — Barnes Wallis style to the six yard box at knee height. Knew there and then it was going to be another shambles.
We have no defence..we have no midfield and we have no strikers..oh what a conundrum we face
Desmond either picks the manager or gets someone to do it for him and judging by his form, he usually picks the current top manager from Ireland for Celtic.
That would lead us to Robbie Keane.