Keith Wyness and Football Insider embarrass themselves with a lunatic Celtic theory.

You have to hand it to the people at Football Insider. Even by the already low standards of the mainstream media, it might be the worst football site in existence. When it comes to writing about Celtic in particular, the sheer ignorance on display at times is almost impressive.

The latest nonsense revolves around Robbie Keane, and I’ve written about Keane several times already in this context. There are few worse ideas right now than appointing him, and not because he isn’t capable. He may well be a decent manager. That isn’t the issue.

The issue is what that appointment would do to the support.

At this moment in time, Celtic does not need further division. Anyone who understands the club, and understands the current climate around it, knows that without needing it explained. The objections to Keane are not abstract or invented. They are rooted in his career choices, specifically his decision to go and manage at one of the most controversial clubs in Israel. For a significant section of the support, that is disqualifying.

You don’t have to agree with that position to recognise its impact.

My own view is more nuanced. In purely football terms, he’s an acceptable candidate. He has won honours in two different countries, he’s clearly ambitious, and he’s trying to move up in the game. It’s not hard to understand how he ended up taking that job; it was likely the first real opportunity to manage, and managers in that position rarely turn those down.

That doesn’t make it a good decision.

He has taken criticism for it, and rightly so. It was always going to follow him, and he should have anticipated that. At a club like Celtic, where identity, politics and values intersect with football more than most places, it is always going to be a problem.

That’s why, despite being able to separate the football side from the personal one, I cannot support the appointment. Because it would not be judged on football alone. It would divide the support, and not in a minor way.

And this is where the latest contribution from Football Insider drifts from merely being wrong, which you expect from them, into something close to absurd.

Keith Wyness has written a piece suggesting that the politics of the situation would actually make Keane a good appointment. That because he is Irish, and because he once played for Celtic, he would be a unifying figure. That he would appeal to Dermot Desmond on those grounds and bring the support together.

That is not analysis. That is fantasy.

It takes a remarkable level of detachment from reality to look at this situation and conclude that Keane would unify this club when every one of us knows better. The real impact of it is obvious to anyone paying attention.

This would not be a sentimental appointment. It would not tug on heartstrings. It would ignite a backlash.

The idea that shared nationality or a previous spell at the club overrides everything else shows a fundamental misunderstanding of where the support actually is right now.

I do agree with one part of Wyness’ argument, though not in the way he intends. It would be a political appointment. Just not the kind he thinks.

It would not be a move designed to bring people together. It would be a statement of defiance. A message from the board that they will do what they want, regardless of how a large section of the support feels about it.

And if you’ve been watching this board closely, that is not hard to believe.

Because the more you look at how they operate, the clearer it becomes that unity is not high on their list of priorities. They are not trying to rebuild trust. They are not trying to bring supporters with them.

These peope are trying to assert control. To show that they will not be dictated to, challenged or pressured.

An appointment like this would fit that pattern perfectly.

That’s why it’s dangerous.

Not because Keane can’t coach a team. Not because he lacks ambition. But because the context around it would turn it into something else entirely. Something that distracts from the football before a ball is even kicked.

And this is where Wyness, and the platform he writes for, completely lose the plot. A unifying appointment! Talk about not paying attention. Talk about writing about a subject you simply do not understand. This isn’t just a misreading of the situation. It’s not just getting the tone slightly wrong.

This is a total failure to grasp the mood, the tension, the reality of where Celtic is right now.

It’s the kind of analysis you get when people talk about a club without knowing any of the ins and outs, or perhaps just not caring enough to learn.

This isn’t reading the room wrong.

It’s blundering into it in fancy dress, smiling and waving, without realising it’s a funeral—and then wondering why nobody else is laughing.

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