Celtic does need a Director of Football, but that won’t help Martin O’Neill.

There is something almost beautifully predictable about Celtic. We spend years knowing exactly what needs to be done, refusing to do it, and then, when the house is already on fire, somebody suddenly discovers the existence of a fire extinguisher.

Now Stiliyan Petrov has called for Celtic to appoint a Director of Football to help Martin O’Neill.

And do not get me wrong here; Celtic absolutely need a Director of Football.

Some of our sites, including this one, have been saying this for years.

But let me examine what that actually means, because there are three enormous problems with this particular call.

The first is that it’s not just the fans but Celtic itself which has known for years that this position needs to be filled. Years.

This is not some revolutionary idea which has just fallen out of the sky. This is not something the Celtic board pricks have suddenly been presented with by Stiliyan Petrov and thought: “Oh my goodness, why did nobody ever tell us this before?”

Of course they know. We all know.

Celtic need a proper football structure. We need people responsible for recruitment, succession planning, scouting, contracts, player development and the long-term football strategy of the club. We need somebody whose job is to look beyond the next match, the next transfer window and the next crisis.

And yet Celtic have shown precious little urgency in creating that structure.

That, for me, is the first issue.

Secondly, how are we supposed to believe that appointing a Director of Football will somehow help Martin O’Neill immediately?

Let me analyse that. It won’t.

Not in the way Celtic desperately need help right now.

A Director of Football does not walk into Celtic Park on Monday morning and magically repair the midfield by Tuesday. He does not teach the defence how to defend. He does not suddenly discover the formation which makes the team click. He does not turn a disjointed side into a coherent one before the next match.

He does not coach the players during training, stand on the touchline making substitutions or solve the tactical problems which have been staring us in the face.

That is not what a Director of Football is there to do. And this is where I think we need to be extra careful with the language being used around Celtic right now.

Martin O’Neill does not need somebody arriving at Celtic Park with a fancy job title and a five-year strategic plan while his team is struggling right now. The club does need that, but it doesn’t help the manager in any way that I can identify.

He needs footballers performing. He needs tactical clarity, organisation, better coaching, leadership and results. Now. That is the crisis.

And a Director of Football cannot solve that crisis.

Let us see the consequences of confusing those two things.

Celtic absolutely need a Director of Football. But Celtic also need an immediate football solution. Those are two different problems.

And this is where the third problem appears.

We know a good Director of Football could be incredibly useful for Celtic’s future. In fact, I would argue that Celtic desperately need one as part of a much bigger restructuring of the football department.

A proper Director of Football could begin planning next season. He could assess the squad, identify where we need to strengthen, work on recruitment, establish a coherent football philosophy, examine the academy pathway and make sure the next manager is not simply handed a collection of players assembled without a clear plan.

That is exactly where a Director of Football should become enormously important.

But there is one rather enormous elephant sitting in the room.

Martin O’Neill will not be here next season, and so what exactly are we trying to solve for Martin O’Neill by appointing a Director of Football whose main usefulness will be felt in the planning for the season after this one and all the ones to come?

That is where the whole thing becomes almost absurd.

We need a Director of Football. We need a football structure. We need long-term planning. But if the current manager is not going to be the manager around whom that long-term plan is built, then appointing somebody now and presenting him as the answer to O’Neill’s immediate problems is simply mad.

Well intentioned, certainly. Petrov is trying to be helpful. It’s just a shame that he hasn’t properly thought it through. It is like trying to repair a leaking roof by redesigning the garden. Both things may need doing. But one does not fix the other.

Knowing this club, they would reach for a solution this bizarre. Because right now, Celtic do not appear to have a coherent strategy at all.

And that is the real story.

We have been talking about managers, players, formations, results, recruitment and Directors of Football. But all of those conversations keep circling back to the same fundamental problem.

Where is the plan? What, exactly, is Celtic trying to become?

What is the football identity? Who is responsible for creating it? Who is responsible for recruitment? Who is responsible for succession planning? Who is responsible for the academy pathway? Who is responsible for making sure the manager and recruitment department are actually working towards the same footballing vision?

And who is responsible when it all goes wrong?

These are not small questions.

They are the foundations of a modern football club and Celtic cannot continue operating as though every problem can be solved by throwing another person into the building and giving him another title.

I want a Director of Football. I want a good Director of Football. But if they appoint a Director of Football without changing anything else, what have we actually achieved? We have added another person to a structure which is already failing.

That is not strategy. That is rearranging the furniture.

Celtic need a Director of Football. I will keep saying it. I will keep repeating it. The idea is sound. The concept is good. But it will not solve the immediate problem, and nobody should be presenting it as a solution to it.

Celtic need a Director of Football as part of a complete football strategy, not as an emergency sticking plaster for Martin O’Neill and for those who hired him.

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