Stephen McGowan has always had a line to Celtic Park and in particular, during the Peter Lawwell era, the journalist delivered some fantastic and sometimes troublesome insights into the goings-on behind the scenes at Celtic Park.
The Scottish Daily Mail chief sports journalist offered some fascinating information on why Dom McKay has left the building after just three months in the role.
McGowan wrote in Saturdays’ print edition of the Scottish Daily Mail [Page122/123].
“In hindsight, Dominic McKay must wish he’d accepted that offer of help on the end of a phone. Peter Lawwell had a readymade crisis line on the nuts and bolts of running Celtic. And his successor chose not to call it.
“Inexperienced in the world of football transfers and rebuilding a football club, that was his first mistake. Regrettably, it wouldn’t be his last.
“Last night, the former chief operating officer of the Scottish Rugby Union paid a heavy price for his determination to go it alone when he lost the confidence of major shareholder Dermot Desmond… and jumped before he was pushed
“McKay expressed a desire to modernise and upgrade the club’s operations. He set out to be his own man. Plucked from the world of professional rugby, he knew nothing about football transfers — and he showed no inclination to accept a helping hand from those who did.”
“His ideas were incompatible with the major shareholder and the board of directors. While he felt ready for Celtic, Celtic simply weren’t ready for him. It’s unclear what this means for the modernisation of the club.”
This paints a picture of a new Chief Exec who was unimpressed with how the club was being run and a majority shareholder who quite likes things the way they are.
Dom McKay was never going to be a continuation of Peter Lawwell and fans took hope from that. Modernisation talk was welcomed and there was an acknowledgement Celtic were moving away from the old guard.
Now, we’re back to square one. Would season ticket sales have gone so smoothly if Celtic hired from within this summer and Nicholson took up the chief exec role after Lawwell stepped down?
Peter’s fingerprints over the club would have been very transparent.
I’d like to think we’d hear Dom McKay’s side of things, but given these deals usually come with a non-disclosure agreement, we’re going to have to settle for people talking through the press.
