If Fergus McCann were still the main custodian at Parkhead he would have raised questions about how Celtic have been refereed this season.

On several occasions, he called out the Scottish FA for its treatment of the club. Not the least of these was the deliberate stalling of Jorge Cadete’s registration and why the Hoops were forced to pay top dollar to rent Hampden for a season while Parkhead was being redeveloped even though he had adequate safety certification.

Quite what McCann would have made of Peter Lawwell’s elevation to the post of non-executive chairman of the club is open to question. His return has been greeted with dismay in some sections of the support, mainly owing to his perceived role in Celtic’s failure to secure 10 league titles in a row.

Neil Lennon received most of the flak as the season progressed but it’s since become clear from speaking to several sources close to events that he had effectively been landed with players he didn’t want and told to forget about other – better – ones.

However, over the course of Lawwell’s 20 years in his previous role he brought stability to Celtic’s finances and pursued a business model which has since become the envy of comparable clubs across the globe. It’s seen the club make profits of more than £100million for a relatively modest outlay and ensured it remains in rude financial health. It will never require the artificial breathing apparatus of soft loans, for instance.

During this period, Celtic resisted the temptation of using dodgy tax vehicles to secure players they couldn’t have otherwise afforded. This would probably have bankrupted the club and damaged its reputation for financial probity.

Celtic’s former chairman, Brian Quinn, has been credited with ensuring that the club didn’t choose the route of idiosyncratic tax vehicles but Lawwell also guaranteed that this would always characterise the way in which the club was governed. He has respect and influence at the top of European football and the Hoops can surely benefit from this soft power.

I’d still like him to advocate for paying the real living wage to all of the club’s employees, though. And to recognise trade union rights at Parkhead too.

No Scotland, no party… right?

As another World Cup proceeds without Scotland’s involvement (that’s 24 years and counting) you look for any evidence that our country might have belonged at this level had we made it to Qatar.

At first glance you think perhaps we might have lived with the likes of Switzerland, Costa Rica, Wales, Australia, Iran and Serbia… maybe one of the African countries and certainly the host nation, Qatar.

Then you watch the way they all play the game and how these matches are refereed and you realise that Scotland is currently where it deserves to be: on the outside of an expanding elite looking in.

With the exception of Qatar, who surely wouldn’t be competing at this level without the privilege of host-nation status, all of the so-called weaker teams play at a level which currently seems beyond Scotland.

According to my calculations, since Scotland first participated in the World Cup in 1954, 52 nations have managed to make it beyond the group stage at least once. Scotland isn’t one of them – and won’t be for a very long time. 

Celtic Way:

They’re all helped, of course, by belonging to a football culture that might as well be on a different planet from Scotland’s. Dangerous tackling has all but been expunged from their games and this allows them to develop natural skills and an expansive way of playing free from the threat of agricultural challenges.

In Scotland, though, referees still permit the sort of heavy tackling that would meet with instant dismissals in Qatar. It means that clubs such as Celtic, who will always seek to play quick football on the ground, are forced to adapt their game knowing that officials have a higher tolerance threshold for what might be termed ‘robust’ play.

It’s one of the reasons why Scottish clubs outside of Glasgow are always beaten by teams from leagues comparable to ours.

A wild Maxwell appears…

I caught a very rare glimpse last week of Ian Maxwell, chief executive of the Scottish FA.

He was being interviewed at an event to mark the 150th anniversary of the world’s first international football match at the West of Scotland cricket ground. He was asked his thoughts about the introduction of VAR in Scotland and the issues that have arisen from it.

As it stands, neither Celtic nor their supporters seem to have received any response about the disallowed Jota goal against Motherwell at Fir Park and the mystery of the ‘disappearing’ camera.

Nor has there been any clarification about a handful of incidents which appear to demonstrate that VAR is not being consistently applied when the ball strikes a player’s hand inside the box.

Perhaps I’m mistaken and Celtic have indeed been offered some kind of explanation about these apparent anomalies. If so, they’d be advised to share any feedback from the SFA with the rest of us.

Celtic’s statesman

In the first few weeks of Ange Postecoglou’s reign his treatment at the hands of the Scottish football press was wretched.

Thus, scribes who had never thought to advance their knowledge of football beyond these shores, attempted to patronise and belittle him. Pre-match and post-match press conferences were marked by moronic and infantile questioning as Celtic lost three out of their first six games.

As it became evident that Postecoglou was brighter, smarter and more eloquent than his detractors the smart-arse questions began to cease.

Postecoglou radiated quiet confidence that he could turn Celtic’s fortunes around. He was also respectful of Rangers at this time and how they had built momentum under Steven Gerrard. He knew better than to make extravagant claims about overhauling the points’ deficit.

Celtic Way: Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is a statesmanlike figureCeltic boss Ange Postecoglou is a statesmanlike figure (Image: SNS)

He also knew that by talking loudly about getting individual players to improve their performances from the previous season would be placing undue pressure on them. There were no boastful claims about playing a new style of football. He simply said he knew only one way of playing and that he would live or die by it.

He let Celtic’s actual in-game performances speak for themselves. Only after they had lifted silverware and embarked on a long unbeaten run did he show mild satisfaction. He showed class and dignity during this period and he’s displayed something similar during this mini-shutdown when no competitive football has been played.

He must have been tempted to remind people that Celtic’s nine-point advantage has been accrued after an intense and searching two-month period when they had to play three matches a week. Or that the club captain, and best player, would soon be making his return and that the squad would be strengthened with further signings.

But he’s chosen instead to keep those thoughts to himself and to let others make all the noise.

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