The Celtic manager has made it clear that he will be delighted to face charges of ‘possession with intent’, if it proves he’s been successful in honing his hybrid style. In the first interview since his delayed appointment as permanent manager, O’Neill spoke of the changes he wants to make, and it may not have been music to the ears of many.

What started off as the clarification of his vision for tactics and formation, seemed to become more vague the longer he spoke. Martin said – “but I thought the side maybe 25 years ago, you know, played very quickly, played with a dash and with a lot of very, very fine players and I think we can marry the both, I think that when we have possession of the ball it’s great to keep it and absolutely right, but I’d like us to keep it for a purpose.”

Of course he’s right about that side from 25 years ago, but the first issue is with the qualifier “a lot of very, very fine players.” This is just a statement of fact, but not one that applies to this current team. In fact, if they were ever to face each other based on last season’s squad, the Seville team would likely run up a cricket score.

Under Martin’s leadership the team found a way to win enough games that we took home a double. Much of that to do with individuals finding form and returning from injury. However, it certainly wasn’t to do with having a defined identity and playing style. We were poor for large parts of many games, despite being ultimately victorious.

The Tactics of Uncertainty

The confusion of the unhappy marriage between Brendan’s horseshoe of death (the ultimate expression of possession without intent) and Martin’s desire to be more direct and get it forward with speed and purpose, often led to utter confusion. My pet hate was passing it around the back in dangerous positions in what seemed to be an attempt to beat the press, but doing it so poorly that the end result was a hoofed ball forward under pressure.

All the risk, none of the reward.

Martin spoke often about the difficulty of rapid and radical change during the season. An understanding of the reality that entirely escaped his successor, and predecessor, the bold Wilfried Nancy. It did not take Martin long to assess the squad and find them lacking. Hypothetically, should professional players be able to adapt quickly to a new formation and tactics? Undoubtedly!

However, with a squad shorn of confidence, in declining form and desperately short of quality, Martin quickly accepted the reality. They weren’t capable of accepting, absorbing and displaying significant changes and still immediately winning games.

We all accepted that. It was the price of victory, although it was often a very hard watch. This season I was hoping for a much more defined style, not to mention a change of formation from the 4-3-3 that we haven’t had the wingers to play properly for quite some time.

Alarmingly, in this interview, he spoke about making “these little subtle changes, I’m hoping they’ll be subtle” which I fervently hope was Martin downplaying his plans, but it really didn’t sound that way. He also immediately contradicted himself in respect of his desire for possession but always with the intent to break down defences, when he pointed out teams like England had plenty of possession, but even with excellent players were unable to break down an organised and resolute defence.

Perhaps you may have a different interpretation, but none of his comments impressed upon me a clarity of vision. It certainly didn’t sound like there was a radical shakeup afoot. The reappointment of the coaching staff is perhaps in itself an admission that they believe it is superficial, not invasive, surgery that is required. The embarrassingly delayed return of Maloney & Fotheringham, humiliating in its ineptitude, is also not the future proofing vision I suppose was far too much to hope for from this board.

What Might Have Been

I wrote previously that Martin signing without their deals being agreed, may have indicated a different direction for the team and the future of the club. Neither Maloney nor Fozzy are plausible managerial candidates, and with Efrain Juarez linked at the same time the ideal scenario would have been to bring in a future manager with a strong will, fiery temperament and definite playing style, to benefit from the tutelage of blessed Martin for this season, and allow for a seamless transition should all go well.

Instead we have an exercise in kicking the can down the road, and even with Martin describing the coaching team as ‘vital’ in this interview, we saw how his ambitions were almost immediately thwarted by the CEO and CFO dud team, in respect of signing two men that wanted some assurances about their compensation and their futures given the short term nature of O’Neill’s contract. Assurances that were clearly not forthcoming until the night before preseason started.

The Daunting Reality

Along with almost the entire Celtic support, I have taken the length of these fractious negotiations with loyal and successful employees, to be a grim foreshadowing of the required massive rebuild to come. Consider again Martin’s comment on very, very fine players and let’s take stock of where we are. Players already out of the building this season, or not confirmed as staying on an option –

• Hayato Inamura
• Stephen Welsh
• Luis Palma
• Kasper Schmeichel
• Julián Araujo
• Junior Adamu
• Marcelo Saracchi
• Tomáš Čvančara
• Joel Mvuka
• Oxlade Chamberlain
• Kelechi Iheanaco
• Benjamin Arthur.

Very likely to leave –

• Maeda
• Hatate
• Engels

Possible leavers –

• Johnston
• Trusty
• McGregor
• Nygren

Martin’s, hopefully extremely understated, comment on recruitment was to say we’ll “try and get a couple of players in to augment the squad.” 

Given the number of actual and potential exits, the Celtic recruitment process that moves at the speed of continental drift, the financial restrictions that do not appear to have been changed, the World Cup, and the fact Martin is a short term manager, I believe it is far more likely that the squad will be depleted further from a position of abject lack of quality.

We have less than six weeks until the season defining Champions league qualifier. To improve this squad, we will likely need to sign two players a week. The reality is that we’ll probably sign two players weakly.

Martin, however, believes that last season was a wake-up call for the club, who he acknowledges can make mistakes, although absolutely nobody knows what those mistakes might be. He warns that teams are getting stronger and closer to Celtic than ever before in recent times. He also repeats the line he must have heard a hundred times behind the scenes,” I know times have changed greatly and there’s not the money.”

The Real Challenge

The reality is that the club are much better off financially than they were when Martin was the manager decades ago. What has changed is the nodding dog nature of the board, the cripplingly fearful attitude to even minimal risk, the cementing of the opinion that progress in Europe is aspirational, and the institutional contempt for the supporters.

As proven in the January transfer window, the greatest hurdles Martin must overcome are not on the pitch. If he cannot manage up in such a manner that he gets what he needs, he’ll soon find out that the enemies of his objectives have heavily entrenched positions in the boardroom, and they’ll slip a stiletto between the ribs of his ambition while whispering soothing lies in his ear about how they’re working ever so hard at their deliberately ineffective, but theatrically performative dealmaking.

What they won’t do is sack him. Despite Martin stating what seems the obvious truth, that his continued employment is results based, the reality is that he is essentially bulletproof as a club legend, and he also serves the purpose of absorbing all the shots fired at a board who remain enthusiastically at odds with the fans.

We live in hope, but we know from bitter experience that it’s the hope that kills you.