I remember very well the time I explained to my boss that I was only going to do half my job, because I was so magnificent at the other half. Just my opinion, of course, because no evidence suggested I was actually good at the half I was prepared to do.

However, I was specifically headhunted to join that company, on a massive salary, and very well dressed in meetings. Folks were often impressed by the things I said I was about to achieve. I would offer the prospect of producing important outcomes, but the vast majority of the time I failed to deliver. ‘Flatters to deceive’ was one description aimed at me during that time.

But hey, that’s just me. I’m sure you can’t think of another remotely comparable situation at Celtic just now? What’s that? Is the analogy a little on the nose?

Well, yes, I’ll admit to that, but when it comes to the football bubble, I always find there’s clarity in comparing  & contrasting with the reality faced by all of us humble members of the proletariat.

Much like Martin O’Neill, I’m quite old school about certain matters. One of them would be the high standards required of Celtic players. They must have talent in abundance, plus real courage, commitment, and discipline. In particular, they must have a great attitude, work selflessly for the team and be a great teammate.

Of course, there have been instances in football where prima donnas are tolerated. However, these exceptions are very rare and usually only tolerated when the size of the vanity and ego is matched by the size of the talent. Dressing room morale is vital in professional sport, and a manager cannot allow it to be undermined.

Players will tolerate different standards being applied to generational talents who can help them achieve their own dreams. The injustice of the discriminatory treatment often offset by personal ambition.

However, unless you’re demonstrably a couple of levels above your teammates, an individual being treated preferentially by the management is highly corrosive. Undermining all attempts at team bonding and building.

Haissem Hassan has been given plenty of opportunities to show his quality. Unfortunately, he has delivered little in attack and less in defence. As (so far) a mediocre talent with a seemingly high opinion of himself, he simply cannot be taken seriously if he’ll only do half the job he’s exceptionally well paid for.

The level of talent a player has is very much secondary. The first demand is that you must put in a mighty shift for the team. We can discuss your skills only on the assumption that you’ve made the same, or more, effort as everyone else.

When you’re a major signing to a new club, it demonstrates that they have real faith in your ability. If you’re then left out of a squad due to competition for places in your position, and that squad includes Tounekti and McCowan, either the recruitment team have made a terrible mistake, or you’re a lazy, entitled, delusional man-child who is being taught a public lesson for the benefit of your teammates and the fans, in the hopes that a reality check will reset some of that bad attitude.

Rather unfortunately, both of those things can also be true at the same time.

Influence Peddlers & Meddlers

A Celtic State of Mind and The Celtic Exchange joined forces to bring us a podcast with Charlie Methven.

Methven is a high-profile public relations consultant, with a history in multiple football clubs as an executive and shareholder. Also involved in the purchase and sale of clubs. Most recently, he is best known for the extremely popular podcast The Business of Sport.

He came to prominence among Celtic fans on two occasions previously when he was critical of how Celtic is being run. Although many of us are like-minded, and he was repeating popular themes, it’s fascinating to hear an outside voice with no skin in the game and a lot of relevant experience reach the same conclusions as a large swathe of the fanbase.

First of all, please watch the two-part podcast if you haven’t already. There were some genuinely interesting points made and, for me, one big takeaway.

There was his sincere bafflement at why the footprint of Celtic Park isn’t full of Celtic related businesses. In terms of income generation, he described this not as low-hanging fruit, but fruit that has been cut up and placed on your table.

He spoke of the appalling value for shareholders. Based on the metrics he highlighted, it was clear the shares should be worth three times what they are today.

He was disturbed by how incredibly unusual it is to have a 34.7% shareholder. According to Methven, the figure of 29.9% ( the normal maximum before you have to make an offer for the whole business) was established after long historical analysis, which found that beyond that point, executives became deferential to that individual or company and were not serving the interests of smaller shareholders.

I have written about this before. How Desmond had to be granted a ‘whitewash’ by the Takeover Panel, allowing him to exceed the 29.9%. An agreement which would have contained very specific conditions, particularly in relation to meddling in the affairs of the business and exerting undue influence.

But it’s here that I realised how conditioned to this frankly outrageous situation we have all become. I hold my hands up to this as well. I wrote about the potential Rule 9 complaint to the Takeover Panel over Desmond exerting undue influence.

As Methven was quick to point out, ANY INFLUENCE IS UNDUE INFLUENCE!

That’s not how quoted companies are designed to work. The board are appointed to work in the interests of ALL shareholders as officers of the company. Not to bend the knee to someone with an abnormal number of shares and render themselves impotent.

Even if he had 29.9%, he should have no direct influence over club affairs.

It’s clear that Celtic’s sham of corporate governance cannot withstand outside scrutiny, and they will be running scared of the Rule 9 complaint.

Yes, the evidentiary standards are high, but like most billionaires, Desmond is unafraid to commit his offences in the most public way possible, leaving a trail of easily collated evidence. Happy that his billions will shelter him from accountability and consequences.

He has miscalculated the depth of feeling of those disgusted by his mismanagement of the club and his contempt for the fans.

Perhaps he will soon find out that a fan-led revolution won’t be tennis balls at the golf that infuriate him, but an evisceration of his conduct as a shareholder and company officer which neuters him.