Brendan Vs The Celtic Board

****WARNING****

This post may raise a few eyebrows and possibly offend fans who don't like to see negative stories about Celtic in any shape or form. Nonetheless it needs to be done and hopefully will be seen as constructive rather than destructive criticism.

Putting it midly a club such as ours should not be starting Champions League matches with a midfield consisting of Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor! When you take into account the fact that we started with both against Barcelona, it could be a damning indictment on the Celtic board's penny pinching and a heartbreaking reminder of the years wasted before Brendan was appointed. Did our manager intend to go into the Champions League so massively handicapped in midfield? Not a chance and the rumours doing the rounds about James McCarthy being on the verge of a deal does nothing to debunk the theory that BR wanted someone of genuine quality in that position. Why he didn't get that quality is open to speculation.

There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that managers have not been given the full authority to pursue players of their choice at the club and the rumours date back to Tony Mowbray's time when John Park was said to be calling the shots on player recruitment. John was classed as the man with an eye for a player and his involvement became more well known during Neil Lennon's tenure. It seemed like a match made in heaven considering Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper and Virgil Van Dijk, were all signed during this period. Unfortunately it also saw the likes of Amido Balde, Teemu Pukki and Miku arrive at the club and before anyone knew what was happening the list of misfits was longer than Ally McCoist's list of players who bet on their own team. Brendan had no such problems with John Park.

BR most probably dispensed with the services of JP shortly after walking through the doors at Celtic Park. If he did can you blame him? Celtic just wasn't big enough for the two of them and with the fans beginning to apply God like status to BR there was only going to be one winner. There can be no question that our manager signs the personnel and with the likes of Sinclair, and Dembele putting pen to paper we can rest assured that he has a better eye for a player than John Park. Why then did we go into the Champions League so massively under-equipped in the centre of the park?

Tempting as it may be to lay the blame on the Celtic board's penny pinching, the fact of the matter is that BR would not tolerate being sold short the way Tony Mowbray, Neil Lennon and Ronny Deila were. Brendan is a top class manager who could have his pick of great teams and alienating him would probably not be the best idea. Bottom line is that Brendan does things his way at the club and it is almost guranteed that a top class midfielder will be signed in January and that guys like Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong will only see domestic action at best in the future

Agree with this article? What's your thoughts on McGregor and Armstrong at the moment and do you agree John Park had to go? Let us know in the comments below.

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