Dermot Desmond sparks Celtic transfer spend concern as next permanent boss told what they must demand from board
A Hoops legend is concerned about the ongoing feud between supporters and the Parkhead board
Frank McAvennie is adamant Celtic will need to appoint a managerial heavyweight in the mould of former Everton boss Roberto Martinez this summer in order to persuade owner Dermot Desmond to dig deep into his chequebook.
The legendary former Hoops and West Ham striker is fearful that Desmond will decide to dig his heels in once a turbulent season, both on and off the pitch, comes to an end, rather than invest heavily in the playing squad.
With veteran Martin O’Neill expected to vacate the Parkhead hotseat in the summer, Celtic have been strongly linked with current Portugal national team boss Martinez to fill the role along with Motherwell’s Jens Berthel Askou and former striker Robbie Keane, who has enjoyed success with Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
McAvennie has thrown his weight behind ex-Everton and Wigan boss Martinez to succeed 74-year-old club legend O’Neill as he expressed his concerns over whether Askou would place the demands needed on the board, having operated on a minimal budget at his previous clubs.
“Celtic have got to buy players,” he admitted at the campaign launch to build a statue of Lisbon Lion Jim Craig in Govan. “Dermot and the board are going to have to spend. I’m a wee bit concerned with all that’s gone on between the fans and the board. I understand all what is happening with the fans, but when you are talking about sacking people and so on, you can’t do that.
“I just hope Dermot doesn’t take it the wrong way and not spend any money this summer. We can’t have that – because this team is not good enough.
“If they bring in the boy from Motherwell, he’s a good manager, but it will say to me they are not going to spend any money. Because he’s not going to ask questions. If someone like Martinez comes in, a bit like Martin O’Neill first time around, he wants this and that, and all of a sudden he has big players like (Chris) Sutton and (John) Hartson, good quality players. That’s what Celtic need this summer. I like the Motherwell manager but I just don’t know if he’s big enough or strong enough for the board.
“Martinez has worked with Shaun Maloney and would come in and want money. He’s been there and done it, he knows Celtic and would tell them they need to buy players. Martin did it in 2000 when the team was awful, but not as bad as it is now.
“Unless we get a manager who will come in and demand money, I can see us going two years without winning anything. I hope I am wrong.”
Lack of summer transfer spend could be costly for Celtic
McAvennie is worried that a lack of transfer spend in the summer window could leave his old club facing a up to a concerning future without silverware.
Celtic found themselves six points behind Hearts when O’Neill was asked to return to rescue their season, but the Irishman wasn’t backed in January, with a raft of loan players signed in addition to free agent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain failing to make an impact thus far.
And with only seven games remaining to decide the Scottish Premiership title race, McAvennie stated: “Hearts and Rangers will be hard to beat. I think all three teams will drop points – and Motherwell will have a big say in it.
“But Celtic cannot really afford to drop any more points. If Hearts win the league they will go out and buy again, as will Rangers.
“You look at January. They didn’t spend a penny. St Mirren spent more and they only spent about 125 grand. I know there are wages and so on, but I just don’t get it. When you look at that team, a year ago they went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich, but they would take eight off Celtic now.
“That’s not a slant on anyone, but it’s a reality. You want to see improvement all the time and that’s not happened in the last couple of windows. So I hope Dermot says to the board to get the money out, bring in a decent manager first of all and give them the cash to buy decent players.
“They can’t do what they usually do and wait to see if they get to the Champions League before making signings. They might not even get the chance next year as it could be the Europa League, or even the Conference League.”
McAvennie: ‘Not a Celtic team I recognise’
“The team is too lightweight and they’ve lost too many goals,” he continued. “We’ve lost eight games – which is more than the previous two seasons combined. That’s not a Celtic team I recognise.
“Martin has done brilliantly but it shouldn’t have come to this. People will look at the points dropped under Nancy, but who’s to say they would have won those games. There are big holes and the boys who have come in don’t frighten any one.
“There were times when even players come had teams thinking, ‘he’s a player’. We’re not getting that now. There’s no like for like coming on. The injuries have shown how light we are
“Celtic have been relying on the same boys every week – and no one is scared of Celtic any more. That’s no slander on the management team, but the recruitment has been terrible.
“Whoever has been bringing the players in has been awful. The injuries haven’t helped, when you look at Johnston, Carter-Vickers and Jota, they’d be in the team right away.
“If we are going to lose the league, lose it with a bit of fight. I looked at the team the other day and it looked like they’d given up. I saw Kieran (Tierney) going into tackles and putting balls across, but there was no one there.
“There’s no one putting a foot in. You can’t go out on a pitch like that at Tannadice and try to pass the ball about. You can’t do it. They look at the manager, which is ridiculous. We’d change it. We would go toe-to-toe and play in their half. It’s too much of a risk and I don’t think our boys are confident enough to take the ball off the keeper.”
Frank McAvennie was helping to launch a campaign to build a statue of Lisbon Lion Jim Craig in Govan at the Glasgow Irish Centre.