Celtic debrief was unusual and double jubilation could turn to frustration if board treat fans like mushrooms

There will be a temptation for those in positions of power at Parkhead to sit and stare at the two pieces of shiny silverware in the trophy room and reflect on a job well done again.

But deep down, those in charge know they got away with one this past season.

Celtic collected a double in spite of everything not because of it and a week of celebrations could quite easily have become days of demonstrations if the dice had rolled in a slightly different direction.

Martin O’Neill and the sheer will of the dying embers of a team Ange Postecoglou built and Brendan Rodgers tweaked dragged the club over the line.

This week’s debrief wasn’t the usual high-fives and backslapping of previous years.

It was more signs of relief. O’Neill and his band of battlers have brought Celtic’s hierarchy breathing room. But nothing more.

Interim chairman Brian Wilson and chief exec Michael Nicholson did their best to repair some of the Gerald Ratner style PR disasters from the Desmonds, speaking in recent months about lessons being learned and the need for change.

Now action is required rather than words.

The wheels are turning inside Parkhead, but they turn frustratingly slow for punters hungry for information on the grand plan.

The deadline for season ticket renewals is on Friday and activist groups among the support have urged fans to hold fire until the very last minute to send out a message.

Unfortunately making the strategy public might not have much of an effect when the board knows the dosh will be landing at some point regardless.

But their point has been made over the past months.

Listen, some of the reaction to what happened in the early part of last season was way over the top.

The fact Celtic still captured a double should be a lesson to some to have some patience.

There also has to be a realisation that things are not always going to go their way. At some point Celts will lose a title race, they might even get papped out of both cups and Europe.

It’s okay to be angry when that happens but declaring all-out war on those in charge while they are still in competitions proved to be counterproductive.

That doesn’t mean supporters should just be happy to sit back and accept any old guff. Far from it.

But fury and aggression doesn’t get much done for anyone.

Communication is a better way – but that’s where Celtic need to do better.

That’s what might turn the jubilation into frustration again in the coming days and weeks.

Celtic fans don’t want to be mushrooms, left in the dark and fed a lot of s***. They want to be told what they are investing in, emotionally and financially.

They want to know who the manager will be next season. They’d like to hear what these changes behind the scenes will be, in terms of a head of football operations, a recruitment chief, a permanent chairman, all huge positions that will shape the club’s short, medium and long term future.

The manager gig is the biggie. O’Neill’s success has weirdly put Celtic’s board in a tricky position.

They want to plot a path for the next three to five years but this 74-year-old master has exceeded all expectations.

He’s gone from minding the fort to king of the castle and he deserves to be asked if he wants to stick around.

Likewise his backroom team. Shaun Maloney has been offered a crack at the operations chief role and while that might not be the fancy new track a lot of fans would like, it is a gig he could handle.

Maloney would be a loss on the training pitch though. He’s a top coach and you’d think would have more to offer on the grass.

It was telling at Hampden last weekend when Celts were going through a ropy 10 minute spell against Dunfermline that Callum McGregor was over sorting out tactical tweaks with the assistant rather than O’Neill.

The pair of them thrashed it out and within minutes the Hoops were back in charge.

Similarly Mark Fortheringham and the others have earned the right to be part of the conversation, and don’t forget about Gavin Strachan.

His first year at the club might have been the stinky covid campaign but since then he’s had a key role in the club hoovering up three doubles and a treble, and he was heavily involved in keeping the wheels on under O’Neill as well.

These are the dilemmas facing Desmond, Nicholson and co. With a proper summer, would O’Neill and his slightly chaotic band be able to produce a package that will get Celts through a Champions League qualifier and back firing again domestically?

Or would that just be another band aid?

Recruitment is going to be absolutely critical.

In the 2021 rebuild, Celts lucked out because they still had Mark Lawwell and his access to the City Football Group databases, plus Postecoglou was best mates with one of the biggest agents in the world.

Rodgers had major issues when it came to signing players but he also had his own links he could lean on.

Those heart codes are gone and they now need someone to come in with a contacts book that could choke a horse.

O’Neill and his chums – or anyone else for that matter – can only do so much. They might not get away with it again.

There can’t be a repeat of last summer when Celtic dithering and deliberated so much over signings that they missed out on key targets and ended up rifling around on the yellow sticker whoopsie shelf at the supermarket.

They need to be aggressive and agile, fast and decisive. They can’t afford paralysis by analysis again because when you’re standing still the world moves without you.

Celtic won the title this year because guys like McGregor puffed out their chests and acted like big-time Charlies – and that’s the real lesson for the Hoops suits.