This time last season, Celtic had already secured their Champions League play-off place and were gearing up for two mouthwatering clashes against Bayern Munich.
Fast forward to now, and Celtic have seen three different men occupy the dugout since then, are currently battling to remain in the Europa League, and sit third in the Premiership standings.
To call it an embarrassing downturn would barely scratch the surface. Plenty has gone wrong, yet across Europe there are numerous clubs demonstrating to Scotland’s champions how things should be done.
One such example is Norwegian high-flyers FK Bodø/Glimt. Their manager, Kjetil Knutsen, has been linked with the Celtic job, and many who back the famous green and white hoops are keen to see him take charge at Parkhead.
Celtic hero Chris Sutton praises Bodo Glimt’s model
Bodø/Glimt went into their final league phase fixtures positioned in the elimination zone and required a victory away at Atlético Madrid to advance.
To the Norwegians’ immense credit, despite Alexander Sorloth opening the scoring after 15 minutes, they fought back from behind to claim all three points, a performance that clearly caught Sutton’s eye on social media.
“Well played, Bodo Glimt,” said Sutton. “Great ambition from a so-called unfashionable club with a team full of homegrown Norwegians.
That’s a structure, that’s a model.
A clear message to the Celtic board
Celtic appear stuck in a bygone era. From top to bottom, the club is crying out for renewal, progression, and modernisation.
A number of Celtic supporters responded to Sutton’s post, with many perfectly summing up the club’s current predicament.
One supporter, @EricMcBride4, stated: ‘Their manager, rightly, gets a lot of praise, but their successes must be as a result of much more than just him. The whole operation must surely be a great example of how a successful club is run.’
And @KevinCairns60 added: ‘…and then there’s Celtic FC. No structure, no model.’
@jayThomaon delivered an impassioned response: ‘@CelticFC this is the standard, this is what we want to be proud of, not this current lack of ambition, lack of confidence, lack of leadership we are experiencing. You say you are Celtic men, with the club’s interest at heart, show us this then.’
Regardless of how this season concludes, whether Celtic collect multiple trophies or none at all, there must be a sweeping overhaul from top to bottom in the summer.
Beginning with Dermot Desmond making his way toward the exit door…