Archive September 13, 2025

For a club who have enjoyed domestic dominance in recent times and whose traditional title rivals have yet to win a league game and sit 10th in the table, Celtic fans should be relatively content with their lot.

However, sections of the Parkhead support are anything but.

A dismal transfer window despite money in the bank, no Champions League football, and now manager Brendan Rodgers calling for a “cowardly” club insider to leave.

A decline can be traced back to the high point of the performance arc under Rodgers, away to Bayern Munich on 18 February.

The team were seconds away from a first win on German soil and on the brink of extra time in the Allianz Arena. Despite Alphonso Davies’ last-gasp, heart-breaking equaliser, it was clear Celtic had delivered on a pre-season promise of progress and respectability in the Champions League.

Fast-forward six months to the calamity of Kairat Almaty and failure to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.

A weak summer of recruitment was lambasted by fans and pundits but defended by the board in a statement last Saturday which said “we can never compromise the financial integrity of the club” and “it is important to remain disciplined in our approach”.

But Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of Football told BBC Scotland: “Celtic’s statement does seem a little bit disingenuous. Uefa rules allow clubs to spend 70% of their revenues on player wages. Celtic currently spend around 53%.

“Uefa rules also allow you to take into consideration player sale profits and add those to revenue, so Celtic have an awful lot of headroom should they chose to spend more in terms of player recruitment and retention.

“I’m a little bit confused as to the nature and the timing of the statement. It does appear to be very inconsistent with a detailed analysis of the figures.”

Chants of “sack the board” have reverberated around Celtic Park at various points this season, with many fans of the opinion that Rodgers has not been adequately backed.

According to the last published set of accounts, the club had £65m in the bank. Not to mention the £15m secured by the sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como.

A meeting with chief executive Michael Nicholson and certain supporter groups was supposed to douse the flames of discontent. Celtic’s statement thereafter added a rather large dose of rocket fuel to the fire.

“The backdrop to the current anger and frustration felt by Celtic fans is an ongoing failure over a prolonged period of time both in the Champions League and in the transfer market,” said Paul-John Dykes from the A Celtic State Of Mind podcast.

“Seven months ago, Brendan Rodgers spoke about having an unswerving plan to make Celtic a seasoned club at Champions League level. The board failed to replace the quality that has since left.

With the clock ticking down on deadline day, Celtic ended up paying over £5m for Tounekti.

Adam Idah was sold despite clear assurances that the striker would be going nowhere until a suitable replacement was secured. Instead, free agent Kelechi Iheanacho was signed up after the window closed.

Asked prior to the long trip to Almaty what would get his players back to their usual levels “competition,” came the quickfire reply from Rodgers.

Not coaching, not cajoling, not training. Competition.

The manager has been asking for it since the turn of the year. The sale of Kyogo Furuhashi with no thought for a replacement is still a puzzler eight months on.

Some £30m had been spent on Idah, Arne Engels, Auston Trusty and Paulo Bernardo in the previous summer.

This time round, Rodgers wanted quality, not quantity. What he got was the return of Kieran Tierney and a decent looking forward in Benjamin Nygren along with several “club signings” that he has largely overlooked.

Tounekti, Iheanacho, Balikwisha and Marcelo Saracchi may yet prove to be worthwhile additions but arrived once the Champions League horse had bolted.

The latest twist in this Celtic tale came on Friday.

While being quizzed on the transfer window – which Rodgers said left him feeling “empty” – he was also questioned on a recent media report which cited an unnamed club insider claiming the Celtic boss was trying to engineer an exit.

Rodgers, whose contract runs until next summer, was blunt in his response.

“My honest take is I thought it was a cowardly action by whoever it is,” he said.

“It’s not something you’d want. Certainly my relationships with the guys, I am close with here within the board, I would struggle to understand why.

“All I’ve tried to do is drive the club forward. Was I surprised by it? Not really.”

When asked if the person who was speaking against him should resign, he added: “I don’t think there’s any doubt.”

Then came the questions about his future. On whether he’d want to stay beyond the end of the season, with the answer coming back as “100%”.

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. Next summer seems a long way away in the here and now for Celtic.

Against the backdrop of a fan protest, a routine Premiership encounter with Kilmarnock has taken on another new dimension.

For the second successive home game at London Stadium, West Ham have finished with many of their fans having left long before the final whistle.

A 3-0 loss to Tottenham on Saturday was greeted by boos from those still inside the ground at full-time.

Two defeats, eight goals conceded and just the solitary goal scored on home soil makes for miserable reading for manager Graham Potter that is only going to increase the pressure he is under.

But afterwards, the former Chelsea boss remained defiant.

“I understand because the scoreline is the scoreline and I understand why people are upset,” he told Sky Sports.

West Ham fans will have their own thoughts on this question, but the statistics do not make for pleasant reading:

West Ham made five signings in the summer, with highly rated full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and former Newcastle striker Callum Wilson among those to arrive.

Despite bolstering his defensive options that has been the main concern for West Ham this season.

Aside from the alarming number of goals they have conceded, it is also the type they are letting in.

“We conceded nine or 10 set-pieces before the goal [against Tottenham] and defended them well,” said Potter.

“We made a mistake at the far post and got punished.”

But for ex-Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given, it is not just about the poor start to the season but more the poor form that has been going on longer.

“Everyone said judge Graham Potter when he’s had a full pre-season and a chance to get his own players in, but there’s been no improvement,” he told BBC Sport.

Seeing the stadium half empty in the second half, just like it was against Chelsea, will worry the West Ham hierarchy.

BBC Sport’s chief football news reporter Simon Stone:

Even when they are being subjected to the kind of criticism they are getting at the moment, West Ham’s ownership tend not to go in for knee-jerk reactions when it comes to dealing with managers.

Chairman David Sullivan is more likely to give someone a game or two extra rather than act when there is still a possibility the situation might be pulled round.

Clearly though, heavy home defeats by two of the club’s fiercest rivals and slipping into the bottom three is not a good look, especially when Potter’s appointment last season failed to trigger the improvement hoped for.

If there is a slight positive as far as Potter is concerned, it comes from knowing we are still incredibly early into the new season.

Julen Lopetegui collected only five points from his first six Premier League games in charge last season and it was January before he was sacked. In 2022-23, West Ham collected five points from seven games with David Moyes in charge.

The secondary point is that West Ham made four signings between 29 August and the transfer deadline closing two days later. Given there was an international break in between, how much time has Potter had to work with his new-look squad?

Next week, unbeaten Crystal Palace visit London Stadium for a game where huge demonstrations against the ownership are planned. If that game doesn’t go well, a tense atmosphere could turn toxic.

After that it’s a trip to Merseyside and a meeting with Moyes’ improving Everton before a trip to Arsenal, where West Ham have won on their past two visits, including under Potter in February.

Bonny: Graham Potter? At this rate, even Harry Potter would struggle to work his magic. This has relegation written all over it.

Matt: 11 goals (and counting) conceded in four games is relegation waiting to happen. For all the owners need to leave for West Ham to be a success, the inability to defend so far this season has to sit with Graham Potter.

Andy: West Ham were poor under Moyes, poor under Lopetegui and poor under Potter. The manager isn’t the issue. Moyes is doing well at Everton because they give him a wage budget and back him with transfers. West Ham do neither, for any manager.

This weekend’s EFL action provided the usual drama and excitement we know and love.

Friday’s night’s 5-0 hammering for Sheffield United at Ipswich Town sent shockwaves around the Championship.

Last season’s beaten play-off finalists – a side still getting Premier League parachute money – have lost all five of their matches and sit bottom of the league, having scored just one goal and conceded 12.

Is it time for new man Ruben Selles to be replaced by Chris Wilder – who he took over from in the summer?

McLean: “It’s not only the results, but it’s the performance as well.

“They were so well beaten by Ipswich and they just look like a team devoid of confidence – it was such a feeble attempt at a performance that I can’t see anything other than a change of manager.

“I can totally understand why the rumour of Chris Wilder coming back is going around because he’s been there and done it, and obviously got them to the play-offs last season.

“Yes, they just fell short, but a lot of those players are his players and maybe he’s the one who can get a tune out of them.

“It just hasn’t worked out with Ruben Selles. That’s not to say he’s a bad manager, it’s just to say that he, the club and those players aren’t the right fit.

“Sometimes you have to part ways sooner rather than later before it gets to the point where there is no chance of of them reviving the situation.

A 1-0 home win over Birmingham City moved Stoke up to second place in the Championship with four wins from five matches.

The Potters have gone through seven permanent managers in the seven years since they were relegated from the top flight and finished no higher than 14th since.

But they’re flying now, so can they mount a title challenge?

McLean: “They’ve promised so much for so many years and always disappointed.

“But I think in Mark Robins they’ve got a manager who can go that next step.

“He has the record of being able to go in and get a promotion.

“The job he did at Coventry was incredible, and I really think he’s the man to take Stoke to the next step.

Barnsley went third in League One with a 3-2 win over Reading – and are within a point of top spot.

In his first full season in charge, Conor Hourihane is leading a side who play attacking football – only Huddersfield have scored more than their 14 goals in seven matches this season.

McLean: “I don’t think many people were talking about Barnsley at the start of the season.

“But because of the job that the Conor Hourihane’s doing, all of a sudden now people are looking at them not just as play-off contenders, but in terms of winning the division.

“Conor Hourihane is inexperienced as a manager, but in terms of footballing knowledge is vastly experienced.

“He’s played at the top level, he’s played international football and even though he’s only just starting his coaching journey, has had an eye on it for a number of years.

There were worried faces in Plymouth after they lost five of their first six League One games of the season.

But new manager Tom Cleverley – who inherited a new-look squad following relegation from the Championship – has started to turn results around.

Is Saturday’s 3-2 win at Luton Town – despite having 10 men for most of the second half – a sign that the Pilgrims are sailing into calmer waters?

McLean: “From the conversations I had with Tom when he was managing at Watford, and people that I’ve spoken to about how he works, he is relentless in his preparation and in his detail.

“So I’m not surprised to see him going in and turning it around because I can guarantee that he would’ve been working tirelessly day and night to find solutions.

“What’s so impressive about the victory at Luton is that they were down to 10 men and they got the winner. They conceded two penalties and managed to find a way against a club who were in the Premier League not too long ago.

“Tom’s got a really difficult job on his hands, and he’s had to blood a lot of young players.

McLean’s former club Peterborough United have had a dreadful start to the season – going into Saturday’s home game with Wycombe Wanderers, they had taken just one point from seven games.

But two first half goals helped Posh to a 2-1 victory – and while they remain bottom of the table, they are level on points with the sides immediately above them.

McLean: “They’ve lost so many big players over the past couple of seasons – players that are so difficult to replace.

“They conceded a ridiculous amount of goals last season, but they scored a lot of goals – now you’d say 90% of those have gone: Malik Mothersille, Ricky Jade Jones, Kwame Poku, Hector Kyprianou, who was the captain.

“To lose a couple would’ve hampered them, but to lose all of them was always going to be difficult. So it’s a work in progress for Darren Ferguson.

“Their model is to bring young hungry players to the club, improve them and then sell them on. That’s been their model since I joined all those years ago, and for years it’s worked.

“They don’t want to find themselves dropping into League Two. They have to try to find a way sooner of getting themselves back up the table.