SCOTTISH NEWS:THE CELTIC chairman, John Reid, has admitted that concern regarding the team's stuttering performances under Tony Mowbray is prevalent among board members and not just supporters.
Reid, speaking at Celtic’s annual general meeting yesterday, was forced to respond to a series of questions from shareholders who have been concerned with team form in 2009. Celtic, then managed by Gordon Strachan, lost a seven-point lead from January in handing the championship back to Rangers.
In this campaign, despite sitting at the summit of the Scottish Premier League under the guidance of Mowbray, Celtic have won only two home games out of nine, lost the first Old Firm match of the campaign and were bundled out of the League Cup by Hearts in midweek.
“We feel the same dissatisfaction with things that are going on,” said Reid. “We set our own standards and we have not been meeting those standards recently. There is a feeling up here too [among the board] that our play has not been satisfactory.”
In what could be interpreted as a veiled criticism of Strachan, in reference to last season’s collapse, the chairman added: “The type of play, commitment and style just wasn’t Celtic, it wasn’t just that we lost the league.”
Mowbray received a generally warm welcome at his first Celtic agm but the manager appears a man under pressure.
He once again hit out at the Scottish press, whom he feels are attempting to undermine his work. “There are certain areas of the pitch which we need to add quality to,” he said, before addressing concerns regarding media treatment.
“The newspapers have tried to create a wedge and a divide between me and the players that is not there. There is an air of negativity around the media in particular.”
Reid aimed a clear broadside at Rangers, who are now effectively under the control of the Lloyds Banking Group, when stressing Celtic will not simply spend their way out of trouble.
“It is the road to ruin if the control of your club passes to anonymous people in financial institutions,” said the former British cabinet minister. “Financial stability means you are in control of your own club.”
Meanwhile, striker Marc-Antoine Fortune is back in the Celtic squad for today’s Premier League game with Kilmarnock at Parkhead after completing his recovery from a knee injury.
Goalkeeper Artur Boruc and midfielder Scott Brown will again miss out with leg and ankle injuries respectively and are a doubt for next week’s Europa League game in Hamburg.
Midfielder Shaun Maloney has tendonitis and will be assessed this morning while skipper Stephen McManus is suspended after being sent off in the League Cup defeat to Hearts in midweek.
- Guardian Service
