One pundit has hit back at the Green Brigade over their criticism of the proposed hiring of Robbie Keane as the club's next manager. The Bhoys are said to be considering Keane for the job, along with Martin O'Neill, who guided the club to double success during his interim spell this season.
Keane, who had a Celtic loan spell in 2010, has impressed with Ferencvaros over the last year or so, but it is his previous tenure that has caused controversy aplenty.
The Keane situation
At the root of the controversy is Keane's tenure with Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli club that he did not walk away from when Israel began its UN-defined genocide of Palestine in 2023. The former Ireland striker left during the following year, and his ambivalent stance bought him crticism aplenty back home in Ireland.
That same crticism has been levelled at him by Celtic fans, who are, en masse, against the actions of Israel. Now that Keane is holding talks with the club over the role, fan groups have hit out at the club, with the Green Brigade releasing a statement that accused the club chiefs of 'sowing division' by considering Keane for the role.
The controversy alone may be enough to put the club off going through with the hiring, given Keane would face an uphill climb if he begins his tenure without the support of a large section of fans.
But it's very unclear whether he would get the job anyway, given O'Neill remains in discussions with the club, and there may be other irons in the fire in any case.
Jordan's tirade
But one outspoken pundit has been left very unimpressed by the Green Brigade and their statement, defending Keane on the basis of football managers needing to concentrate on their respective jobs and not make career decisions based on politics.
Jordan told talkSPORT: "No. The idea that he is being criticised initially for not walking away from an Israeli club is relatively preposterous.
"He is a football manager and is managing a football team. He is not taking a political position. He took the job before the circumstances (escalated again) and then took the decision to leave that Israeli club 12 months later. If indeed the Celtic board want to make decisions based upon people's agendas, motivations and beliefs, then it's a very, very slippery slope that will lead to no good.
"The probability is that they may consider it. The bigger picture is for me, Robbie Keane should not be getting the job in the first place, Martin O'Neill should. I don't think the Celtic board should pay any attention to it. I think they need to make the decision based on a football manager.
"Let's be careful, make sure that none of these Green Brigade guys are buying any Jewish products or staying in any places that are owned by Jewish people, because that's where this is going. That is how ridiculous this is. My hope would be that Dermot Desmond and his people make a decision based upon footballing merit. I suspect they probably won't. It depends on how big the noise gets and how bold they are."
The upshot
General opinion is likely to be split on whether Keane should have walked away from his job, though there is an argument that he could have spoken about the goings on after he left.
Regardless, there will be people who are against Keane and those who defend him, and those opinions will differ based on political beliefs, and indeed the absence of them.
What Celtic should be concentrating on is not making a mess of this managerial search, and part of any search is finding a manager fans can get behind. It may be unfortunate for Keane that his past actions - or lackthereof - may cost him this opportunity, but the bottom line is that fans are not on board with the move.
With that knowledge, the club should walk away from talks, and so should Keane, who would be wise not to take a job where he hasn't got the backing of the fans. From Celtic's point of view, they shouldn't do it as a political statement. More importantly, they should do it based solely on the fact that fans are not on board, whatever the reasons, to protect the unity of the club and ensure this is not a rocky process.
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