Anthony Joseph reveals Dom McKay’s ambitious Celtic plans before sudden Parkhead exit
Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph has revealed that former Celtic chief executive Dom McKay wanted to introduce a sporting director as part of ambitious plans to modernise the club’s football operations.
McKay succeeded Peter Lawwell in 2021 but departed just two months after officially taking up the position, with Celtic citing personal reasons for his exit.
Joseph believes McKay was keen to overhaul the club’s existing structure, with Fergal Harkin among the candidates strongly considered for a sporting director role.
Speaking about Celtic’s current hierarchy, Joseph suggested that meaningful change could still be achieved without necessarily replacing those in senior positions.
“In terms of the board, who knows? I mean, you could have the same board that are there if they were willing to give up the same structure.
“I’m talking about Chris McKay, Michael Nicholson and Brian Wilson in those positions. If they are happy, and Dermot Desmond is happy, to say: ‘Look, we need a modern structure. We need the experts to come in, people who actually do these roles, football people to run the football operations.
“‘We’ve got to trust them, and we’ll do the business side. They’ll come to us if something is going to be a major dent in our finances for this year’s budget.’
“That’s how they could operate. Those people could still be at Celtic and do that role if they give up this structure.
“It’s the type of thing Dom McKay was wanting to do. He was wanting a sporting director. Fergal Harkin was one of the guys they were looking at quite strongly.
“I guess with Dom McKay, it was probably a case of he was trying to do too much too soon for a board that don’t like much change.
“But that’s the kind of thing Dom McKay was looking at, because that is how modern football clubs operate.”
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