THE longer it goes without Celtic making a managerial appointment, the more there is a clamour for them to do so. Well, I should say, the more there is a clamour from the media.

For me, it will make absolutely no difference whatsoever whether the new manager is brought in now or in a few weeks or whenever. It will have no bearing on the Champions League qualifiers or next season at all.

Why? Well, because it is almost impossible to get players in just now in any case.

Recruitment is huge, and success for manager mostly depends on recruitment. What we don’t know right now is that there may very well be deals being lined up in the background for players who know what is going on in Celtic’s future.

And of course, the media all want to know what is happening, but I’m not sure that the fans are all getting their knickers in a twist about it. Does any other business tell you what they are going to do? Do Apple tell you beforehand what they’re doing? Do they phone the local tabloid and give them the heads up so they can let the world know? No, they announce it.

People are saying that Dominic McKay has to come out and say something. Why? Why does he have to say something? If you’ve not got anything of clarity to say right now, then there’s nothing to say.

We have this notion that the fans need to be consulted on everything. No they don’t. No other business consults anybody.

It’s like the Manchester United fans who want to be given a say on the owners. The Manchester City fans don’t, because they’ve been successful. The Man United fans are only mumping and moaning because they haven’t been winning anything, and now they need communication.

Did Celtic fans need communication when they were winning nine-in-a-row? No. Now they apparently do. But I don’t think it’s the fans that are like that, or are driving that. It’s the media, radio stations, TV stations. I think the fans are sort of shrugging their shoulders and seeing what it going to happen.

All of that is not to say that preparation for the following campaign can’t be a right problem. But those problems for Celtic can only be dealt with further down the line anyway. How and when can you get players in? It’s not so easy to pick them up this side of the qualifiers.

When I went in as manager of Celtic, there were a lot of players who wanted to move on, a lot of players I had to convince to stay, some players who maybe I wasn’t their type of person. And trying to bring people in was hard work. It didn’t really settle down until the window shut.

The signings came after the first Champions League qualifier because you simply can’t get deals done at that time of year. It’s very unlikely, unless you have a pre-contract with somebody, that you can get players in during June at all.

I remember Paul Telfer flew in the night before the Artmedia Bratislava game, and nobody knew him. We had all sorts of things going on. We had a player who wanted to miss training at that time because he felt he was going to be talking to another team. You couldn’t make it up.

You have injuries, and Celtic will have players at the Euros. When do they get back? Who knows. And then do you pitch them in right away and hope they will be able to keep going for the rest of the season, or do you give them a break?

In terms of transfers, the whole world is out there too, and many clubs have a lot more money than Celtic, so it’s not easy to find those gems. Look at the lower leagues in England, Ivan Toney – who was linked with Celtic - went from League One to The Championship for £9m.

He’s been a success, so that will get thrown at Celtic, but over the years there have been far more signings at that level that haven’t worked out so well. You never hear about them.

All of these players are waiting to see what the best deal is, so that’s why in normal years you have this madness in late August.

The recruitment at Celtic will be working overtime right now covering every eventuality trying to identify the best players available at a realistic budget level. What usually happens is that the scouts identify guys you might be able to get, they phone their agents who tell them how much it might be, then it’s about if you can afford it. They will have alternatives too if that player is too expensive.

If there is a manager there ready to be appointed, he will already have his homework done, and he will come in and say; ‘That’s what I’m after’. Then Celtic will tell him what they have, and between them they will figure out what they can get.

Recruitment is so complicated. It’s about timing. It’s about assessing whether you should take a gamble. It’s about weighing up whether you should pay the money.

It’s ok though a manager or a recruitment team identifying who you want, but so many times you can’t get them because there’s more money out there around the world.

And it’s not an easy sell. You can sell the ground, you can sell the atmosphere, but can you sell everything else that goes with it? And do you have the finances to get the top players in?

These are questions that all need answered, but they can’t be answered at this point in time anyway. So I don’t think it will make one iota of a difference if the Celtic manager is announced now or in a few weeks’ time.

As frustrating as that may be for the media, it shouldn’t overly concern the Celtic supporters.