CELTS NEED STABILITY; Skipper Paul's anguish over Burns' sacking.
Celtic skipper Paul McStay believes the decision to sack Tommy Burns is a disaster for the club they both love.McStay heard the news he'd been dreading for weeks last night when it was confirmed that Parkhead MD Fergus McCann had handed Burns his P45.
And McStay, whose own future is in doubt, admits he is as worried about the club now as he was when McCann rode to its rescue three years ago.
The midfielder said: "It's a very sad day. The most vital thing about any club is having someone there who would give 100 per cent - Tommy did that.
"The club needs stability. We've had four managers in the last nine years and it's hard to get any momentum going when they keep changing.
"Here we go again with another change - and it wasn't necessary. If we are looking to the future, I have to say that it does not look good.
"The situation here before the gaffer came was a disaster. It has taken time to turn things around but he was doing that.
"He has built a foundation but now we are looking at a new manager coming in and maybe doing things another way.
"It could be a case of him going back to the drawing board. That could take another two years - and what happens if he then gets the sack?
"Mr McCann has indicated that he will leave in two years, so that will be another period of uncertainty. It's a real worry.
"I look at the work my brother Willie was doing at youth level and I look at how Tommy was chasing around Europe looking for players and incorporating different ideas.
"Celtic was becoming the professional club it should always have been."
The sacking of Burns makes it even more likely that McStay, who has not been offered a new deal, will follow him out of the Parkhead door.
But the captain said: "Players can come and go and my own future is irrelevant in all this.
"The most important thing is the stability of the club and that has got to come from boardroom and management level.
"At the moment, there is no stability and that is very sad."
Peter Grant was devastated to hear his old midfield playing partner had been axed.
Veteran Grant said: "I am astonished by this decision and I am not just saying this because Tommy Burns is a friend.
"The team played football last year that we haven't seen at Parkhead for such a long time.
"We were probably as good as the Lisbon Lions last season but we didn't get the break needed to win a trophy.
"Celtic lost to only one Scottish club - Rangers - but it still wasn't enough.
"This season was different. Tommy hasn't been able to play the same team for a variety of reasons and that affected our rhythm and our results."
Defender Malky Mackay said: "I'm shocked and disappointed. There has been speculation over the manager's future but we thought it would be decided at the end of the season.
"Tommy will be heartbroken. He is passionate about Celtic."
Lisbon Lion Jimmy Johnstone accused McCann of betraying the fans over the sacking of Burns and the departures of directors Willie Haughey and Dominic Keane.
He said: "It's scandalous the way Tommy and Willie Haughey were treated. Fans must wonder what's going on.
"They dipped into their pockets and helped McCann build the stadium. They must feel betrayed.
"I'm disgusted by the way the people at the top conduct their affairs. Dominic Keane went right up in my estimation by quitting when he did.
"He recognised that people were trying to discredit Willie and now they've turned their attention to Tommy Burns.
"The sacking has set the club back on its heels. Decisions are being made by individuals who are not Celtic people.
"This season has been one problem after another - the worst I can remember - and that includes the time when the old board was in charge.
"What we need now are real Celtic people at the helm. We've got a unique club here but scratch the surface and you find problem after problem. It's only now that they are starting to emerge."
In three weeks time, the Lisbon Lions celebrate the 30th anniversary of winning the European Cup.
But Johnstone said: "We haven't had ONE approach from Celtic to help out with any of the celebrations.
"Celtic Supporters Club have been involved, but not the football club. That's sad. It's as if McCann doesn't want to recognise our achievement.
"We should be looking to a bright future. Instead we're back at square one."
Another former star, Frank McGarvey, believes McCann put Burns through a month of hell before chopping him.
And he insisted that if McCann was going to sack Burns, he should have done it four weeks ago when it became obvious the rift between them had grown too wide.
That, says McGarvey, would have prevented Celts suffering the humiliation of losing to Falkirk in the Scottish Cup.
He said: "I feel so sorry for Tommy Burns - not only for being sacked but for the way he has been treated lately.
"How would you feel going into work every day, knowing that you could be sacked at any moment? That's what has been happening to Tommy.
"The mental cruelty must have been terrible but Tommy stuck with it because of his love of the club.
"I reckon Tommy will be heartbroken tonight but in some ways he will feel a sense of relief that it is all over.
"I don't think anybody could have given any more to the club than he did."
Celtic's failure to land the Scottish Cup finally signalled the end for Burns.
But McGarvey said: "All the signs were that Tommy was going to be sacked long before the Falkirk match.
"If it had happened there and then, Celtic would have won that semi-final.
"Instead they went into the game with the whole place in turmoil - and for that, the buck stops at Fergus McCann."
Celtic legend Charlie Nicholas admitted HE would have quit after the Falkirk result if he'd been manager.
He said: "I would have walked but Tommy is a proud man in terms of his love and beliefs in the club.
"But why should he have made it easy for Fergus McCann by quitting? He didn't have to make it easy.
"I have never seen a Celtic support so confused in all my years as a player or supporter of Celtic.
"It's all about share prices. That's the way Celtic is run these days."
Gerry Madden, secretary of the Supporters Club, hit out: "I think it's despicable the way Celtic- minded people have been hounded out.
"First there was the Paul McStay situation. Then the two directors went earlier this week. Now Tommy's out.
"Something is rotten at Celtic Park. Why has Fergus done this when he promised to review Tommy's position at the end of the season?
"Unrest has been growing since the turn of the year. If Fergus knew Burns wasn't the right man, he should have got rid of him in February.
"Football is being neglected in favour of business and that's very sad for the guys who buy the tickets.
"I know one thing - Tommy Burns won't turn his back on Celtic. He'll be supporting the club long after Mr McCann is gone."
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| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
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| Date: | May 3, 1997 |
| Words: | 1239 |
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