Jimmy McGrory is one of the most fondly remembered Celts of all time. The legendary striker achieved one of the most astonishing goal/appearance ratios in history: 468 goals in 445 appearances (Gordon 2013). As a manager between 1945 and 1964 though, Jimmy McGrory endured a more difficult spell, but it wasn't all his own doing. Sir Bob Kelly was Celtic's chairman at the time, and his name instantly splits opinions of the older Celtic generation who were alive during this period. Kelly was a true Celtic man who always had the interests of the club close to his chest, famous for successfully defending Celtic's right to bare the Irish tricolour at Parkhead. Alex Gordon's book, "Celtic: The Awakening" (2013) goes into great detail with the aid of Lisbon Lions Bertie Auld, Billy McNeill and many others about Kelly's meddling conduct, and how it affected McGrory's day-to-day involvement: "It was obvious to all that Jimmy McGrory was not being allowed to manage. Chairman Robert Kelly would ask McGrory to submit his team sheet at the Thursday night board meeting and then make what he believed to be 'appropriate' adjustments" Berite Auld also recalls an incident which showed an example of Kelly's ways, when the third team goalkeeper, Willie Goldie was seen waiting for a bus to Celtic v Airdrie in 1960. The Celtic coach pulled up and invited him on, and Kelly, the chairman, told him he was playing as he was so impressed with the fact he was making his own way to the game. They got beat 2-0 by lowly Airdrie, and Goldie never played again... It then becomes very apparent that McGrory is totally out of his depth, and in many areas of the book, players are quoted describing McGrory as "too nice to be a manager". His management style was dated, and in all honesty, he was not the coach. So why did this era last so long? Well one can only imagine it's because it suited Kelly down to a tee. The only reason he kept his job was because Kelly could have more say in terms of team selection. McGrory offered no resistance to Kelly's meddling, so even though the team was enduring a long period of no success, Kelly was mostly free of criticism. McGrory was free of criticism too as he was so well regarded at the club. No Celtic fans would try to shoot down such a legend, so Kelly was allowed to keep things the way they were. What he didn't take into account was that he was killing the club. While he believed that he had the club's interest at heart, it was really only his interests. Gordon believed that Kelly "thought he was Celtic" This was an era filled with so many huge errors that culminated in such a terribly unsuccessful period for Celtic, with the Hoops winning 2 out of 20 games against Rangers, and winning no trophies at all for 8 years between 1957 and 1965. Unheard of nowadays for Celtic. Can you think of a time when decision making was particularly poor which resulted in poor seasons for the Celtic or the club you support? Please detail these in the comments section below, lets have a debate!
As a recent university graduate and a huge supporter of Celtic FC, what better way to use my inevitable free time to write about my favourite football team? I'll cover most things that the supporters are talking about at the moment, which includes things that directly and indirectly involve the club. At times I may also stray into matters concerning English clubs.
