AN EXCLUSIVE INSIGHT INTO A PATTERN OF INCOMPETENCE
To all intents and purposes, my job should be easy right now. There has seldom been a better time to write about Celtic. We’ve regained our European pride, another championship is imminent and we are only 3 games away from another treble.
Beneath Celtic's Glorious Façade, Problems Remain
If there is one thing I have learned however, from over 3 decades of following Scottish football, it is that outward appearances can be deceiving. Celtic have a huge problem behind the scenes, one that continues to damage our chances for the future.
I refer of course, to the seeming lack of talent coming through from the youth team and the academy set-up. This is hardly a revelation to anyone who follows Celtic.
What will shock you however, is just how much of this failure is because of the club’s own hubris, complacency and, for want of a better phrase, rank incompetence.
Daniel Cummings: A Case Study in Poor Management
The latest casualty of Celtic’s seeming inability to hold on to our promising youth players is Daniel Cummings. Despite impressing on his Celtic debut against Aston Villa in January, West Ham approached the player a couple of days later with a view to signing him. At the time of West Ham’s approach, Cummings had already been free to speak to other clubs. He entered the last six months of his Celtic contract on January 1st.
Celtic did not even speak to Cummings about a new deal until January 27th. By this time, it was weeks since he became free to talk to anyone about a move.
Suffice to say, Celtic’s offer was well below that of West Ham, about 1.7 million lower according to my sources.
To add insult to injury, Celtic then rejected an offer from West Ham to sign Cummings on deadline day. The offer would have netted Celtic significantly more than the development fee they will now receive in June, as well as a % sell on clause.
A Player Unhappy, Celtic Out of Pocket
So, it would seem that the way this has panned out benefits no-one, except perhaps West Ham.
Celtic lose one of their best young prospects, for minimal returns. A player who doesn’t want to leave Celtic and has been there since the age of 5 does so under a cloud. A cloud that was not of his making.
One could argue that maybe this is just the way Celtic does business with youth players. After all, there is an argument that says putting young talents on big contracts when they remain unproven at first team level is an unnecessary risk.
However, two of Cummings’ fellow B team regulars, Colby Donovan and Francis Turley were both offered new deals last summer. Sources close to Cummings confirmed to me that had an offer been made before December 31st, the player would have been amenable to it.
He is a Celtic fan, his preference would be to stay at Celtic. But if you’re a young man with an uncertain future, and one job pays you 900 quid a week, while the other offers you thousands of pounds a week, which would you choose?
Blaming the Players Doesn’t Solve the Problem
Celtic have given off the impression in the past that these young players were making trouble, agitating for big money moves away. From what I have seen, and based on what I’ve been told by the people connected to the players who have agreed to share their insights for this story, this simply isn’t true.
The likes of Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly could still be Celtic players if the club had acted promptly and professionally.
However, in the above cases, as with Daniel Cummings, new contracts discussions did not even begin until after the players had entered the final six months of their deals.
These were all fine young footballers who wanted to play for Celtic, but Celtic simply didn’t do enough to keep them. They believed their own hype, and assumed that because the boys in question were all from Celtic supporting families that new deals would be a formality.
That’s not how football works.
If you show faith in players, they will show faith in you. Celtic didn’t, and now these young men earn a wage elsewhere. We also lost Ben Doak due to similar belligerence.
Additional, Unfair Consequences
Going back to Daniel Cummings, the consequences of Celtic’s failure to act go beyond just the loss of talented young footballer with huge potential. Cummings himself has endured things that no young footballer should have to.
My sources claim, and I have no reason to doubt them, that Cummings was given more encouragement and shown a clearer pathway for his future development in 3 days of talks with West Ham than he was in 13 years at Celtic.
With the club also allowing the narrative of “agendas from players and agents” to go unchallenged in the press, despite knowing it to be false, Cummings himself has come in for a hefty amount of abuse on social media. Fans, acting only on what official sources have told them, accuse Cummings of being a mercenary, only in it for the money, etc.
This is a boy who grew up in Coatbridge and comes from a family steeped in Celtic.
He’s one of us, and he doesn’t deserve this treatment.
No Further Developments
At the time of writing, March 2nd 2025, Celtic have not come back to Cummings or his representatives with any further dialogue since the initial January 27th offer, which they already knew was vastly inferior to West Ham’s offer, was declined.
The player continues to train every day and remains committed to the club for as long as he is there. On a personal note, Cummings is well aware of fans' anger at his apparent disregard for Celtic. He is a supporter himself, and this is particularly difficult for him to accept.
We know that anger is totally unjustified. The club knows it too, and they have a duty of care to this young man to set the record straight for as long as he is one of their players.
I Really Wish I Didn’t Have to Write This
I will close this article on a personal note. First of all, I do not know Daniel Cummings personally, but I wish him well for the future. As I said, based on the evidence presented to me, by sources I trust, he is a fine and upstanding young man who I believe will go on to have a successful career in football.
Secondly, from my own perspective, I want to make something abundantly clear. I take no pleasure in writing this. I love Celtic, as the vast majority of you reading this also do.
However, recent history in other parts of Glasgow has shown us just how dangerous it can be, when fan loyalty blinds you to your club’s own, obvious failings. I write this not from a position of anger, but from a position of hope. Hope that Celtic will do the right thing, learn from these mistakes and treat these young players with more dignity and respect.
It’s too late for Daniel Cummings, but hopefully he is the last young prospect Celtic lose to their own hubris.