'Heads will roll' - Celtic man 'in a lot of trouble' after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain development
Celtic have shown an inexcusable lack of care when it comes to their late discovery of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's Champions League suspension.
That is according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that chief executive Michael Nicholson could ultimately lose his job over the lack of "due diligence."
The veteran midfielder is suspended for both legs of the Bhoys' all-important play-off tie against LASK, which kicks off at Parkhead on Wednesday.
Wyness made it clear that he cannot comprehend how the club allowed such an issue to slip through their fingers for so long, and emphasised that there will be "trouble" behind the scenes as a result.
This comes after Martin O'Neill outlined that the Glasgow giants only recently became aware of the ban, which will also rule Oxlade-Chamberlain out of the first league phase game, should they get past LASK.
The suspension dates back to a red card that the 33-year-old picked up way back in 2023, when he was sent off in Champions League action for Besiktas.
Celtic fans to use Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ban as a weapon
Aberdeen's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that Celtic fans may use Oxlade-Chamberlain's ban as a weapon in the coming weeks.
He feels that if O'Neill's men are knocked out by LASK, then the fans could use it to pile the pressure on the club hierarchy even more, and push for Nicholson to lose his job over the error.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, the Scottish businessman explained that there is "no excuse" for the ban not being identified earlier.
"This is simple due diligence 101 that should have been done. Certainly somebody's in a lot of trouble about this," Wyness said.
"If they haven't done that due diligence and understood what's going on, the club secretary would have been through that with a fine-tooth comb to understand those sort of issues.
"Celtic are an international club, and so there is no excuse for not understanding this at all. How that happened is beyond me, because as a club you have that sort of process where these sort of things slip through.
"Especially considering how big European football is for Celtic, you don't have that sort of mistake happen. And so here they are with a self-inflicted wound.
"If Celtic don't get through, this will be brought up, believe me, and the fans will throw this right back at the administration's face. And at that stage, maybe heads will roll. In the end, the chief executive will be ultimately responsible for a mistake like this."
Celtic work on Balasz Toth deal
Football Insider revealed on Tuesday that Celtic are working on a cut-price deal to sign Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Balasz Toth.
Rovers have placed a £4million valuation on the Hungarian stopper, but the Bhoys are hoping to strike a cheaper deal, with the player out of contract in June 2027.
Toth is also subject to interest from both Udinese and Hamburg, with the former understood to be readying a bid for him.
Celtic's goalkeeping situation has been a major priority for them all summer, and Toth is now a top target in that position.