The comparison is just too tempting to ignore.
When Ferencváros dumped Celtic out of the Champions League at the start of last season, it was a portent of failures to come.
The Hungarian side triumphed that night in an echoing Parkhead.
Indeed, the stands were as empty as some of the hooped shirts on the field of play that night.
Last night all as changed, changed utterly, and in the end, two-nil was merciful to the visitors.
Celtic’s first goal will be lovingly gazed at for many years, just like Henke’s imperious chip over Kloss.
Not only were both goals things of beauty in their own right, but they also laid down a marker for the future.
The assist from João Pedro Neves Filipe would pass muster as a precision-guided munition.
His vision was complemented by a teammate who is on the same page.
The game intelligence demonstrated by Kyogo Furuhashi’s run and his first touch indicated that these two are on the same footballing frequency.
His finish indicated that Ange had brought a genuine talisman with him from the J League.
As the ball glided into the net past Dénes Dibusz the place erupted.
The Parkhead home crowd on a European fixture is a unique, sentient organism.
Of course, I cannot write it was a typical European night at Paradise as UEFA decided that 3.30 pm on a Tuesday was good enough for the paying public.
On the field, Celtic are very much a work in progress.
Out of the starting eleven last night, only Calum McGregor started the game against Ferencváros at an empty Parkeahed in 2020.
The ongoing re-build is enormous.
By dumb assed luck, the myopic balance sheet fixated suits on the board may just have stumbled upon a gem of a manager.
The overmighty CEO may have left the building, but his toxic 17-year legacy must be utterly excised from paradise.
Consequently, I was delighted that the Celtic Trust were able, at the 11th hour, to get their two AGM resolutions over the line.
I hope that this piece was of some assistance yesterday.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Celtic Trust are the good guys in this saga.
One of the last Celtic AGMs I attended (2014), the Trust, in the person of Jeanette Findlay, excoriated the board for refusing to be a living wage employer.
You can read about it here.
It was like Brother Walfrid being replaced by Iain Duncan Smith.
I remarked to a pal at the time that the irony of this at Celtic, set up to feed the hungry, was too contrived for a novel.
I hope that the Trust succeed; they have been the board’s conscience for years now.
Celtic is a special club, founded for the best of reasons and since day one open to all.
People all over the world get that and fall in love with the Hoops.
The featured image is a clue.
If only we could replace the cynism in the boardroom with some genuine grá from the stands.
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The only way the fanbase will get the Club they want is to take control of Celtic.
Roger Mitchell recently stated that “One day I’ll try to get some private equity money together and buy it, and give these good people what they deserve.”
Well surely the answer to that would be for Roger Mitchell to lead a fan takeover bid ?
After all isn’t total control of Celtic what fans deserve after decades and decades of leeches taking what they thought they deserved from Celtic?
The 50+1 model seems to work fine in Germany so there is no reason it would not at Celtic with our fanbase and history.
That way you guarantee transparency and the Club going in a direction we would all like to see it go in.
The current setup only really benefits one small group of individuals and consortiums who have no real interest in Football bar what they can squeeze out of it in monetary gains.
It’s time for real change not smoke and mirrors.
If we don’t then nothing will change bar the faces of those who continue to extract the urine (and whatever else they can extract).
Celtic could be so much more than it currently is.
Does anyone seriously think the 5 Way Knuckleshuffle would have got the nod from a Fan Controlled Celtic?
Would the Bhoys Club disaster have been drawn out this long?
The Years of Rule bending at Ibrox and the Tainted Titles been allowed to pass without a legal challenge?
The silence on Officiating?
The Living Wage?
The book inducing Bonus and Wage of the CEO topping £3m in one Season?
The downgrading when we have our boot on the neck of our rivals?
The 4 month Eddie Howe saga?
No chance.
All of these issues would have been challenged or dealt with I believe with having a Board who’s only interest is in pushing our Club forward into a better future whilst embracing our past.
The men who are looking at Celtic as a cash cow have no interest in these things all that matters is the cheques keep coming and placating their customer base with a wee Pat on the heid now and then.
If a guy like Roger Mitchell is so keen to do something then surely he would be willing to deliver the ultimate reward to the lifeblood of Celtic?
Or is it simply a case of buttering us all up to be accepted as the next Desmond?
Perhaps someone with a bit of clout at the Celtic Trust could put it to him?
Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.
Doing nothing is surely no longer an option?
You make some fine points, Duncan.
Someone might like to correct me if I’m wrong on this but I think I read a quote from Roger Mitchell where he thought european success was MORE importnat than domestic success. I would like to see the result of a poll of Celtic fans to the question as to which success IS more importanat to them.
We landed lucky with Fergus McCann; yes, like any wealthy man who invests in a business, he wanted/needed full control but in the end he achieved what he set out to do (while turning a profit) but was happy to let the fans buy the club as he saw that as the way forward.
Instead, we got a very wealthy majority shareholder who is unlikely to let anyone else interfere. So how do you achieve a change of ownership?
It would take another very wealthy man or group to make DD an attractive offer; do we think the CT could garner enough money without there being another man with overall control?
I would like to see the club owned by the fans and therefore the CEO & board be answerable to the fans but quite frankly I hae me doots whether that’s achievable.
Haste ye back Fergus, because I feel sure you would not have sat back while all the shenanigans were going on!
Berniebhoy
You make the same tired point that is often bandied about about DD being a majority shareholder. He isn’t. He is the largest shareholder but far from holding 50+%. In fact, if he did approach a majority he would be compelled to offer for all shares.
We got what we wanted with Fergus. A club shareholding open to anyone (everyone dare I say?). People, institutions and fans have bought into that. It’s simple maths to take control. Garner enough people with deep enough pockets to buy out the current shareholders. It’s not going to be cheap though so I’d get saving. Perhaps start a fans group and start the process slowly. But those currently holding shares will want the market value, they won’t just hand the shares over to some well meaning fans.
Regarding the moans about having to present vaccination papers or participate in “trial” procedures from others. Good, if it stops one further infection, one further hospital bed being taken up, one NHS worker putting their health in danger or one cancer patient having to wait until the covid populated beds free up to get treatment then it’s a price worth paying. Sit at hope and keep your lurgy to yourself. These are unprecedented times and you sound like a bunch of Trump supporters moaning about personal freedoms. Lack of personal freedom can be seen in North Korea where people are not likely to be given a vaccine any time soon. Tell them you’re freedom is being infringed.
JS
Justso,
I have obviously irked you with my mistake about DD being “a majority shareholder” and for that I apologise. I should have said, as you have correctly pointed out, “the largest shareholder”; but in practical terms (in this case) it makes no difference.
Why? Because he’s an astute business man who has ‘enlisted’ the help/agreement of other like-minded shareholders to vote with him and he therefore does not need to offer to buy out all other shareholders whether voluntarily or compelled to.
We agree about how to take over ownership of a football club/business but to your last comment I would add that even offering above market value may not entice a shareholder who just wants to keep hold of his shares unless he is forced to sell because of a buy-out which has happened to me where I was obliged to sell shares I did not want to part with.
I was looking (in vain) for some comment about Roger Mitchell but instead you seem to address to me a rebuke about a whinge that I didn’t make in relation to covid passports.
Not really irked, just tired of the DD majority Celtic shareholder term people band about incorrectly. If he has “enlisted” the support of other shareholders to get a majority vote that’s verging on illegal. Concert parties as Dodgy Dave well knows. However, in share numbers the vast majority of shareholders vote with DD. Maybe they just agree on a sustainable strategy for the club and don’t go for all in pyrrhic victories.
I have no comment about Roger Mitchell. I don’t know what he proposes. But as they say, be careful what you wish for. My point still stands. Whoever owns the shares needs to be bought out. Even the old Kelly/Whyte parasites got paid something to get lost much to Fergus McCann’s disgust.
The whinges were made by other posters. So to save replying individually I bundled the responses into one post.
JS.
There would be no Celtic without Fergus McCann that’s the bottom line.
He’s rightly viewed with affection and gratitude by most if not all in the Celtic family.
However what cannot be ignored is the fact Fergus did what he did with one eye on making a tidy sum in a short period of time.
He walked with the best part of £40m from Celtic in 5 years.
Had Fergus been all for the fans then surely he could have walked with half that profit (still a tidy sum) leaving the Support in control of a large part of Celtic with the rest of his shareholding?
Instead he chose to sell the lot to like minded individuals who’s main agenda is and was to make as much money as they can from the Club whilst keeping it successful.
The aftermath of this decision has resulted in where we are today and what we have witnessed unfold since.
When Dermot goes he too will sell to the next venture Capitalist and so it continues.
What 50+1 does is remove that whole scenario from the problem of who has ultimate control of the direction of the Club.
A direction that should suit the wishes of the long term emotional investor rather than the short term gains of the Financial Investor.
Both can be happy whilst the Club grows from strength to strength.
All decisions currently and previously being made at Board level have been done so with one eye firmly fixed on profit margins and the bonus culture that it has created at Celtic.
If you don’t change that then there will always be a disparity between what the fan wants and what they want to give.
50+1 creates a much happier medium.
There will be a real “climate change” if the board manage to buy Jota outright. I hae ma doots.
I think your writing is of a very high level and I’ve read most of your articals, I agree with a lot of what you say if not all. Howver I feel compelled to point out that Celtic my club are no longer as you stated above ‘a club open to all’, nowadays you must partake in a ‘trial’ medical procedure in order to enter paradise. A club no longer open to all
The vaccine passport is outwith the control of Celtic. And if that trial saves 1 life, it is worth it.
Clear t me, that’s the Scottish government rules. It’s really not within celtic’s gift, so this constant negativity is a bit tired and pointless. Unless you’d prefer us to hav 9999 at every home game and raffle tickets again?
As for the vaccine, the individual of course has a choice but let’s not pretend that choices don’t have consequences. One must have a licence to drive a car, that’s not restricting freedom. This is a public health measure and probably the sensible approach given the balance of the evidence. Covid was utterly devastating on an individual and societal level. I watched people in their 40s and 50s who had no comorbidity and would otherwise have lived another 30+ years die.
I’ve spent 12 hour shifts in full PPE, with post shift bruising and dehydration as my reward. If the price of this not being repeated is that people who choose not to be vaccinated have to watch the game on TV rather than go to the stadium, so be it.
The general comments about getting into the stadium were positive: smooth, without undue delays, a success.
However, the real story is: why should the public have to “show their papers” to be allowed to watch a game of football?!
We seem to be meekly accepting these restrictions, and God knows where it could end.
It’s because of people with your attitude that transmission levels remain high.
I presume that yourself and none of your family have been jabbed and are therefore a danger to themselves and more importantly those who they come into contact with.
What will it take for the anti vax idiots to roll up their sleeve and get the vaccine?
No doubt if you or your family catch Covid they will be the demanding immediate attention from an under pressure NHS for something that you and yours have brought upon yourself.
At the game the other night I got talking to the guy in the seat next to mine who told me that he hadn’t been vaccinated and ended up in hospital on a ventilator without which he would have died.