For a commercial outfit fixated on the bottom line, Celtic tends to ignore the wishes of its customers.
If the people in the Parkhead Boardroom take a step back, and they really should, it’s undeniable that a crucial KPI at the start of this season has already fallen.
I am referring to continued European participation after Christmas.
That’s gone.
A buddy pointed out to me today that Celtic finished the match against Feyenoord with a front three of Forrest, Oh and Frame.
Good grief!
A mixture of hesitancy and hubris has got the wealthiest club in Scotland to this juncture.
They now face the genuine prospect of allowing their city rivals access to a £60m Champions League windfall next season.
Even for someone like the esteemed chairman, who, by his actions in 2012, demonstrated that he fervently believes in the “Old Firm” brand, this is hugely negligent.
So, how did it come to this?
Like the famous line in Hemingway’s breakthrough novel, The Sun Also Rises, Celtic got into this situation gradually, then suddenly.
The gradual part was the work experience recruitment in the summer.
It was based on the lazy assumption that the Sevco High Command would not move to remove Mickey B.
Moreover, anyone who hasn’t witnessed the turnaround in attitude and performance under Philippe Clement hasn’t been paying attention.
Factor in the culturally authorised pattern of assistance, and this is a real title race.
Plus ça change…
After the match against Hearts, my social media rapidly filled up with a “sack the board” narrative.
That was the suddenly part.
Well, reality check.
This isn’t the early 1990s.
By standing out in the car park, we were starving the old regime of matchday cash flow.
Of course, this did not go unnoticed by the bank, which kept the club afloat with a line of credit.
Then there was the Bunnet, a man with a plan and, crucially, millions of readies to rescue Celtic and start a literal and commercial rebuild.
Consequently, I don’t see any realistic prospects for Celts For Change 2.0
It is my settled view, based on several sources, that Dermot Desmond was motivated to rectify a personal slight at Hampden in April 2016.
That ushered in Brendan’s first spell in charge.
When the Irish billionaire finally discovered that Ange was going to England, he had only one candidate in mind and duly landed him.
Anything else to the contrary at the time was just noise.
It seems strange that he has been denied the resources currently resting in the club’s bank account.
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Reading comments on this site about a so called crisis is honestly laughable.
I have been a Dundee fan since 1964 (they had just won league then reached semi-final of European Cup) and all I have had to celebrate is one League Cup 50 years ago. Do I still support Dundee – of course I do, do I live in hope – of course I do.
Best club team I have seen in Scotland- Celtic 1967-70.
Best player I have in Scotland- Kenny Dalglish.
Do I laugh when Old Firm fans lose it completely after team loses a couple of games? – draw your own conclusions.
Please try and get some perspective to your views on your clubs entitlement.
Brendan Rodger’s returned to the club having been given sweet talk of bringing in a higher calibre of player to make a fist of Europe. He said this himself after the Malaga meeting and subsequent managerial media announcement. If this is the case he has been completely shafted so far. But he knows his stock after Leicester is a lot lower. So no media tantrums this time round about not knowing the players coming in. In fact the opposite. He is whistling the same tune as the board. As for undermining player’s confidence by telling them they’re surplus and can leave while STILL calling on their services!? Shocking man management. Wheeling out finished Forrest and futsal failure Johnstone in CL? They wouldn’t get a game for Stoke.
2020-21 all over again UNLESS we sign some top quality players very soon … we knew about this potential scenario several YEARS ago … shambolic
Are the board still laughing about VAR now?
The true test of success should not be Scotland. If the KPIs are Europe and the performance related pay of the key executives are set in this way then we will soon see an improvement in recruitment. No matter what people say – money is always the great motivator.
Hi Phil
For me Celtic fans/supporters and shareholders deserve much better from the board. We need a way to make the board really listen and pay attention. The board need to be listening and taking on board all of our concerns and acting upon them where they can. For my money, investing in players of the right calibre ready to go and challenging the referee set up would be core to this as two deliverable start points. As noted already they should be accountable to the shareholders and fans alike – that’s the bottom line…..
People really need to realise what the role, and responsibilities of a non executive chairman (Peter Lawell) actually are, by law within a UK PLC, especially as regards the day to day business of the organisation.
Sorry Scott, if you believe that then you are part of the problem.
BR’s time as a top manager is over, his low possession style football is well past it’s sell by date,
It sounds like to me that there is not one Celtic FC board member presently determined to be successful and with ambition for the entire club .What in the name of the small gentleman is the root cause of such actions ? Here is me thinking that the name of the game was to win league’ s and cups thus qualifying for Europe and the winning finance afforded the team to progress and participate at the highest level . I know of reverse psychology ,but this is ridiculous !
Hi Phil.
My honest belief is that the board are 70% responsible for the current situation….and Brendan Rodgers 30%.
In reality, the lack of ready made talent we purchased has been, so far, mostly money down the tubes.
Rodgers tactics have proven brassica, dull foitball and negative results too often.
The Green Brigade gave the board the ammunition to ban them, but that merely allowed Peter Lawell to dispense with his main demonstrators against what would come, and what we are now seeing on the pitch.
What Lawell did not bank on was the kind of reconstructions witnessed on Saturday, by supporters who normally favour the board…and the fact lawell was pinpointed for more abuse than others, shows where the support believe most.of the blame lies…
Promises.of money in the summer failed to materialise, and the people brought in have proven not to be of the standard expected
Rodgers should still be getting a better tune from the players he has, but his tactics and choices have proven not to fit with the men available.
He has two games to win…and must win them, or we can kiss the league goodbye.
The simple fact, as proven even more yesterday, is that the match officials will give everything to aid the proffered phoenix club…
That gives them the advantage…
Brendan must win his next.two games then win the Derby…..
If he loses.or draws one of those games, he must go…we can’t have another lennon episode.
The man mostly responsible for this is the absentee landlord, who appointed Lawell back ….something that should never happen.
Manager needs his own squad….lawell is shoestringing him…and robbing the support.
Brendan needs a plan b….because his tactics don’t work….
We.need at least 4 guys brought in the door ready to go…and we need to start winning every game
The Grey Brigade are not worried and will continue to weaken the club because there is no Celtic Supporter (that I know of) has the money to buy out the majority of shares issued by Celtic PLC. This currently stands at 100,000,000 shares at £120 per share. The club became a PLC in 1994 and have been issuing additional shares since then.
Mickey, there are 95m shares in circulation, just now and fully capitalised at £1.20 per share, not £120 Company valued at, based on these figures – worth is circa £112m.
So,Mickey.
According to your arithmetic Celtic PLC must be the most valuable football club on the planet,worth a cool ,wait for it,twelve billion pounds sterling !!
l’ll say that again,£12b !!!
Have you ever considered or have you just been dismissed from a position in the lbrox finance department ?
We have gone backwards, downhill on a slippery slope covered in oil ever since Lawwell returned to Parkhead. The young guns along with Nicholson were forging ahead giving a relatively unknown manager everything he needed to succeed. Lawwell’s appearance then precipitate’s the aforementioned slide.
I’m not ungrateful to the healthy position his influence as finance guru has given us but to watch him slowly but surely he must hear the vitriol in the crowd, which wasn’t just against Hearts, it’s been rumbling for a while now.
Thanks for the service Peter but please, show some humility and step away, for the greater good.
If you think this has anything to do with Peter Lawwell, then you really need to look at the bigger picture.
Like every other employee he takes his orders from the higher ups.
My guess is this is all Dermot Desmond’s call and Peter Lawwell is just a convenient scapegoat.
If anyone believes lawell makes any major calls without desmonds blessing, they.live in cuckoo land.
We are simply a mantlepiece for Desmond to Lord over and brag about to his golf budfies.
Way it’s going, that soon won’t be much to brag about