Today, a story that reveals the gulf at its most stark; Celtic are in talks with the Australian side Central Coast Mariners. We’re not discussing buying a player or hiring a coach. We’re talking to them about purchasing a controlling interest in the club itself.
Whilst Sevco’s board struggles to run the club they have, we’re going after part ownership in another one.
Nothing more clearly shows how big we think, and how ambitious we are, compared to the mess over there. It’s a bold move, an audacious move, but it will give us reach we don’t yet have and open up to us marketplaces we’re not yet in.
This is what I meant yesterday when I talked about the big picture, the strategy, the over-arching vision at Celtic Park, which seeks to build something beyond the immediate horizon. At Ibrox their goals are less grand; stop Celtic doing ten in a row.
It is small-time compared to ours, and this isn’t just about money and the ability to do these things; it’s about a mind-set, a realisation that the world is a bigger place than the small bubble in which they have locked themselves. It is reflected in our many friendships around the world.
It’s about an ideology, and ours is ever evolving.
We already have numerous alliances around football, including in Mexico at the club where Pedro Caixinha was once boss, but this would be a new and exciting move. On top of that, some feel we should be looking to get involved in England, going down the franchise route and trying to build up a mini-Celtic, south of the border. There are regulations, of course, but they generally only tend to matter if both sides are in Europe.
Perhaps the most incredible thing about this scheme is that Celtic manages to maintain a multi-front focus. We have people working on this, others working on the January window, others on the Celtic Triangle project and others still working on God knows what else inside the club.
At Ibrox they cannot even do the simplest task, appointing a new boss.
What a contrast.