Celtic has released its sixth month interim accounts this evening, and they show the club sitting on a surplus which is bigger than ever before.
It now stands at a mammoth £45 million. It’s clear that the balance sheet will continue to hold a large fascination for those in the boardroom.
It will be their historic disgrace if the ninth title is lost because of it.
Look, I am through praising great finances as though denying the manager what he wants for the team whilst we sit on this mountain of money were a positive. These figures, and that surplus, put us in a mighty position, but only if this cash is used to better the football team.
Under this board they will continue to spend just enough … and not a penny more.
It is a huge gamble, especially when it’s the non-football department that decides what “just enough” actually means. For all his arrogance, Peter Lawwell still knows less about the game itself than the rawest daisy fresh coach. He needs reminding of that at times.
Although I’m not going to bring out the champagne to celebrate these numbers, it cannot be denied that the club across the city would kill for these kind of figures.
Our surplus is nearly equal to their annual turnover, and our six monthly income of over £50 million is almost on a par with what they earn in a year.
Their last annual figures put their income for an entire campaign at just £53 million … so we’re actually not far off that in six months.
Although it’s not a subject we are comfortable discussing, we’re also in possession of several high value assets for whom we could realistically command massive sums.
Edouard will probably fetch more than any player in the club’s history when he departs and Callum McGregor would certainly be in the ballpark of that.
Ajer, Frimpong, Rogic, Ntcham, Christie … these guys are all capable of playing in the top end of the EPL.
Ticket sales remains high. Merchandising makes us a fortune. With a new deal due to be announced – and the word is that it will be the biggest yet – the club is not going to have a truly bad season any time soon … unless the team stops winning.
What this means, of course, is that should Celtic’s success continue there is no end in sight to this dominance.
The reverse is true though; if we exercised this dominance, decisively, there would be no end to the success.
If only certain board members understood that.
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