This site is hypercritical of the Celtic board at times, and particularly the men who sit on it at the current time.
But news today from London confirms something that has long been a fact; our directors come from a part of the strata that other clubs – in particular the one across the city – simply cannot get remotely close to.
In the last 20 years our board has seen former cabinet ministers, a former senior member of the Bank of England, captains of Scottish and Irish industry and even peers.
Today our former non -executive director Brian McBride has been nominated as the next head of the CBI, the “business trade union” and one of the most influential organisations in the country.
When you look at our board this is what you find.
There are no former convicted fraudsters, no South African tax-crooks, no wide boys with big hands for picking up money, no jokers who sat on boards which ran other clubs into the ground and still have the brass neck to pretend that they are part of a “success story.”
A success story, which, as I pointed out the other day, has resulted in losses of £100 million over the last ten years.
When you can choose from the kind of quality we can get you are always going to be one step ahead of the club’s which are run by the used car dealers and the sharks.
We can get top City people; they fill their ranks with dodgy geezers … it is some contrast.
We might not like the politics of some of the people who have sat on the Celtic board – or indeed those who sit on it right now – but these people are respected by the political class and the money markets. They have reputations which are iron clad. Whilst McBride has not been on the Celtic board since 2009, it shows the standards of the man.
We can appoint people like this because our club’s global reputation is unimpeachable despite the efforts of some internet gutter rats to link us to various scandals.
We have the right outlook and cosmopolitan image, one that reaches out and embraces all backgrounds, religions and creeds.
Celtic has real credibility.
We can have some pride in the calibre of the candidates we can attract.
I have always pointed out that the mob from ibrox cannot compare with our club in terms of its standard of governance. Their CEO in particular is a disgrace in his pandering to the klanbase at every opportunity. However Brian Wilsons place on our board is an embarrassment and a stain on the reputation of the other members of the board which should have been rectified long ago.
But what is your point ? It was the board that signed the 5 way agreement it was the board that employed Lennon for his second term it wa the board that conspired to throw away 10 in a row
What about a CEO that signs an 5 way agreement then lies about it for years at every AGM…..where does that !is in your assessment?joe
“There are no former convicted fraudsters, no South African tax-crooks, no wide boys…”
True…though it depends on your definition of “wide boys”…
“In the last 20 years our board has seen former cabinet ministers, a former senior member of the Bank of England, captains of Scottish and Irish industry and even peers.”
And yet the poor still starve. Brother Walfrid will be birlin’ in his grave…
A gangster by any other name…
Too right James, the klub that plies it’s trade at ibrox are a fking joke, a basket case which is notorious for it’s dodgy dealings throughout Europe and much further afield…
Celtic hierarchy not perfect but the board has backed so facts are; when Celtic win the league, we can aim for another 9iar again, and maybe get that 10iar..!!
As a worshipper from afar—thank Fk I’m a Tim..!!
Clearly their directors are crazy on them pissing £100 million on them in the last ten years…
Or perhaps it’s a few wee million outta the one thousand million the DUP extracted from Teresa May filtering it’s way from the six occupied counties on The island of Ireland ??
Mother Teresa saving The Huns – one I ‘may’ fling at some I know the next time they start braggin about how they can afford Ramsey…
You write: “We might not like the politics of some of the people who have sat on the Celtic board”.
Who is the “we” you refer to ? Not me for sure.
And how do you know the politics of our board members-have you asked them ? Did they tell you who they voted for at the last election ?
And why does the politics of those on our board matter one iota to you or any Celtic fan ?
All that matters is, are they professional and capable of working in Celtic’s best interests.
James, please, please stop dividing us into your self proclaimed groups.
Instead work towards uniting us in our love of tour club.
I fail to see why any of this matters. Yet again the huns outperformed us in Europe and we’re supposed to be happy that our board comprises better greasy pole climbers? Do me a favour.
I mostly see this blog as a reflection of the hopes, dreams, expectations and sometimes fears of the rational Celtic fanbase. For sure, mine anyway. But pieces like this really make me question that.
Is this meant to deflect after the European shitshow from Thursday night? If the Record had done the same for their favourite team if the scores were reversed then you’d have been all over it, and rightly so.
I think you have backed yourself into a corner with your gushing praise of Ange when it’s clear questions still remain about him and the team he has put together.
We lost to a well drilled physical team who had done their homework on us. They hadn’t kicked a ball in anger since the end of their Winter break and yet they looked miles ahead of us. That worries me especially as we are only one bad performance in the League away from handing that lot back top spot. We all know Celtic have that in them.
What also worries me is that it is now clear to me that we have an easily identifiable weak spot in our make up and that was inherited from Lennon. Ange has not fixed it.
It is, however, a bump in the road which we can recover from. Away goals don’t count this year and Celtic SHOULD be able to recover a 2 goal defecit over there just as Dortmund should be able to do the same at Ibrox. I still think we can do this. This is where Ange can earn his reputation. That is what we should be focusing on. Not the perceived ‘quality” of a bunch of privileged c**ts I couldn’t give a ha’penny jizz about.
Some fair points there, Roonsa, but here’s my concern regarding the away leg at Bodo. Do we send out our top 11 and let them go at it full steam for 90 or 120 minutes knowing that there’s a good chance we wont qualify and with a tough away game on the sunday or should we prioritise the Hibs game and play our 2nd eleven at Bodo. I know i would much prefer the latter.
Roonsa is correct why does this matter at all,
We don’t care what or where they come from
All that matters is our team and how they perform,
The other night should be a warning to Ange that his team selection was not what it should have been
HH
I would prefer to see greater investment in the squad from the millions these professional board members bring to shareholders and have in the bank.
Sure the finances are better managed than that of the rankers but we made a lot of money from transfers and are thus in a position for improved investment in the team over and above the transfer income. I’m not sure that we’ll ever progress to that CL team status without it. Enough to beat Dundee though. C’mon a Hoops
Can’t remember who said a businessman is just a criminal with an office but we would do well to remember that appointments/leaders/representatives drawn from one particular group usually give rise to group think and ultimately decay. What business qualifications did Brother Walfrid have? Jock Stein?
As for Dave King, I find it incredible that nobody points out he broke the cultural boycott by going to live and work in Apartheid South Africa, a regime that provides an excellent example of Orwell’s “boot stamping on a human face forever” (Admittedly the barbarians’ team have had plenty of players who possessed this as their only skill).
One final point, if all these Board members are so brilliant, why did they allow Lawwell to appoint Lennon without a proper interview process. Their job is to manage the CEO, not to rubber-stamp his decisions. You wouldn’t get a job in Celtic as HR Manager or Marketing manager without a proper competitive process yet they abandoned that when appointing to the most important managerial position at the club. A mistake we are still paying for, as Thursday night demonstrated.
Roonsa you can talk some shite,Ange has given us back some pride look at what he came into a complete mess and look how far we have come under him at this moment in time. No team has a god given right to won any game, look at Dortmund. Who gives a monkeys about what the huns did ,Ange is doing a great job, backed by a board who are not monkeys, the way you talk in your post is so negative, back the whole CELTIC outfit from top to bottom.
the newco can have anyone on their board as long as no one in authority and the gutless media hold them to account. rules do not apply when it comes to sevco matters. the covid breaches and two george square riots are proof of that shameful fact.
Oh dear, I think you have scored an O.G here, James. It is true that we have never had a convict from S.A on our board but you seem to have forgotten that, in the past 20 years, we did have a war criminal with the blood of over one million Iraqis on his hands.
The Board rightly ‘got it in the neck’ for last season’s debacle but they had many years of comparative success both on and off the field for many years prior. I have never understood the moaning about a director’s political or personal background at a club which prides itself on inclusion.
Now that that has been clarified, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a happy medium? Where directors are appreciated by the establishment AND the support!