The Record has a mocking, gleeful article up this morning about how the club from Ibrox might go right into Champions League Pot 2 if they get there. We’d be stuck in Pot 4. The “good news” is that we’d be a Pot 2 team in the Europa League if we were put there instead. Not that I would consider that to be particularly good news.
But it would make a difference to our co-efficient, because we’d be in a much simpler competition. That should enable us to rack up more points. This is how the Ibrox club has leapfrogged us; they get better European results, because they’ve played a lot of football in a lesser competition. But this only tells part of the story, and here’s the problem.
Our co-efficient performance is terrible because we’ve made no effort to improve it. I feel no qualms about putting it in exactly those terms. We have not made the slightest attempt to prepare ourselves for European football over the last couple of years. We’re content to be there and to take the money; as a club we don’t have any sort of plan for progressing.
In recent years, we’ve watched our co-efficient level fall to a shocking low and it is projected to get worse, not better. We’re at least partly responsible for the falling level of Scotland’s co-efficient, although none of the teams has exactly set the heather on fire in that regard, not even the one from Ibrox who often get the credit for Scotland’s automatic Champions League place, something that is not going to last much longer in any case.
More and more, UEFA is moving away from making the national co-efficient a factor anyway. More and more it is going to come down to what the individual clubs are able to do on their own, and that’s not great news from us with our record.
This board has presided over a disastrous slump, because it does not take European football seriously even as they sell us merchandise and an image based on us being a sleeping giant held back only because we don’t have access to a larger television pool.
Had they taken steps to enable us to do better in the Champions League campaign, not only could we have performed better but the league would have taken care of itself and we’d be certain to secure that pot of gold which is up for grabs in next season’s competition. That’s now slipping away from us, in the ultimate example of their short-sightedness.
You cannot look at this team right now and wish for European football any time soon, because it’s dreadful to watch and there are weaknesses in so many positions.
Furthermore, even if we’re in the Europa League next season (and I hope to God we’re not) I don’t think we’re ready for it and we could be piling more embarrassment on to ourselves.
Even the likelihood of a Pot 2 spot in the Europa does not make me feel any better about the prospect. We are in trouble across the boards, and a couple more bad years in Europe and we’re going to find ourselves cemented in Pot 4, our reputation ruined and our chances of improving severely curtailed.
Don’t even look forward tae our European campaigns now. In fact ah dread them. Whether its CL or Europa. That’s where this boards complete lack of European ambition has brought us.
Which is it James back in November you were writing how we were a successful and well managed organisation with solid finances -‘now the co-efficient is another stain” -dont disagree but that stain has been there for a couple of years – as for the being successful – May will determine that. I dont believe the club is well managed, narrow short term returns for shareholders have dominated and whilst the balance sheet may look good in relation to competitors, the shareholders seem comfortable leaving money on the table for the want of a modest investment. Cosy and complacent capitalism
I’ve been writing about serious doubts about the Celtic board for YEARS.
I said I was done feeling bad because we have sound finances. The media which tells us Ibrox is brilliant because it’s permanently posting losses doesn’t get to lash us or make us feel like shit for doing well.
But the money is no use to us piling up in the bank as the team rots. The way we do things is incoherent and even scandalous. I was massively opposed to Lawwell Jnr’s appointment, and you’ll find that if you search for the article I wrote when he was hired and I was even more disgusted at the return of Daddy to the chairman’s seat.
I can see what the board does right. I can see where we look well run. But I also see the gaps and the holes and the screwups and we’re just asking for trouble in not dealing with those things.
The only way for change is refusal to renew season tickets and nobody to buy club merchandise. Sadly that wont happen and nothing will change until it does
I totally agree Stevie,our euro campaigns have been dire for the last 10 years at least,and nothing will change with this board as long as we buy STs and merchandise,they will continue to neglect the team.I have said for years that outside of parochial Scotland, Celtic and the spfl is looked upon as mickey mouse and Celtics euro disasters have just confirmed that, Europe is where clubs are judged , sevco are slightly better at present but our board have never once speculated to accumlate.
Dont forget to qualify for the Europa (i echo your sentiments) we would a) have to have finished 2nd and b) get knocked out of the qualifying stages for the Champions League.
Both of which should cause heads to roll (metaphorically speaking) but will it ?
We haven’t won a knockout game in Europe for 20 years, and have taken numerous absolutely brutal beatings. Not sure our reputation could get any worse than it is now. The sad truth is that we’re absolutely nowhere near good enough for any level of European competition. It’s only a matter of time before we’re on the wrong end of a double figure scoreline in the CL, assuming we ever play in it again.
We’re finished at that level as things currently stand.
Champions league is beyond our abilities.
Its designed for the money elite teams, we can’t and won’t compete at that level.
Our best hope in Europe is Europa league,
Until we have different players our realistic limit is the conference league.
No slur intended on our current players, they do as asked by the mgr.
Maybe they would be capable of more under different coaching methods.
Our coefficient will not grow under the current regime.
We sold Giomakls and Jota for around 30m, dont replace them with any quality and expect to win as usual. This board has flung away any advantage we had over Rangers once again, we should be light years ahead
of them but tthey wont listen to the real Celtic fans and buy quality.
Europe is one thing, sevco will spend money they don’t have, and with the possibility of CL money for sevco, we could be in bumpy ride for a long while.
If you don’t make good money, the bank balance soon runs down. Then where will the money come from for a rebuild?
Maybe and only maybe then a new board will be.
Maybe this summer we will invest and change our team, manager and board members, it must be done when we’re still in the pink.
But on the other hand, maybe BR and the board will change their ways, lol.,……….,……………..
As our main aim appears to be a feeder club to those further up the food chain the main outcome of no champions league is going to be lack of income in a number of departments.
To employ Lawwell again was just the tip of the iceberg in this owner s contempt of Celtic Football club .
Lawwell is a man who did his job and got well rewarded.
He then failed to do his job in the latter years and left or was asked to leave .
Yet he was ASKED to return.
Maybe they thought the HOLIDAY had improved his distain for the normal people who support our great club – most of them for their entire lives
He and SOME others on the board are PARASITES
Dermott Desmond is the problem as our absentee Irish landlord seems to think that our club is his own personal toy to do with as he likes and his lackies like Lawwell and Nicholson carry out his orders and commands without question,make no mistake it’s Dermott that’s calling the tune and he treats the fans with utter contempt and couldny give a flying fuck about what we think and that’s the real problem
Grim when Van Bronkhurst, Beale and Clement are showing Celtic how it’s done in Europe…
Although it must be acknowledged that they are showing how it’s done in a lesser competition !
Doesn’t matter really clachnacuddin we have been in the easier competitions and still been shite.They have shown us what’s required in euro competitions,don’t ask me how but they always seem to do better than us , even when we’ve been parachuted into Europa league we still can’t do anything.Is it the coaching ie Kennedy Strachan junior I don’t know, even Rodgers first time and Ange never really done anything in Europe except embarrassing results.Sorry if this sounds negative but on a wider scale outside of Scotland Europe is where we are judged and for the last 10 years at least no one has sat up and took notice of us ,what happened to fortress parkhead on Euro nights.
2 questions.
1. How low does Lawwell/Desmond intend to take the footballing side of club?
2. How low does it have to be before the supporters actually do something about it?
The support need to grow a pair and demonstrate NOW. The Lawwell chants on Saturday sounded a bit mealy mouthed. Stand up and tell these frauds what you think. They are laughing at you.
You can’t shame the shameless. Their narcissistic needs means they have to make this manager look bad. Through their spitefulness we all have to suffer. They see themselves as untouchables.
Can’t for the life of me see what the purpose of hiring BR or what this season has been all about.
Like Michael Stewart I hope BR stays regardless of the season’s outcome which I still hold hope for us. Either way it’ll be Nicky Haley hanging around just to annoy the fuck outta the sex offender Trump. HH
Europe is a bonus. All I care about is beating Rangers and winning domestically. The board has been foolish to the point of jeopardizing our domestic bliss. I can handle being blown away outside of Scotland, but don’t ruin our domestic superiority. I enjoy pounding on hapless foes and lording silverware. It makes me feel good that Celtic win trophies, and helps get me through my days at work. Take that away, and the board will feel the full wrath of all supporters. Sevco and their supporters deserve nothing, they’re filthy creatures who wish everyone else ill. I would dance a jig to see them liquidate again. Our own board has breathed life back into those monsters, when all they had to do was stay one step ahead and drain the life out of them. I hope BR and our Scottish players can rescue this title and deny the zombies any substantial finances.
What use is £70 million in the bank when we have a pish team on the park. We should have pushed on after they manky bastards died and buried the fuckers.
Oh Dermot – How that I wish that you were Dermot the Celtic principle shareholder and owner !!!
We have been absolutely dire in Europe for years ,the last good meaningful result I can remember was with Strachan beating man utd,as regards to the board that wheezy chant of ” sack the board” wouldn’t even register with our corrupt arrogant board.