So the story of the day probably isn’t going to be about an incoming Celtic player – that would be too much to hope for in this utter travesty of a window – but about one who is linked with a move away. Yet another first team player, yet another part of the Ange Postecoglou side, brought here in the course of those two windows without Peter Lawwell’s fingerprints on them.
It doesn’t really matter whether Leicester make a bid for Reo Hatate or whether this is just more rumours and vapours. The simple fact is that this window has been a disgrace and is swiftly heading towards being a disaster and there is no way in the world that the club could get away with that without it provoking a serious response from fans.
As far as I’m concerned, this story isn’t worth worrying about. Whatever merit there is in it, whatever truth it may contain, it won’t happen. O’Riley is different because promises have been made to him and he stayed on the basis of those. Hatate has not negotiated any such understanding or arrangement and he, like O’Riley, seems happy to be here.
The enormous distrust I have for the people running our club could not be greater than it is right now. All they care about is banking money, piling up money, accumulating vast amounts of wealth and in the meantime this team is going backwards. For every stride Rodgers has taken it, he’s been cut off at the knees. They cannot countenance further sales.
If we were four or five signings to the good already then this might be something people would be on board with as long as we trusted that the boss would get to replace him with similar quality. But no such trust is extended to those above his head.
They are the least trusted board since the Kelly’s and the Whites, with the mistrust of the chairman at levels which are off the charts.
Hatate hasn’t been as key a player for us in the last 12 months as he was under Ange, and there was a lot of talk that maybe Rodgers didn’t fancy him. But he’s been excellent in the pre-season games and I reckon he’s now a key part of Brendan’s team. For those reasons if no others, I can’t see the manager allowing this sale to go through under any circumstances.
At the point where we did something so absolutely stupid there would be no hiding place for the charlatans on our board. There ought not to be as it is. But this would light the fuse on fan anger and I strongly suspect it would mightily piss off the boss as well.
Hatate for me, when he’s at his best, is the most entertaining player we have. He tries things that others won’t, that hurt his pass accuracy stats. He’s a flair player with a work ethic that’s rare. I’d be gutted if he goes but to be fair, he’s always said he wants to play at the highest level he can so if the right money comes in this transfer will happen.
IMO, we better get the tifo,s out because this board don’t give a rats arse about the club ,it’s fans or BR as far as they’re concerned cash is THEIR one and only love.l also think these charlatans have the brassneck to introduce Bernardo as a new signing at halftime.Death by natural causes is far to good for these bastards.
Hate to say it James but your wrong. This board is worse than the Kellys and Whites. Bean counters does not cover it anymore. They are slowly destroying our club and it’s reputation on the world stage because they can. It’s “he who must be obeyed’s” way of showing his power. He doesn’t love Celtic: he loves himself. I don’t think the fans should wait any longer. It’s obvious what’s going on. It’s time the true lovers of the team are heard. “Sack the board,” in unison on Sunday! HH
Ah hate tae repeat it, tho if this window ends up well short again, imo our own support can also hold theirselves tae blame. Wtf will it take tae prove once and for all, this board are bankin on the supports loyalty, with absolutely no intention of lookin beyond the spl and are perfectly happy tae gamble with that as well. Get the season ticket money in first. That’s the big one ! Do what THEY want from then on. Sit in utter, contemptous silence and just ‘ride out’ the usual flak. Award theirselves their yearly vulgar, bloated, pay rises with YOUR money along the way. THEY’RE in charge ! Same again next season. Unless somethin happens, this has all the same signs of their usual pattern and if it is, it shouldn’t be tolerated again.
Bang on the money James. Absoloutely no way can the board remotely consider listening to any offers for Hatate. Makes me so angry that Brendan and Nicholson had a meeting recently about incoming transfers….it should be a given that any players the manager wants should be chased down….bit late in the day for meetings. Just another smoke screen. I don’t agree with your article yesterday about the success in America means the board will feel the pressure to get new bodies in. I think u are giving them too much credit there James. I think the opposite is true.I honestly think that because of the successful pre season they will think that they don’t need to strengthen . They will have one eye on the omnishambles going on across the city and they will think we will cruise to another title. Their only ambition is to be better than Rangers never forget that. The only thing they crave is champs league qualification . Bank the Money and repeat. I would love to know why they want to hoard money I really do.
The reason the money is being banked is to sell it.
I’ve been saying this for a year now and I can no longer reconcile it with anything else.
The money in the bank belongs to the share holders. So imagine venture capitalists buying the cash.
Hi James
I hate to say told you so. This board has no incentive and no need to change – they are ‘cosy’ capitalists who are on to a good thing – they lack the ambition to take risk and invest to make lots more money by being an average European team. They are extractive and have no love of the club. The Whites and the Kellys loved the club, but were out of their depth and didn’t have the humility to recognise the fact. I fear we will lose BR this season if this continues.
As a guy who lived through the Bob Kelly/ Desmond White era I can tell you they were worse than the present day board. Think 1966-1974, Celtic were in two European Champions Cup finals two Champions Cup semi-finals and one European Cup Winners semi-final and during that time we were always one of the top 5 teams in Europe.
By 1979 we weren’t even in the top 50 in Europe. This in an era before Bosman and TV rights. THe tightness of White was legendary and in a time where football teams all over the UK survived on the strength of their support alone, Celtic sold off the best players from the young quality street gang including Dalglish, Macari and Hay rather than pay them the money they could earn in England. These were the players that the support thought would replace some of the Lisbon Lions,unfortunately the Board of that time thought otherwise.
I admit this present day board is giving them a run for their money in treating the supporters like fools, we know that we can’t compete with the EPL teams these days in paying large transfer fees, but surely our wage structure could be manipulated upwards to keep a special talent when one comes along. As far as the signing of players goes, the slow pace of negotiations is embarrassing, This Celtic team with their displays in the US are looking as if they could be onto something special but this unimaginative board are messing around so much they could cxck things up for us all. If they do they deserve all the hatred that will come their way.
I want our current board of directors gone as much as anyone, and have consistently held the view that our club is run to subsidise the PLC instead of the PLC doing everything it can to provide funds to put the best possible team on the park.
However wishing for something means nothing in the corporate world.
The only way anyone on the board will be removed is if holders of more than 50% of the ordinary voting shares agree they need to go. With Desmond holding roughly 35% and Bank of New York Nominees Limited with 17.83% I don’t see a route to that happening under the current ownership.
6 months ago our share price was 125p it’s now 177p having been as high as 195p so its clear investors and the market are delighted with the way the club is being run.
Fan protests achieved nothing at Newcastle and Man United, with the owners only selling shares when they received a valuation they were happy with, so good luck with sack the board signs.
There is no significant threat to the clubs continued dominance of Scottish football as the second biggest club are a shambles with no real money to invest in the team, and the rest of clubs are not of sufficient size and turnover to mount a challenge.
So unless our largest shareholders receive an offer that meets their valuation of their shares we are stuck with them and their corporate vision for the club.
@ Pilgrim73. Disagree that there’s nothin we can dae. Agree that just singin songs and demonstratin wouldn’t have any real effect. If they continue their ‘scheme’, hit them where it hurts every, or any, business or buisnessmen and thats in their finances. That would force them intae actin. It’s a road that could have ramifications for the club one way or another, tho if thats what it takes. It’s either that, or just accept their ambitionless profiteerin, while the clubs proud reputation increasingly suffers on the park for years tae come.
Kevan, where is the appetite among the fan base to boycott merchandise or season tickets? I do not believe it exists. Season tickets sell out every season and there is a waiting list 1000’s long. General sale tickets also seem to sell out routinely for every home game. Away allocations always appear to sell out.
The club launches 3 new strips as well as training gear every season which suggests the demand is there for merchandise.
I am of the opinion the only way the corporate policy will change is with a change of our largest shareholders, until then we expect more of the same unfortunately.
“Lawwell – Get to Fuck – Lawwell, Lawwell Get to Fuck”…
Sing it enough and he might get the message (But not if the team are winning as no destabilising in that position is good for anyone)…
As for his prodigy Nicholson –
“Lucan, Get tae Fuck – Lucan, Lucan Get to Fuck” might be a wee taddy odd but maybe perhaps…
“We hate you Lucan, we do, We hate you Lucan we do, We hate you Lucan we do, – Oh Lucan we hate you” !
But he’s that dazed or in hiding that he probably wouldn’t clock on anyway…
Still – There’s a month to go so we shall see so we will…
PS – On another subject… HAPPY BIRTHDAY (most definitely NOT) to Sevco today the day 12 years ago they got their conditional (unconditional to them as it transpired) licence to play The Hedgemen of Breechin City in a League Cup game billed on BBC Scotland teletext as Breechin City v THE Rangers…
How I wish that I’d screenshoted that for sure !
12 years old today are Sevco – Never let them or their crayon scribbling Scummy Scottish Media lurkers on here and elsewhere forget that !
Yes 2-1 after extra time in ramsden cup with wee super swaly in charge
Lawwell is not that a great businessman as it is easy, when 60,000 fans give you money, just hang onto it and say to the shareholders, look how much profit I have made.
The astute operator uses it to make more and investing in the team to ensure winning the European League money each year would be a start.
Also, business decisions like wasting money of third rate players and holding on to those like McCarthy show he hasn’t a clue when he does make a move.
His belief that a strong team playing out of Ibrox is needed for Celtic to thrive is also a false economy as people voted with their feet ,not because Rangers weren’t there but because the football was dire due to his inability to take advantage of the situation
Other teams increased their support due to the lack of toxicity which was a good thing for Scottish football.
The Celtic profit margin. due solely to lack of spending is disguising the fact the Lawwell and the board are incompetents only there to collect season ticket money for Desmond and the shareholders.
I agree, Celtic must not sell Reo or Matt. What about Bosun Lawal?.
Bosun played midfield for Fleetwood. Before that stint, he was mainly a back.
He was born in Ireland. Bosun had two seasons with the B team as a Youth and a loan with Fleetwood. I doubt this qualifies him as “Scotish Developed”. I wish it did.
The Board is not interested in the team, they are not Celtic fans..
You know how hard to sell a bad , unprofitable business, but, one with the turnover of our club would go for, well I wouldn’t like to guess.
Maybe, just Maybe, someone is planning to cash in his chips, because year after year it’s all about the profit without ambitions.
As good as we are on the park, it’s a sad state of affairs off it.
He is an absolutely terrific player. CCV McGregor O’Reily Kyogo and Harare are our best five players. Agree we should not seek him. Even for 25m. I rate him very high we really missed him when injured last year.
Well always be better with Hatate fit and available and in the first team. Equally if not more important to us winning the league these last few years than O’Riley. With reference to your article yesterday it’s not just O’Riley that deserves a raise to help him feel rewarded for his efforts and keep him at the club.
This is controversial I know but if it is the view of our board to raise the profile of the club to ultimately sell it on that may be the answer to getting rid of the board and Desmond once and for all. Preference would be a fan shareholder majority or to someone that has excess money to spend, doesn’t need to leech money from and loves the club simply for what it is and stands for. HH
I said in one of James Forrest columns that Celtic must not sell Matt O’Riely and here we are a little over a week away from new season and it’s all about players going out. Now there’s more talk about players leaving, Reo Hatate is the latest to get mentioned. We should have been looking forward to a new season with additions to the side but were hiding behind were pillow because we know what this Celtic board are capable off…. I’m seriously getting disillusioned by all of it, it would appear under this regime Celtic are going no where. Win the league and that willbbe enough to keep the punters happy
Best midfielder we’ve got. It is no coincidence our dip in form last season. Coincided with his injuries and non appearances.