GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 25: A general view outside the stadium ahead of the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and Atletico Madrid at Celtic Park Stadium on October 25, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jan Kruger - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Those fans amongst our number who believe that our board has deliberately adopted a policy of trying to stay just one step ahead of Ibrox will be immeasurably strengthened in that conviction should this transfer window close without major additions to this squad.
Because if you listen to their chairman, the club at Ibrox is essentially giving up the fight. They’ve acknowledged our supremacy.
They said they cannot keep spending money they don’t have. They are trying to copy our transfer strategy. They are vowing to keep the faith with the manager even if he doesn’t immediately win things. This is an acknowledgement that the “Espanyolification” of their club is complete. The chairman’s statement confirms what Tom English and other journalists have heard from “club insiders” who are adamant that the free spending days are done.
Their club has made a conscious decision to slam the breaks on.
They have decided, in a sense, to go backwards. No replacing key members of the squad with similar “quality” – haha, written with no attempt to keep a straight face. No big spending unless it is matched by corresponding sales. Their fans are being prepared for hard times, the very hardest, and the kind of enforced austerity they simply aren’t used to.
This is the moment when a club which wanted to could pull away and leave them behind forever. And this makes nothing but good sense. We get an advantage in Europe, and in European income. We make more prize money here at home. The club can build on the back of success, with this season particularly important in that respect because it is the season where we can overtake The Survival Lie and render it utterly redundant.
We are sitting on a massive cash pile. We have posted such large profits in the last few years that we are well within the parameters for a one-off spend to take us to the next level. Not fortunes. Not compared to England. But enough to put this title race out of sight before it even starts, and enough to make us at least competitive for European football.
To do nothing with that advantage is a grotesque abrogation of responsibility. And furthermore, it represents the most reckless, stupid and needless risk in our history. If this board does not make sure that this squad is stronger – by several players – coming out of this window than it was at the end of the last campaign, fans are fully entitled to believe that this opportunity was deliberately sabotaged by those inside our own house, for reasons they should have to explain.
These people don’t care at all, that’s what’s become clear over the course of this summer, and their in-house shill, John Kennedy, actually had the brass neck to sit in front of the fans nearly two months ago now and promise signings within weeks … it was a completely fraudulent claim.
They are going to take their seats at the weekend and bask in the glory of a victory in which they played no significant role. In fact, they endangered that victory. Their colossal failure to add more quality in January was an insane risk which could very easily have cost us not only the title but all that flowed from it, including that big Champions League jackpot.
They got away with it only because of the brilliance of the man in the dugout, the man they have scandalously let down here. He couldn’t have been clearer last summer what he needed and expected. He made the same plea in January. He was equally vocal before this window opened, and they have utterly ignored him over and over again.
These people should be taking a curtain call tomorrow, because to all intents and purposes, the war is over, and our club has won and they should be able to point to themselves and say “we did that.” Or at least they helped to do it. But there have been defeats snatched from the jaws of victory before and that’s the risk they would force us all to take.
And as I said in the emergency podcast, these aren’t even bad people. If they were bad people I would pound on them 24 hours a day and I’d be standing outside Celtic Park protesting their presence even if I was a one man band. They aren’t bad. They are just exhausted old guys who have run out of ideas, and who lack the confidence, courage and vision to see anything past this shabby local rivalry which long ago should have been ended as a contest.
Our eyes should be fixed on Europe. That’s where our future is. That’s where our challenge is. But they don’t have the belief in our club to properly step forward onto that stage. They have locked themselves, and us, into this cycle and that cycle is what gives Ibrox hope even now, even when they’ve dropped any pretence that they can even stay in the game if we be all we can be. At the moment they’ve announced this we’re moving backwards just as quickly.
And if we haven’t fixed that by the time this window shuts, what other conclusion are people supposed to draw except that we’ve made a conscious decision not to push forward, and to keep them in the game? What other conclusion can we draw but that this is what some people have long been determined that it is; deliberate sabotage, for the benefit of Ibrox, because this Celtic board cannot see a future without them as a significant player in it?
How much would these people have us sacrifice, in terms of where we might be, to keep the Ibrox club in the game?
That’s a question I never thought I would ask about a Celtic board.
We have all asked that questions, JAMES.
Someone needs to ask the Chairman or CEO straight out what the purpose of a near 100m cash reserve(it will surely be close to that once CL monies are banked) is to a football club.
I believe I am correct in thinking that the higher our profits the larger our tax bill is, so it is fundamentally counterproductive to retain such high cash reserves.
I refuse to believe that we cannot persuade clubs to sell to us, remember the chairman’s comments in January. Basically no-one wanted our money! Aye okay Peter.
It has been 4 weeks since the end of the usual year-end reporting period the accounts use(June 30th) and 2 months since the season ended. In that time we have failed to even manage the signing of a player we had an option on.
I have outlined in a previous post on the blog why I don’t believe that the situation will change in the short term, however I hope as always that my pessimism is unfounded!
Keep banging the drum James HH
Being a bitter, hateful bastard, I would like nothing more than Celtic to shove the hose down their throats and assist their drowning process. However, there is also a certain appeal about keeping them around to constantly boot them in the baws and inflict pain and suffering on them on a continuous basis, So, deid or no fully deid, that is the dilemma, a good one 🙂
Europe for Celtic now is always going to be a bit of a bonus if we do well, success there is not something you can guarantee unfortunately with big spending. However with a good manager and a balanced, determined squad following his instructions, there is always hope, Domestic success for me though will always be first and foremost for our Club with any success in Europe the icing on the cake. That is what I consider to be our realistic expectations and I still think, and I am not sure why I am being optimistic, that we will have some transfer good news still to come.
To be honest Johnny a lot of clubs much smaller than ours seems to do very well in Europe for their size and it’s been this way for years now,we get punted and , Copenhagen, Rosenberg etc still managed to make it further than we do.
I am not sure if it was a business man not wanting to offend anyone but Dermot Desmond said “Rangers” i.e. Sevco were a great club with a great history. The board and the fans are diametrically opposed in attitude towards Ibrox so what can be done?
At last a convert.
No mad conspiracy enjoined just a rational deduction regarding the cumulative evidence of the Celtic Board’s
actions / inactions since 2012.
They have based their vision, not on what Celtic could or can be but on what Celtic has to be while the ‘Big Hoose’ is open on the Sou’side of Glasgow.They have locked our Club into a symbiotic relationship with a Club that is the antithesis of Celtic’s Heritage.
They would rather do business with a cheating, Supremacist,rancid, bigoted, sectarian Club that would literally kill us as a Club if the roles were reversed.
Our Board do not do this out of any sense of Christian or those Religions with a likeminded Charitable ethos, they do it as a part of their Business model. They would, or rather they would expect us to lie down with ‘dogs’ with the resultant ‘fleas’ so that they can continue their conservative, tunnel vision Stewardship of our Club.
Not for them rising to the Challenge. Not for them allowing our Club to be all it can be. No they’d rather we shackled ourselves to the Tribute Act or whatever version number was extant down the line. Leaving the Ibrox side in our dust could be a blessing to our Nation. It would force them to grow up and discard the disgusting baggage they carry. It could even mid to long term be good for business and the Scottish Game.
But no, we have a small minded Board whose rare interactions with our support are the cute wee post AGM Messages of ‘We’re not half of anything’ variety to lull the fans while their actions are a conscious buy in to the O@@ F@@@ duopoly and their commitment to the road ahead irrespective of the wishes of the Club’s fans, sorry, I meant Customers.
Board Oot.
Starting with the Chairman, sorry Chief Accountant.
Brilliant post , well said.the truth will start to come out slowly and then something might be done about the Tory dinosaurs on the board.
Celtic supporters have been taking for granted once more I believe that only a protest by staying away in great numbers or I hope they do because that is the only way to get this board to pull there finger out there lugs and give us the Team we deserve we can’t afford to sit back anymore and let this board take claim a pat on the back for the good work of the players manager and back room staff !
It’s the same story since the demise of rangers in 2012 , there is more than the board to blame, the fans that pay out their hard earned money every year before a ball is kick carry as much responsibility as the elite (board), more fools them
And the flip side to PL and the Board just keeping one step ahead of sevco,
is that they are deliberately curtailing the growth of the club – and a plc business.
Nobody expects our club to win the CL, but maybe win a few games,
and to generally improve on our recent European record – each year.
This lack of European progress means missed opportunities for developing
the brand further: missed TV monies & UEFA bonuses, missed matchday revenues,
missed sponsorship money increases & bonuses, missed merchandising income, etc.
Also, with a consistently improving profile in Europe it just might make it easier
to attract quality players… and which could again, further improve our European record.
But this continuing – and frustrating – transfer policy at the club must come
directly from Desmond?
very true james…i too believe the spineless board have deliberately adopted a policy of doing “just enough” to be in front of the huns…shame on them !! just amazes me BR is going along with it – at the moment anyway…i do believe he’ll give up and walk…i would applaud him if he does…i think, like PC, he’s been misled by either the board or desmond..or both…fuck them.
i don’t believe the board are seriously slamming on the brakes to enable a hun revival..but the fables “five way agreement” doc…if it does indeed exist, will some day see the light of day…and all will be revealed – the bastard lawwell is fit for anything….
one thing i do know….if the shoe was on the other foot…the huns and their board would not hesitate in crushing celtic fc out of existence….
I believe we sign Bernardo and a young striker and two loans just before deadline. Get used to the managed decline. PL and DD and the like want Sevco around and a close Sevco at that.They believe in Old Firm, they believe we and Scottish football drowns without them.False economy in my view, a distinct lack of vision.
Not holding my breath we couldva shouldav finished the Ibrox lot in 2012 but did not as we let the establishment do what they wanted instead of what was right….Celtic are not allowed to get too far in front and that is sooooo obvious
The Celtic board made that decision in 2012
Ever think Roger’s is on it as well, just a thought! Salary plus add ons as long as we win the league….. Money talks as Mr. Diamond once sang
Paul I’ve thought that and stated it before on these blogs ,£3 million buys a lot of empathy with the board but not the fans.
Slammed the BRAKES on James.
If the shoe was on the other foot, they would beat us like dogs with our own leash.
I really hate our board of chicken shit fuckers, it sometimes feels like we are some sort of joint entity with the club across the city, and that is one sorry state of affairs.
I keep saying that we have time, but it’s fast becoming , that we are running out of time.
Old guys with limited ideas, even the Barrowford redevelopment won’t have a stand to allow Ladies and B team matches hosted there. Such a lack of foresight, funding or planning is so bad. Building that and hiring Airdrie or Broadwood? They only care about money, profits and accounts, not fans, football or development. The club is stagnant and stinks. Brendan will walk again though I think thats lawells plan…
I’ve already said on a previous posting James, it’s very odd that Brendan would hang around to have his achievements and reputation shredded by lawwell , hopefully something is happening on the slow burner in the background.
Well we can only hope!
Otherwise this is career suicide by lawwell, even he can’t fail to see this .
The galling thing is that we could have a USP in attracting a better class of player by saying come to us and you’ll be playing in Europe; a great draw for ambitious players. If, however, we fail time after time to get European football post Christmas, we negate the attraction.
I said at the start of the window I had absolutely no faith in this board to deliver a successful transfer window. I said it wouldn’t surprise me if they were waiting to see how much money they could get from the sale of O’Riley before they spent decent cash. I said I didn’t have a “free and easy feeling” about this window. We’re still dragging our feet on the Bernardo deal. Still hanging about waiting to see how low Norwich will go for Idah. Five days before our season starts and we haven’t signed an outfield player. There’s no chance of any board members unfurling the league flag that’s for sure, it would be a total boo-fest!! I know there’s still a month to go of the window, and the board sympathisers will still be banging that drum. But thats not the point. It’s the glacial pace this board does signings. It’s scandalous. Lawwell has to go, he’s dragging our club down to Therangers level to keep them relevant!!
Celtic FC & SPFL don’t need Sevco to prosper! They did perfectly well without them when they were in the lower leagues. The board need to recognise that our future lies in the European arena.
We as fans are nothing to them. They proved it last season and now with even more money in the bank they still wont back our manager at least sevco have an excuse for not backing theirs they ain’t got it. We have spent £1m on 1 player and we kick off our season in 5 days. Fans should boycott all merchandise purchases until they get there finger out. This board seems to think the money in the bank belongs to them. We have got remind them its not. It’s our clubs. HH
Well written article and ah think pretty much covers the situation. It’ll be a tellin few weeks ahead.
“How much would these people have us sacrifice, in terms of where we might be, to keep the Ibrox club in the game” ?
A lot James – actually a helluva lot as we only know too well…
Get this Pathological Survival Lie blown to smithereens and then stamp on them from a great height and finish the new club and surely that’d be it all over then (The Pathological Survival Lie)…
But that’s me talking and not these genial old yellow men in grey suits though…
If the boot was on the other foot then bloody hell rest assured they’d crush us to ashes and dust so they would…
The Legless one (and I don’t mean one of their drunken fans when I say that) had a helluva good go at it with ultimately taxpayers money but thankfully failed but only just…
Thankfully most of them (The Sevco Huns) detest the cripple these days !
The disability reference is a disgusting way to mock anybody, and the second time in a couple of days, if I’m not mistaken. It demeans this blog, it demeans the club, but most of all it demeans you. Has it occurred to you that people in that same position read this blog? Stop it.
Perhaps in the cold light of day it is indeed a wee tad crass 18871888 but I’ll tell you one thing – Neither yourself buddy, nor chick nor child, nor Oliver’s Army, nor anyone else’s is gonna make me like David Murray not today, not tomorrow, not EVER…
What he did to Scottish Football to massage his own bloated ego was disgusting to the core…
A good competitive league year after year destroyed to suit the egotistical maniac that he was and probably still is…
And Celtic suffered more than most though not alone by any means…
And Celtic suffering meant me suffering – and you as well at his cheating hands…
As a Celtic supporter I hate him… As a Celtic supporter you ‘should’ hate him for what he did…
But do you ?
As I said, Clach, it was a reference which was beyond despicable, and what I think of Murray and his club and the new club is irrelevant. You’ve descended into Trumpery, and like him, you’re trying to divert attention from the original topic. Finally, I’d appreciate you not telling me who I have to hate.
I think 18871888 that I actually did not divert from the original topic and the fact that I admitted that ‘perhaps in the cold light of day it was a wee tad crass’ completely negates that particular ascertation for sure…
That’s fine that you wanna keep your thoughts of Murray, his dead club, and the new club private then that’s your prerogative, equally as it’s mine to air ma views on this excellent forum…
Again that’s fine with me your request to not advise you who to hate – again that’s your prerogative…
But just for absolutely clarity –
I FUCKIN HATE and DETEST and DEPLORE Murray…
And you know, so do the vast, vast majority of Celtic supporters and Sevco fans around these shores as well…
All about opinions I guess and variety is the spice of life !
They happy they have supplied a manager who can win the domestics ?
Get us into the euro money.
@ Roonsa. So what dae ye suggest, we should just be content with our lot in the domestic scene !? Realistically we haven’t a prayer in winnin the CL the way things are, we know that. Tho ah think most supporters would be happy, pushin at least for the Europa league. Dae ye forget the great nights of the 2003 campaign and gettin tae a European final ? How that felt ! Keep our name up there in Europe and our past reputation alive.The Europa would give us at least some European credibility.
After what can only be described as a complete and utter tragedy at Southport yesterday where absolute evil visited the town, I shall not worry what happens at our club of Scottish football for the rest of the season. It’s only a game after all. Not life or death. Thoughts and prayers to the little souls taken from us so early. God bless them and their families. I’m sure the rest of the celtic family feel the same.
Well said HGB, I totally agree with those sentiments, everything else pales into insignificance compared to that horrendous act. May they rest in peace,
If you agree with this strategy you should be paying a massive amount less for season tickets etc.
If you disagree, the only way is to stop buying season tickets and merchandise at all.
This is 2003 all over again. We got to a European final, lost money and Lawwell reigned in the spending. Martin O’Neill held on to the existing players and left shortly after. We’ve been downsizing ever since.
A deliberate sabotage for the benefit of ibrox. You made me weep with this comment Mr Forrest.
This is exactly what’s happening here.
The current celtic board are sabotaging the club for the benefit of ibrox.
This is happening in our lifetime, before our very eyes. This is bigger than them dying in 2012. The fact that we’re doing everything we can to keep them alive.
This is the biggest moment in our clubs history since 67. I can’t believe this is happening.
I’m disgusted by this utterly disgusted.
Shameful. You know what, I dont even care about them. The fact we flat out refuses to progress is sickening.
The Absentee Landlord and His guard dog have to realise that they are custodians of OUR club and what THEY DD n PL are doing is Gross Negligence……They need to be sent a serious message on Sunday ,wether that embarrases the club or not I don’t personally care , but OUR message needs to be heard loud and Clear
Roonsa, everyone knows we ain’t going to win CL ever ,but surely we should be trying not to get humiliated in Europe every season,at least try in Europa League, because the path we are on just staying ahead of sevco will backfire,which it almost did last season,and there will come a time when we have to try and qualify for CL and we won’t be good enough the way we are going.One more thing Celtic winning a poor SPFL does nothing to help our image outside of Scotland,the English already call it a Mickey mouse league and our continual humiliations in Europe backs them up ,so we should just stick to the SPFL from now on ,is that what you really think or want.