No one at Celtic Women will be conceding this title just yet.
But the blow they took last night was severe enough that we all have to recognise how hard it is going to be for them to make it.
There are some in the club who might be inclined to point the finger—at Elena and her management, at the players and their performances. They may even want to have a go at the fans and the drop-off in attendances.
But when do these people ever look in the mirror and take some personal responsibility? When did they ever accept that maybe they’re part of the problem—and not the smallest part of it either?
If attendances have dropped off, it’s because the team isn’t functioning as it did last season, and the manager seems increasingly frustrated. But all those things are connected to a rather staggering fact, which has to be part of the discussion about this season’s failure.
One of the most shabby decisions our club has made in a long time was taken at the end of last season. After winning our first-ever women’s title, those in charge made the terrible decision to hand Elena a budget for this campaign which, by her own admission, is not much bigger than that of Hearts and Hibs—and which she claims is dwarfed by her two title rivals.
We are making our exceptional manager do more with less. And if she’s fallen short, if her team hasn’t quite hit the same standards as last time, then that has far more to do with the board’s failure than any failure on her part or the team’s.
The manager who delivered the first women’s title in our history was entitled to expect a hell of a lot more than that from the people above her at the club—people who, in my opinion, have betrayed her and sold her short. It may even be said that they have sold her down the river.
Because ultimately, her reputation will suffer because of what’s happened this season. We’re currently sitting in fourth. If Hearts win their game in hand, we may even be sitting in fifth. And since we know that she didn’t stop being a good manager overnight, we must look at mitigating factors.
It is simply not good enough that we are not the best-funded team in the league. The board could have pushed the boat out for her.
The board could have done what was necessary to keep us the top team in the country. And if we’re currently languishing, then it’s their damn fault that we are.
As regular readers will know, I’ve been speculating on this for a while now—speculating on whether or not we have a board of directors that likes to roll the dice, and which, like some part of the gaming community, likes to test itself after a win by making the job harder the next time around.
Whereas some people want to build upon success, it seems to me at times that there are people at Celtic who see their role as finding the point at which you can stress something just enough without breaking it.
And that is a bizarre way to run a football club.
Elena isn’t the first of the women’s managers to complain about this.
Fran Alonso left because he realised the club was never going to give him the financial support he needed to get us to the next level and whilst I don’t expect a transfer spend or a salary budget that puts us on the level of Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, or Real Madrid—all of whom have women’s teams playing in front of thousands of fans every week and are well-established giants of the game.
But that the richest club in this land has the third or fourth-largest budget is farcical and a little bit scandalous. After all, what should we expect with the third or fourth-largest budget but a third or fourth-place finish?
No, I’m not going to blame Elena for that.
I’m not going to blame her team for that.
I’m going to blame the people who imposed those limits on her. The people who will not let our women’s side be all it can be. Who will not let our women’s side build its own dynasty to match the one that the men already have.
The latest Trinity Tims podcast is out now.
I agree with everything you said James. It’s clear the board have no interest in the woman’s game. If they did they would have built a stand at Barrowfield so that the women would be playing games in the east end. Crowds would probably have improved. To be renting a stadium from Hamilton makes no financial sense and is more difficult to get to especially when it has one of the worst plastic pitches you willever see. Well done Peter and Michael you pair of geniuses !
Agree entirely James, what’s the point of having a ladies team if the board don’t seem interested in maintaining the success of their first title win , especially as it came in the final minutes, pipping sevco to the title.
So much for the hollow words of Nicholson’s that celtic is world class in everything we do, the guys a prick .
£10.999 actual fuckin MILLION to The Brit Treasury Exchequer…
To that fuckin Brit slapper Rachel Reeves –
‘Daddy’ and ‘Lucan’ are probably hoping for a blow job each on her next free jolly to Scotland…
They are such a pair of limp yellow bastards that she would be very fuckin disappointed for sure…
I suppose we now have to hope for Hibernian to win it –
Glasgow City would do – But I don’t like their orange top – What The fuck did they pick that colour for !
Sorry Jim M, but the invisible CEO is, in fact, the Big Prick’s prick.
The underlying problem is that the Board look at the rise of the Women’s game and the challenges inherent in maintaining and progressing their title aspirations and have decided that it’s not worth the price necessary and it would mean that the Board would have work even harder ( nae larfin at thu back) to attract sponsorship for the Women’s Team.
They are happy enough with the games being played at Falkirk because they know if they had to seriously deal with the issue then a lot of time, planning and resources, physical and Financial would have to follow. It’s the same historical shortsightedness they have repeatedly adopted over Europe.
The performances of the ladies team have fallen off a cliff and I’m afraid that’s down to Elena and her players. The team who won the league last year were Frans team so don’t go around saying that Elena took us to our first league title.
Some of the individual displays have been absolutely rotten and when Caitlin left the writing was on the wall.
As for budgets , I have it on good authority our budget is second only to Sevco mutants. Now there’s a surprise.
There are players in our team who are simply not good enough and the games against the other teams in the top half have shown that to be true. Weaklings who get pushed around too easily.
Elena has had her chance and imo she should go and take almost all that team with her .
Press the reset button and rebuild for next season.