Once again, the Celtic board’s biscuit tin mentality was there in technicolour for all to see in Rotterdam last night
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Celtic Football Club.
I emphasise football Club.
Because, after all, that’s what we are, isn’t it?
A football club.
Well, at least you’d have thought so.
But in this board’s view, football isn’t the primary consideration.
If it was, then we wouldn’t have a fortune sitting in the company bank account.
No, a good portion of it, considerably more than was invested this summer, would have been invested in the football operation and avoiding what we witnessed last night in Rotterdam.
I decided to hold off on writing anything about the clubs recent financials.
I said I would wait to see what would happen against Feyenoord last night.
Because I expected what happened last night to happen.
I expected inexperience would be our downfall last night, and so it transpired.
4 players in the starting line-up had no prior Champions League experience.
Out of the substitutions that came on, not one had Champions League experience.
You know the old adage?
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Celtic did not plan accordingly for this Champions League campaign.
Despite board assurances that they would.
Of the 9 players we brought in, only 2 have previous Champions League experience.
Maik Nawrocki has 2 appearances and Nat Phillips has 1 against AC Milan.
So, tell me, how does this equip us to prepare for a Champions League campaign?
I’ll answer that for you, it doesn’t.
And it showed last night.
Don’t get me wrong, we actually played quite well in the first half of the game.
We were well organised, we posed a threat going forward, and we were unlucky to concede that late free kick and thus, the ensuing goal.
When I say we were well organised, this was down to the experience of the coach we have.
He knew exactly how we needed to set up against the Dutch side, and it was almost implemented to perfection in the first half.
While we may have had the experience of our coach to keep things well together in the first half, inexperience ultimately, was always going to be our downfall.
Our players simply did not have enough experience at this level, and it was inevitable that this would eventually bite us in the ass.
Boy, did it do that in the second half.
We started the 2nd half, still well in the game.
We ended it down to 9 men, having conceded and saved a penalty, with 2 more Feyenoord goals chalked off for offiside, and somehow finishing the contest only 2-0 down.
Gustaf Lagerbielke seemed to have been harshly punished, when Igor Paixao went to ground in the penalty box way too easily.
Looking back on the replays, I would reluctantly agree it was the right decision.
Lagerbielke’s trailing arm, ultimately, was what cost him.
Inexperience.
Did Paixao make the most of it with his theatrics?
Of course he did.
But theatrics or no theatrics, it would have been a penalty regardless.
And Holm’s red card?
Inexperience.
It’s that simple, no experience at this level.
You are never going to get away with going in studs up at this level.
It will only ever end one way.
And it ended up exactly as you’d expect.
We were on a hiding to nothing after that.
At least we can hold our heads high and be proud that we kept it to just 2-0 under the circumstances.
But that’s about it when it comes to positives in this game.
In the end, it was the same old story.
Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.
That’s not on the players who went out onto that pitch last night.
Nor is it on the manager who did his best to give them a fighting chance.
No, it’s on the grey men, who two days ago were all slapping each other on the back in congratulations, after Celtic had posted it’s strongest financial performance to date.
No doubt they’ve all banked nice, chunky bonuses, dictated by themselves, of course, after such a strong financial performance.
They must be well chuffed with themselves.
I doubt last night’s little mishap in Rotterdam bothered them too much.
Well, since it never has up to this point, why should that change now?
Well, let me put it this way for you.
It is changing next season.
Big time.
So, is our attitude to this competition just going to remain the same?
We could be playing up to 10 games in the Champions League next season under the new format.
That means that players will get the opportunity to test themselves against the cream of Europe in more games than they did under the previous format.
We could potentially receive more tv revenue if we play more games.
Meaning the competition would be more lucrative for us.
Therefore meaning we could attract a higher calibre of player.
Are we going to enter this competition next season with the same kind of attitude we’ve entered it with this season?
I’m tired of continuously seeing the figure of £3million being bandied about for players we’re looking to purchase.
It’s all we ever seem to spend.
If we want to progress, we need to start spending a minimum of £5million on players.
For the last 10 years or more, £3million seems to be the go to figure.
It’s why we never progress outside of Scotland.
We’re stuck in a continuous loop.
All the while, the cash in the bank just grows and grows, but the footballing operation remains stagnant.
This is down to the grey men.
It’s criminal that we are sitting on as much money as we are, and that the board continues to neglect the footballing operation to the extent that we had 7 projects, at various points, out on the field of play last night against a tier 1 Champions League side.
Last night, the biscuit tin mentality was there for all of us to see.
It isn’t good enough.
Yet we accept it, year in, year out, and all the while the board members just get richer and richer.
As long as we continue to do so, we will continue to witness suicidal capitulations like we did last night.
And we will continue to be stuck in this immensely frustrating continuous loop.
Nothing will change.
Because it never does.
So, we either accept our lot, or we bring about change.
We, the fans, are the only ones who can force that change.
The question is, are we up for it?
The motivation for change is in everything I’ve written above.
I shouldn’t have to spell it out.
This board will never change unless we change our attitude towards them.
How many more humiliations in Europe will it take before enough, is enough?
Last night is just another in a long line of defeats.
I, for one, am sick of it.
Brilliantly written and absolutely spot on!
If you recall, part of the reason why Brendan Rodgers dumped Celtic for Leicester mid season was down to the Board’s failure to pay a few million for John McGinn. That has always been the mentality and I believe Rodgers came back in on a reported salary of £3m per annum having agreed to go along with it. Ange Postecoglu would never have gone along with that Board strategy, so Rodgers doesn’t get off the hook here.
Peter Lawwell, for me, is the spectre at the feast. As soon as that man set his foot back inside Celtic park, the feel good factor vanished and the purse strings tightened again with recruitment. They think the fans will just accept anything provided the manager can talk a good game while producing poor results and this will not change until fans take a stand and take it strongly.
They’re taking £20 million of the first team spoils to spend on a new development at Barrowfield and that’s part of the reason they’re buying players at Mothercare for a few bob. It’s shocking the way they have treated the fans, it needs to change quickly and it should start with a new manager who, like Ange, wants to entertain the fans with great football and more wins than losses.
Folk ask me ‘why did you put SKINT on the back of your Celtic shirt’
Although, I bet you can guess exactly why I did Joe?
SKINT FC aka Celtic FC.
It’s not that they’re skint they’re just FQN miserly.
The ‘Grey suits’ need to break that cycle, personally, I have no idea how to go about changing that.
ps.Thanks Joe enjoying your new Celtic365 site too.
Please keep up the great work
HH🍀
It seems very obvious to me that the ‘suits ‘ of Celtic FC , would rather walk the path of convenience rather than the path of heart and mind …. It’s easy money for them ! It’s as easy as counting the amount of zero’s on £72 million on the club’s bank balance while grinning like a Cheshire cat !
To be honest it’s a disgrace we have that amount in the bank when we needed at least 4 experienced players going into this CL campaign. Just as well Sevco are in a mess again. I don’t think we were humiliated but with a proven goalie, CH, LB, and someone with a bit of presence in CM we could be coming away with something from these games, the board seems content to do the bare minimum . This could end in tears.
As a lifelong English Celtic fan I can’t believe how this great club is falling behind in it’s grasping of what is required at this level. Winning 11 successive titles in Scotland is not enough in the European world! James Cairney
The fact is that the fans do accept all the bullshit that the Board throw at them. As the article says, only the fans can bring about change. The grey suits are making g a pile.
Simple get Lawell out of Our club not going anywhere as long as he is there done well in the past with project players but that time is gone as far as I’m concerned
Watching Man U getting their arse handed to them, nearly a billion spent, play on the best pitches every week, half their team (individuals) cost more than what we’ve (Celtic) have in the bank.
We play every week, teams with ten men behind the ball on the worse plastic surfaces that the teams we play in the CL wouldn’t park their cars on, I read bloggers every day bang on about not spending to get to the next level in the CL, get real, we could blow our £72 mil and it wouldn’t make a difference , you can’t play shite negative teams on shite pitches week in week out then change on a CL night, you only have to look across at the scum when they tried and where did that get them !!!
Now always in our shadow.
Chase the dream, let them out of it ,
Where did I say in the article that we should spend £72 million on players?? All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t kill us to aim a little higher than players with a £3million price tag. There are plenty of players out there with CL experience that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. Spend £20million on 3 to 4 quality players instead of 9 projects.
Eric,
Exactly. We spent that little extra on CCV, Jota and, before them, Edouard and a few others, and it paid off. No one is asking Celtic to be financially suicidal, but the old adage will always stand in any industry: “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. It’s not always true, as our Japanese players have shown, but it’s largely the case. There has to be more investment in the team or we can dismiss all the crap about European progression. Think European humiliation!
I saw angie as a trustworthy and honest man ,and that is the reason why
I believe he left the same way as brendons first departure. rather be bossed by lawwell he chose to get out there is no one will tell me any differently that the feel good factor created by angie the previous two years had suddenly diminished. What hold has Desmond and lawwell got over this club apart from the financial side ?who are they to decide on where we should be as a club *?. As long as bonuses are flying out the windows then all the fans who support us and what we stand for and what we want for our club will go on the various boards and attempt to educate the fans. Who believe in alternative ways and not be a licksopittle all their days
Eric that’s a brilliant piece mate, I’ve been banging on for years about this issue. I’m not looking for us to spend all the money in the bank but you’ve got to speculate to accumulate, common sense tells you that the better the player you buy the more likely you are to go deeper into tournaments. The deeper into the tournament you go the more money you’ll make, the more money you make the better the player you can buy and then you can go even further. There’s no point buying nine projects and hoping they’ll come good in the future when the first team is being neglected, I said that in your last piece and that the board let Brendan down in the summer window. I know not all signings are successful even if you pay big money Ajeti being the obvious recent case and there’s been plenty more before him but buying someone with a good reputation is exponentially better than buying a project player. We can still buy project players but after we’ve brought in the first team players the manager wants, I also agree with your Lawell assessment too he’s used the club to make himself a very rich man whilst refusing to pay a little bit extra for a player the manager badly wants. He’s not the only suit who’s done that but as James Forrest from the Celtic Blog always called him the unofficial Director of Football who wasn’t in any way qualified to judge a player over a manager’s opinion that’s just not on. The only way to hurt the board is to stop putting money into the club through merchandise, if they start to lose thirty million per year they’ll soon have less bonuses to receive as their dividend will drop dramatically. Don’t buy any food or drink at the game either another five million per year down, that’s how you hurt the board. Now some might say that’ll hurt the team too but they’d still be getting season ticket sales and if the team takes a dip for a while so be it, they’ll soon find out you don’t f**k with the supporters as we are the club without us the board are nobodies.
no coincidence that when greedy pete slithers back then big ange is gone at the first chance he gets. Fan protest got rid of that serpent once already, unfortunatley it will probably take another catatstrophy of lennon proportions before he’s chased from paradise again.
Its been the same for years, and why would the fat cat money men change that?. They are well aware, because of years of experience, that the Celtic supporters will do nothing, as always, giving tacit approval to them to carry on having a football team fund a business, rather than the business funding the football team.
I said the same thing about Lawell on a couple of fan sites and I got roasted for it, 60 years I have supported the club, the best years where when O’Neil, Rodgers (first time) and Ange spent money on bloody good players, I can’t get the point across that having a lot of money in the bank helps only the large shareholders and the board, the tax man will come for a large slice of that money, and it will be lost, I ran a successful courier company, I remember my accountant telling me to buy new vehicles otherwise I would loose a chunk of that money, its exactly the same scenario and Lawell is to blame, I’m so angry right now.
I have friends in Denmark, Brondby supporters, but I decided to look at FC Copenhagen’s record in Europe over the last 10 years. It is superior to Celtic’s. Now, is the Danish league that much better than the one in Scotland? Are FC Copenhagen a much bigger team than Celtic? I think not! There is a lack of strategic planning from the Celtic Board. Their priority is to beat The Rangers for the league title and simply qualify for the CL. A total lack of ambition!
Ian Grant, I would say it’s even worse than you suggest. It’s almost like anytime Celtic start to outstrip Rangers in all competitions, the Celtic Board hamper the progress with financial restraints and bring the team back down to SPL levels. Maybe I’m just getting paranoid, but it does look like the Board don’t want Celtic to progress to a new level. I wonder why?
Rangers died and ceased to exist in 2012 Martin! Surely you meant sevco or as ian quite rightly says, the rangers?
Liam,
Dunces hat on again. your spelling of Catastrophe made me chuckle. Your parents were going to name you William but realised you would never be able to spell it.
Well, I have to say Billy, you are indeed a rare breed. A bear that can spell. I guess that’s why you’re always hanging around on this website. Too much illiteracy for you to tolerate around your own kind? So you think it’s good fun to try and catch us out at it. Well done you😁
Your quick off the mark there martin, sorry , Billy I mean. I’d rather have the odd spelling mistake in me than be a sinister hun like you constantly creeping on a celtic site you Billy.
Great articles which I agree with, .Celtic are a public body so the board have to listen to the fans, Why don’t you start a petition and we wil get every Celtic fan to sign it. As a PLC board members should only sit for four years to bring freshness in and contribute something to the football club, if you feel like going down that road we’ll keep in touch with me, we had the whites, the Kellies, god forbid if we go down that road again, Fergus Mc Cann andFrank Haughney should be invited onto the board forthwith. Keep in touch something has to be done now……….
Liam
I simply call them Rangers because that’s the name they are permitted to trade under by the SFA, which is also recognised by EUFA. It seems to me that this “Sevco” “The Rangers” stuff is a bit childish, a bit petty. While it may be technically correct in terms of what happened to the original Rangers FC, it’s of little consequence now in the grand scheme of things.
Charlie g,
You might recall that during his various press conferences, Brendan Rodgers was backing this Board to the hilt, saying things like “we have a model we work by at this club,” meaning cheap project buys which they hope to develop into money spinners. He even called himself “a development coach,” as if he were the manager of the B team. Then he said what I considered to be a damning indictment of him as a manger “I’ll work with what the club provides me with.” In other words, unlike Ange Postecoglou, who insisted in recruiting the players he wanted, Rodgers lets the so-called “recruitment department” make the buys on his behalf. No wonder Dermot Desmond was so desperate to get him back once big Ange was off to Spurs. Ange was a proper manager, not a yes man to the suits. I feel for the fans as well as for the players who have given so much over the last 2 years. We had great recruitment and great football under Ange, and now it has been taken away while Brendan pretends that it will all come good again. I think not.