Eric Knott 
I’ve been posted missing for the last few days due to undergoing surgery that I’d been putting off and off.
It’s done now, but during the time I was in hospital, I had plenty of time to mull Celtic’s current position over in my head.
Having listened to podcasts, and read plenty, an idea formed in my head.
It isn’t as outlandish as you might think, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me.
For a long time now, it’s been pretty clear that Celtic is a club lacking strategy, or any kind of forward planning.
The only distinct strategy at Celtic seems, or seemed to be keeping the Ibrox club at bay.
Even that strategy now appears to be questionable, considering our current position on the league table.
There is no strategy to speak of when it comes to Europe.
There hasn’t been for a long time.
Had we been able to retain the services of Ange Postecoglou, then maybe, just maybe, we might have shown some ambition on the European front.
But we didn’t, and it looks like Brendan Rodgers was sold a dud when it comes to our European ambitions once again.
At the moment, it’s clear the fanbase wants answers.
It’s clear we want to know what, if any plans, the club has for the future.
But what if the club doesn’t have a plan for the future?
Now there may be two reasons for that, both make sense, but the second one is the one I’ll focus on in more detail.
The first reason, and probably the one that most fans can identify with is this, the current board has simply reached it’s ceiling.
There is no more they can do.
Or more to the point, they incapable of taking the club any further.
They are not real footballing people in that sense, they are bean counters, solicitors, tories, you name it.
They are the furthest thing from the real ethos of Celtic football club.
And that’s probably the main reason they are so disconnected from the fanbase.
In an article a few weeks back, I pointed out how old they are.
Almost all of them are of pensionable age.
They are out of ideas, and stuck in an “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” mentality.
But the problem is, that mentality is outdated, and of no use anymore.
It simply doesn’t work.
That’s why the club finds itself in the predicament it’s in right now.
When Ange Postecoglou left, and Peter Lawwell was well and truly back in the building, they just reverted to type.
Simply because they had no other ideas.
Ange Postecoglou was the exception to the rule, and once he left, the rule returned to it’s old format.
Because the old farts in the boardroom are incapable of fresh, forward thinking, they decided that this was once again the way forward.
Except it’s done nothing but take us backward.
And it will continue to do so, until there is a radical change.
It just doesn’t work, and these old farts are either too stubborn to face that reality, or there is another reason behind their current behaviour.
Which brings me on to reason no. 2 as to why the club currently has no other plan.
And that is that they do have a plan.
Confused yet?
Well, I’ll simplify it for you.
The plan they have doesn’t revolve around taking the club forward in any meaningful way.
It revolves around fattening Celtic football club into one big juicy attractive asset.
Fattening the cow for sale, so to speak.
Think about it.
There’s a reason we have a pile of capital sitting in the bank account.
If we were skint, would we be an attractive proposition for a prospective buyer?
For what other reason would you stockpile tens of millions in cash?
I believe Celtic football club is for sale.
I’m not saying officially for sale, but for sale at the right price.
Dermot Desmond isn’t getting any younger, nor are most of the rest of the board.
It’s not beyond the realms of reason that Desmond may be looking to offload his shares, or the club as a whole, is it?
In order to fully understand this, you need to know how much Celtic football club is worth.
The balance in the bank account adds serious value to the club.
At this moment in time, Celtic as a football club is valued between £450 million to £500 million.
This takes into account all of the clubs assets.
Starting with the entire footballing operation (players and coaching teams), and then the stadium, the core of the operation.
That is followed by the rest of the club’s assets, the training facilities (Lennoxtown, and Barrowfield soon enough), club shops, and merchandising operations.
Which is then topped off with the very healthy bank balance the club has.
To any prospective buyer, Celtic Football Club is an extremely attractive proposition.
It is, after all, the 7th wealthiest club in European football.
It has a huge fanbase, and a rich and successful history.
What’s not to like about it?
Where is the risk factor in buying a club like Celtic?
There isn’t any.
The club has huge potential, potential way beyond the position the current board holds it in.
Every one of us knows that.
So, it makes sense that they have no plan for the club right now.
They plan on selling it.
It’s why they don’t care about the position we’re in.
These guys have only ever cared about lining their own pockets.
Remember that Ian Bankier, Peter Lawwell’s predecessor, was once asked what his most memorable Celtic moment was?
He was incapable of giving an answer.
He is just an example of the people who have been in power at our club.
People who believe they’ve achieved great things with Celtic.
When In reality, they’ve achieved nowhere near what this club is capable of achieving.
Maybe their greatest achievement will actually be selling this club to someone who will realise it’s true potential.
Maybe I’m completely wrong, and we’re destined for many more years of mediocrity under this board.
But I think the board knows that they’re in for a rough ride if we do not win the league this season.
These guys are all getting on in years, do they have the stomach for the abuse they’re going to get if this goes south?
Or are they going to cash in their chips, and head off into the sunset?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think my theory makes sense.
You might just be surprised in the near future.
God knows, the club is crying out for change.
That change might be at hand sooner than we think.
I think it’s time for change of board and owner someone with a football mind or been related to playing football and have deep pockets that will bring in better players who are of the age they can step on a football field and know what they have to do not all youngster’s who have to take time and taught what they have to do yes bring youngster’s in from the accadamy and mix them with the first team at training g till they learn the ropes we have seen quite a few accadamy coming in through the ranks
Have believed this since the start of the season.If you are going to sell you do everything possible to avoid spending money and leave that to the future owner.My worry would be in who would buy us.No trust funds or asset strippers need apply.
Here’s the only downside to a buyer…
It’s in Scotland and unless seismic changes occur that is restrictive because there’s no potential for upping tv revenues or the usual revenue streams.
Those are major hurdles, if there’s a promise that those factors could change well; maybe we’d then see interest from serious parties.
Until then; keep dreaming.
Anything to help Celtic grow and prosper is except able as long as we don’t forget the reason we were founded.
Months late with this thought
Back in November DD’s Son was asked if his Dad was Ever Likely to sell his Shares & Son Categorically Said Never Would His Dad or Any Family Member Sell his Shares in Celtic! ! DD Has the Shares But No Celtic Interest He is a Very Rich BusinessMan He can afford to ignore The Celtic Support same with His Board remember PL His His Hatchet Man & now both Mark Lawwell & DD’s Son appointed to Board….No matter how angry Fans get DD can play golf in Bahamas & Count his Cash till we start spending again on Club’s Merchandise buying tickets year after year!!
The board must go, it’s the only way forward for us to realize our true potential.
I’ve been saying this very same thing for the best part of a year now. Its the only thing that makes sense of the complete inactivity of the custodians.
Celtic FC PLC is a genuine gold mine for any prospective buyer here and now . Even without millions of a bank balance , the entire club is an investment which shall keep on giving in return . How can you lose ? It would be one of the best and safest purchases anywhere in the world . Think of the opposite clumpany in Glasgow whose entire assets were bought for £ 5.5 million pounds in liquidation and have to rely on soft loans to keep the lights on most seasons ?Just remember EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is for sale EVERYWHERE …at the right price ,naturally !
This was brought up on a podcast a few weeks ago ( The Celtic Underground, I think ) having money in the bank etc ., certainly makes the club more attractive, but as others have commented DD and son have said their shares are not for sale and with the lack of TV income for prospective buyers it’s unlikely. I suppose though that as is the case with most things in life, money talks, so who knows what the future may bring.
7th richest club in the world🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍
Respectfully, your column doesn’t usually make a lot of sense to me. But this time I actually agree with you. I’m a retired businessman myself and have seen these trends many times before whereby business owners ignore the wellbeing of its members so to speak, while they build up a healthy business account, making it attractive and plump for the picking.
When Peter Lawwell returned last season I became a little suspicious. It was after all only when he left that we immediately changed our transfer philosophy and shelled out money early in the window to get the players in that the new manager wanted. We had started looking like the old Celtic the way we dilly-dallied with Eddie Howe, allowing him to pull the strings and leave us dangling at the last minute! But the gamble, and let’s not kid ourselves, it was a huge gamble, with Ange, paid off.
But it paid off for a variety of reasons and one was the board backed the new manager. The board without Peter Lawwell! Ironically I was ALWAYS an advocate FOR Peter Lawwell in his earlier tenure with us as I watched our financial stability grow while the old rangers became extinct.
But then he lost his vision.
He should not have returned, unless as you say, there is a specific reason. Fatten the calf!
what a load of pie in the sky mumble jumble.
I honestly laugh at nonsense like this as you genuinely believe in the nonsense you right
Write Jack, write. And no, I don’t believe it. I didn’t say I did, I said I hoped this happens because our club needs radical change.
Liewell was never away dont believe that for a second hopefully soon the lot of the tory scum are gone
Celtic are a financially a well run business. They have millions in the bank and by far the richest club in Scotland. They have a world-wide support that 99% of members of the Premier League would die for! So it would not surprise me if one of the Saudi oil barons decided to move in. But where would that take us? We play in a small pond. Moving to the Premier League seems to be the only answer!
If you take the share price and multiply it by the number of shares in issue the club is worth £100m, not £500m
What is the difference with £50m or £70m in the bank when the riches of CL football would have been achieved in spending £20m.
More lucrative proposition?
Why not have the fans own 51%, other clubs can do it.
So it’s a Suspicious Minds dilemma, Eric, amidst the cacophony of protest against a very unpopular Board of Directors? If your concerns are correct, the sale of the club would have profound implications for a very large section of supporters who have provided DNA swabs to identify their commitments to Celtic for distinct reasons, based on foundation principles set some 137 years ago.
As insignificant as it might seem, a bowl of soup, for those who needed it, still has an indelible mark for those who share the same blood group. That’s how intensified their mindset happens to be, and for that reason it cannot be ignored. However, if that is declared irrelevant, would the Club benefit from bringing in a new owner? Someone who would ignore its History, enough to make your heart feel glad?
What all this boils down to is, to whom would the Board be prepared to sell? A Brother Walfrid with a deep pocket is hardly the most likely candidate to show up. So we go down the present day line of entrepreneurs, called business people. There is no obvious change and, furthermore, would the new owner be prepared to strike a balance between two factors: Founders and future necessary changes?
From what I have seen in the English leagues, that means so-called investment, a smokescreen for blatant profit; just look at Manchester United. There has got to be an unambiguous plan for European competition and ultimate success. Crystal balls are neeneeded. That leaves us with just one question: who has got them?!
Sorry for the typo in the last sentence. “needed”!
Spot on!