If austerity is on the way at Ibrox, then we have to hope the Celtic board does not see that as an opportunity to follow suit

Last night’s article on the perfect storm brewing at Ibrox generated a lot of interest, and a lot of debate.

The debate was generated from my comments on the disastrous 2020/21 campaign and the quest for 10IAR.

I spoke about how complacency had infected every facet of the club prior the Covid season, culminating in the re-hiring of Neil Lennon after the 2019 Scottish Cup final.

The majority of my readers agreed that Lennon should never have been given the manager’s job a second time.

But just as there are people who defend our board, there were people who also defended Neil Lennon after reading my article.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion.

And while I did not support his hiring a second time, I will not hold it against anyone who did.

Each to their own, as they say.

Regardless of what anyone says, Neil Lennon was a fantastic servant to the club.

And I’m sure he always thought he was doing the best he could do for the club.

As I stated in yesterday evening’s article, the Celtic board thought we could coast to 10IAR.

And they mistakenly thought Neil Lennon was the man who could deliver that.

At the end of the day, that was on them, not him.

Which brings me along to the main subject in this article.

In the last few days, there has been news coming out of Ibrox that is somewhat worrying.

James highlighted it over on the Celtic blog last night, not long after I released my article.

In his article, he talks about David Low’s interview on the Celtic Exchange.

In which Low spelled out for the hard of thinking what is really coming down the tracks at Ibrox.

The early signs are that austerity is on it’s way.

There has already been a £250,000 cut on meals for academy players.

On top of that, 13 players have been culled from the Ibrox academy.

Now whether they’ve saved £250,000 by having 13 less mouths to feed at the academy is up for debate.

But they now have 13 less players to pay, two of which had already made first team appearances for the Ibrox side.

That’s pretty ruthless, whichever way you want to look at it.

To crush the dreams of young players starting out in their career like that?

Well, that’s effectively hitting the easiest targets at the club, and that pretty much shows that these guys have no scruples.

They’re not going to care what it takes to save money over there.

Whatever it takes, they’re going to do it.

Even if it entails crushing the hopes and dreams of over a dozen of kids.

These early warning signs surely dictate that austerity is inbound?

The next question you’ve got to ask, is how does that affect us?

Well, in reality, we should just be laughing at it, and enjoying our imminent “I told you so” moment.

But these kind of moves should also worry us.

It is no mystery to us that our board dictates our growth, or our decline, based on what happens at Ibrox.

They measure the kind of threat that Ibrox presents to us, and they act accordingly.

So, what kind of threat does an Ibrox operation in the throes of austerity present to us?

Well, the sort of threat that would have our board rubbing their hands gleefully.

The sort of threat that would lull them into believing 5 in row is in the bag.

The sort of threat that would make them less inclined to spend big on the players Brendan Rodgers requires to strengthen his squad for Europe.

And bring in players like a youth player with no first team experience from Fulham.

Last night, I said that the worries we have about or board come from a place of PTSD.

From the experiences we had during the ill-fated Covid season.

The reality is that if austerity is the way forward at Ibrox for the immediate future, then our board will see them as no threat to us.

It’s distinctly possible that they could think we’ll be able to coast it over the next year or two.

In reality, this should not factor into their thought process at all.

Europe should be the priority, first and foremost.

Especially if the threat from Ibrox is minimal for now.

But if the American owners are intent on rebuilding the club and making it sustainable, then we need to be insulating ourselves against that threat.

We need to continue building for the future, so that if they do get their act together at Ibrox, we will be more than equipped to deal with it.

The 2020/21 season was a teachable moment for the Celtic board.

They have no idea what is coming down the tracks at Ibrox.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, as the old saying goes.

That starts on the 16th of this month.

The official unveiling of Kieran Tierney today was good news all round.

Now we need to augment the squad with more players of his calibre.

Let’s get it done Celtic!