Before departing Celtic, Peter Lawwell uses Hugh Keevins to portray him as a kindly old man, forced out of the job he loved by a bunch of goons…

As 2025 draws to a close, the most divisive figure in Celtic’s modern history will depart the club.

Love him or loathe him, Peter Lawwell will be remembered for many reasons, and not all of them good.

I personally do not know the man, nor do I have any real wish to.

I’m sure he feels the same about me, as for years now, I’ve been a strong critic of his.

And that’s putting it mildly.

As a blogger, I’m fully aware that he read what we wrote about him down through the years.

If he didn’t like something, he was very quick to demand it was taken down.

My colleague James over on The Celtic Blog can attest to that.

Needless to say, Peter Lawwell held a lot of people in disdain, but I would imagine he held a special kind of disdain for those of us that make up The Trinity Tims.

For anyone who doesn’t know, that’s myself, Joe McHugh, and James Forrest.

There is no love lost between either party.

If I had a pound for every article I wrote on Read Celtic about Peter Lawwell, I reckon I’d have a nice chunk of cash.

I’d like to say that this will be my last article on the man, but somehow, I don’t think it will be.

My gut tells me that after over a quarter of a century of involvement with the club, he won’t just walk off into the sunset.

Only time will tell if I’m correct on that score, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Over the last few weeks, one of my commenters on the blog has been at pains to tell me Peter Lawwell’s end of year departure has been planned for quite some time.

He says he heard it from a source inside Celtic Park last August that he would be leaving his post at the end of 2025.

In light of this, he likes to point out that the Celtic Fans Collective had little or nothing to do with his impending departure.

He believes it was preordained.

I would beg to differ on that particular point.

Even if it was, or it wasn’t, Lawwell has decided to use the Celtic Fans Collective, and various other fan groups, as the reasoning behind his departure.

Personally, I don’t doubt that he probably planned to retire at the end of 2025.

The fact that he used the current stand off between the board and the fans as his reasoning gives us a very good insight into the kind of person he is.

Calculating and devious.

It shows us the level of contempt he holds for the people who paid his bloated salaries for the better part of the 21st century.

This morning in the Daily Record, the potshots as he heads for the exit door continue.

His mouthpiece this morning?

None other than serial Celtic basher, Hugh Keevins.

Of all the people he could’ve chosen to call on the telephone, he chose this man?

Once again, calculating and devious.

Any man who calls himself a lifelong Celtic fan does not approach a man who makes a living out of castigating the club he claims to love.

Lawwell, though, is a different animal.

He knows that Keevins would happily run with a story about the evil Celtic fans who have made his life a misery.

There is no love lost between Keevins and the Celtic fans.

Most intelligent Celtic fans see Keevins as a clown.

A clown attempting to be a shock-jock, but failing miserably at it.

Lawwell, of course, is fully aware of this.

Hence the reason he decided to use this hasbeen as his mouthpiece.

Keevins duly obliged, and then some.

He made out like Peter Lawwell was a kindly old man, who was forced out of the job he loved by a bunch of criminalistic goons.

And that’s what’s so galling about all of this.

Because Keevins is the epitome of a stenographer who loves to exaggerate facts that are at best, questionable.

Every week, he believes fully in the bollocks he writes, and every week he gets it wrong.

Last week, he predicted the Ibrox side would defeat Hearts and go on to win the title.

This morning, in another article, he says he has it on good authority that Motherwell will defeat Celtic on Tuesday night.

He said his source is impeccably placed.

The source?

Andy Halliday.

Yes, you read that right, true blue Andy Halliday.

An impeccable source indeed.

That’s a win in the bag for Celtic at Fir Park.

In addition to that, Keevins states that this Celtic loss he predicts will propel Hearts closer to the title.

That’s the kiss of death for Hearts’ title aspirations then, isn’t it?

This, then, is the mouthpiece that Peter Lawwell decided to use to take another potshot at the Celtic fanbase?

Now, we know Peter Lawwell isn’t stupid, even though it seems stupid to use someone like Keevins as your voice of reason.

So, if he isn’t stupid, what is he?

Calculating and devious.

This final stunt is designed purely to piss off those he holds in such contempt.

I would say he achieved that, if it wasn’t so blatantly obvious what he was actually up to.

Because you can read what Keevins has written and it will get your hackles up, if you allow it to.

But if you’re smart enough, you can see right through it.

You can see it exactly for what it is.

I’m not going to dissect it entirely like I usually do, I don’t need to.

It speaks for itself.

But I will point out one particular segment.

As it concludes, Keevins decides to point out the good that Green Brigade engages in when helping with food banks in Glasgow:

I therefore publicly recognise, and unreservedly praise, that kindness towards their fellow man, and woman, and ask one question of that supporters’ group at the same time.

Surely, in the spirit of reconcilliation, they can also drive out those who would blacken their name by indulging in regrettable actions and find ground to mend a broken relationship with the club they support in the interests of harmony and civilised conduct.

A Happy New Year to one and all.

Keevins seems to insinuate that those who would blacken the GB’s name are those who are supposedly engaged in vile online threats to Peter Lawwell.

In other words, any bad element of the Celtic fanbase, has to be involved with the GB.

That shows us just how blinkered this guy is.

What finally shows us that he is the furthest thing from an ‘investigative journalist’ is his comment about the GB mending it’s broken relationship with the club.

If Keevins paid any attention to what goes on at Celtic, he would know that several attempts at reconcilaition have been made by the GB.

All of which have been blanked.

Completely.

How can you find ground to mend a broken relationship with people who will not engage with you?

The Celtic board has withdrawn all forms of engagement with the Celtic fanbase, and Celtic fan media.

They see us as the enemy.

They use the likes of gullible fools like Keevins to wage their propaganda war against us.

The irony in all of this is that Keevins cannot see he was used as a mouthpiece to further blacken the name of the Celtic fanbase.

Not that he cares, of course.

He lives in blissful ignorance.

What else could it be?

The fact that week after week, he gets the majority of his predictions wrong proves that.

Because if he wasn’t blissfully ignorant, then he might, once in a blue moon, admit he got something wrong.

But this is Hugh Keevins we’re talking about here.

Of all the journalists in Scotland, this was the man Peter Lawwell chose to pick the phone up to.

That, in itself, speaks volumes.

I rest my case.

Key Takeaways

• Peter Lawwell’s departure from Celtic marks the end of a controversial tenure, drawing mixed reactions from fans.
• The author expresses a critical view of Lawwell and suggests his motivations may be calculated and devious.
• Lawwell’s choice of Hugh Keevins as a spokesperson raises eyebrows, as Keevins has a history of antagonising Celtic fans.
• The article argues that Keevins’ recent comments misrepresent the relationship between Celtic and the Green Brigade.
• Ultimately, the author views Lawwell’s actions as a deliberate attempt to provoke the fanbase he seems to disdain.