Headlines this morning that the liquidation and absence of Rangers is costing Celtic £10m a season has caused alarm among hoops supporters.
Not about the so called loss but by how this figure has appeared six months after Peter Lawwell announced: “We’re in arguably the best financial state we’ve ever been in but it makes no sense to keep the money in the bank. We want to invest in the club by investing in good footballers that create value for the club. ”
That comment came after the club announced a £21.3m profit for the six months to 31 December 2013.
Celtic fans have lapped up the financial news since 2012 as year on year the club announces stronger figures now that they are playing on a relatively level playing field- no longer up against a rival that refuses to pay HMRC the going rate with the backing of the SFA for that policy.
While the doom-mongers forecast Armageddon for the ‘Old Firm brand’ Lawwell set the record straight in an interview with the BBC confirming: “Our aspirations and horizons are to dominate in Scotland but also beyond that; we want to compete at the highest level again in Europe.
“We have a stand-alone strategy, a stand-alone financial plan and a robustness hopefully that will take us through that.
“Times are pretty tough. I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to talk about any individual club, these things are hypothetical at the moment.”
Since that statement Celtic have enjoyed financial success that the club could only have dreamed of. Two Champions League campaigns have cleared the best part of £30m while the transfers of Ki Sung Yeung, Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper, Kelvin Wilson, Fraser Forster and Tony Watt have cleared that figure with something to spare.
As supporters rejoiced in the administration of Rangers, followed by liquidation, very few could have anticipated the £60m windfall coming the club’s way.
The exciting side that Neil Lennon had created on the back of selling Aiden McGeady and Marco Fortune had it all in front of them. With careful spending, good scouting and no financially doped rival to overcome the future looked bright and exciting with expectations that the club would be freed to live like the Ajax or Porto model we’d heard so much about.
With that thought the sales of Ki, Wanyama and Hooper were accepted by supporters as a fact of life, reassured in the knowledge that the profits would re-appear on the pitch with Lennon having a bigger kitty to play with than previously.
Unfortunately the signings of 2013, with the exceptional of Virgil van Dijk, have lumbered the club with a burden rather than an asset with the sale of the Dutchman likely to balance up the losses racked up by the modern amigos of Teemu Pukki, Derk Boerrigter and Amido Balde.
These things happen, every club has had their share of transfer disasters- look at Chelsea with Fernando Torres, Andriy Shevchenko and going further back the £40,000 a week commuter Winston Bogarde.
Celtic have had Rafael Sheidt and Eyal Berkavic while the 2005 contract for Bobo Balde was also a massive mis-judgement. It happens.
Having had our fingers burned in 2013 the need to ensure a repeat of the signing quality of 2010 and 2011 was paramount, to date not a single pound or euro has been spent on a permanent signing- the shift in strategy to loan deals suggests that the club has lost it’s nerve in the transfer market with Deila’s comments about disliking loans adding further confusion. With 36 hours left in the transfer window any signings will have a hint of panic attached.
The loss of the Champions League nights has been cushioned by the realism of what Chelsea could do to the current Celtic side- that isn’t a healthy attitude.
Eighteen months ago Celtic were preparing to face Juventus for a place in the last eight of the Champions League while Chelsea and Manchester City were eliminated at the group stage.
No Celtic fans thinks that the club can compete with English Premiership sides for transfers but we had grown fond of our Victor Wanyama and Mikael Lustig deals, we liked watching Fraser Forster develop into an England keeper, we enjoyed the attention that our jousts with Barcelona attracted.
Mistakes in the transfer market were made a year ago- selling van Dijk to cover those mistakes is a sensible policy.
Celtic fans have an understanding of how the business works unlike their deluded and gullible city neighbours.
We know that it costs a heck of a lot of money to ‘keep the lights on’ to pay for Celtic Park, Lennoxtown, the youth policy and all the associated staff and costs.
A hands up admission about last summers mistakes and a commitment to invest in the same manner as in 2010 and 2011 is all that supporters want to hear.
Yarns about a dead former rival whose tribute act is about to go the same way doesn’t explain away this season’s Champions League failure. There is absolutely no sign of a competitive rival emerging from Ibrox- ever.
In order to reach the riches of the Champions League Celtic need to negotiate past the champions of Sweden, Kazakhstan, Poland and Slovenia. No club in those countries can compete with Celtic in terms of support, income or sponsorship activities.
Repeating the successes of 2010-2011 shouldn’t be too much to ask for, those successes were build on investment or speculation as some may prefer. The summer transfer window of 2014 could have reinforced the strengths of Celtic, sadly it looks as if the ‘Old Firm’ card is being played to the dismay of supporters who wanted to believe that we had moved on.