Tonight’s forum/roadshow/question & answer event at Celtic Park was a big success with Peter Lawwell and Neil Lennon answering the questions with Jeanette Findlay in the chair.
The Celtic Trust deserve to be congratulated on the idea, it can’t be easy getting your resolutions at the Annual General Meeting constantly turned down but the Trust is made of substance and their commitment to the club can’t be faulted in any way.
After some preliminaries and guidance the first question put the management issue to Lawwell.
The night was never going to proceed dancing around the main issue surrounding the club with Lawwell giving a diplomatic and honest answer that they were still going through the selection process knowing that the vast majority of the audience are backing Lennon for the job.
Lawwell initially put the timescale at a week to ten days, later on it was a week then later on again it was two weeks but it’s hard to see the club looking beyond Lennon.
Equally diplomatically Lennon respected the way that the club were going about their business, acknowledging that no one had been approached during the season while he was trying to steer the club towards respectability.
During one of the many questions asked about the appointment of a manager Lawwell, almost as an aside, or growing weary of answering the same question said “It’ll be worth the wait”.
Lawwell answered as honestly as could be expected, he had some stock answers to fall back on and is well versed in evading the harshest of questions by highlighting areas that he is more comfortable in.
The failings of the last two years were the main topics for the supporters while Lawwell talked up the successes of the last six highlighting Champions League qualifications although some of his stats were a bit out- claiming that the transfer of Eyal Berkovic brought in £6m.
Unexpectedly he admitted that ‘January 2009 will be on my gravestone” referring to the failure to add anyone other than Willo Flood to the first team squad, adding that the same scouting and sourcing of players this year involved the club in 15 deals incoming and outgoing.
There is clearly a good relationship between Lennon and Lawwell, over the course of the meeting it was difficult to come to any conclusion other than Lennon will be at Celtic in some capacity next season.
Whether it’s as manager remains to be seen, if it’s someone else then appointing Lennon as assistant manager seems a certainty with Lawwell admitting that retaining the current caretaker at the club is something that the board are keen to achieve.
Lennon, as ever, came over very well, whatever the circumstances he’s a natural in dealing with people.
In a press conference he knows what questions are coming, senses the booby-traps, and answers questions without the flannel and cliches associated with too many people in the game.
Amongst a very sympathetic audience tonight he was perfectly at ease, not ducking away from any bouncers and lobbing in the odd throw away remark to lighten the mood when required.
Most supporters clearly feel that the current squad is sub-standard- Lennon defended the players that he publicly slaughtered after the Ross County defeat.
Highlighting the SPL games that he was in charge of, without directly criticising Tony Mowbray, he gave the players credit and claimed that with some tweaking, mainly adding some experience and quality, that the team wasn’t as far away as some would imagine.
Predictable subjects came up from the supporters such as the SFA, referees and the media, with Lawwell and Lennon also highlighting the financial difficulties that are crippling some other clubs across Europe and of close much closer to home.
The best question of the night came from Eddie Toner of the Celtic Supporters Association.
Highlighting the doom and gloom that he was encountering amongst supporters he struck a sombre note discussing the thousands of season ticket holders who weren’t bothering to attend matches that they had paid for.
Almost begging for a signal from the board he ended his question/speech with a rousing endorsement of Lennon for manager to galvanise the support which went down a treat amongst those present.
Lennon instantly thanked Eddie for the rallying cry and suggested that he could be his agent before the two main men reverted to type again explaining the process and criteria involved in selecting a manager.
There was no doubting that the meeting was a great success but as ever actions speak louder than words.
Supporters got to see two of the most important men at the club at close quarters with Lawwell and Lennon engaging in a real dialogue, communicating directly with fans.
I can’t see much more mileage in this series of meetings until the new manager is announced, until that decision is made everyone is in limbo wondering if it’s to be Lennon or who is effectively replacing the current caretaker.
Summing up the meeting Findlay suggested that the club continues to communicate directly with supporters and uses the platform shown tonight to build bridges with a disillusioned but still faithful support.
You can read more comprehensive blow by blow accounts of the meeting on the Celtic Underground or on the Celtic Trust Twitter account.
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Joe, From what I’ve read and heard from the meeting, Mr Lawwell did not say anything that the supporters didn’t know. Typical of these types of meetings ie no further forward.
Instead of saying what matters direct to the fans, the club will use the media (to keep them sweet) to relay the message.
Tam
It’s easy to criticise and I know not everyone could attend.
The meeting was miles more informative and direct than any AGM.
Lawwell can’t give away every detail about the club and finances, equally he can’t comment on how good or bad players are.
He did meet supporters, it would be easy to hide, answered as best as he could, listened to some strong criticism.
Clearly season ticket sales are a major concern but I’m not aware of any Premiership or SPL clubs willing to throw the doors open to anyone to question their Chief Exec and caretaker manager.