Many Celtic fans cut through the gloss of the official announcement from Celtic about Peter Lawwell’s departure to celebrate news that after almost 18 years he will be leaving.
Back in 2003 when he became CEO Celtic had re-established themselves in European competition on a turnover of around £70m. Seville was fresh in the mind, Anderlecht, Bayern Munich, Lyon and Barcelona visited Celtic Park with the hoops winning three and drawing with the German champions.
Lawwell’s initial salary was under £200,000, in the year to June 2019 his salary had risen to an amazing £3.5m with turnover of £83.4m.
There is no denying that after replacing Ronny Deila the club has enjoyed unprecedented domestic success but most fans would put Brendan Rodgers down as the driver for that run of 12 consecutive trophy wins.
During the summer of 2018 the current malaise first came to light when the club failed to sign John McGinn from Hibs. A month after the club signed Marian Shved with Rodgers largely in the dark he had left for Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers confirms Maryan Shved’s imminent arrival at Celtic but appears less than enthusiastic about it: `”We have got about a million wingers, we don’t need another one”https://t.co/WAkJDJ2zmW pic.twitter.com/Jv4LYJmuC4
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) January 23, 2019
Armed with £9m compensation Neil Lennon was the ideal caretaker buying Lawwell time to identify a successor to Rodgers. When Lennon was given the job on a full-time basis many fans were shocked.
Today after spending £35m on players Celtic’s season is in tatters, trailing by 23 points in the SPFL and out of three cup competitions by the end of November. Humiliated 4-1 home and away by Sparta Prague.
Incoming CEO Dominic McKay has a massive job on his hands. While most fans gushed their gratitude to Lawwell a number of supporters voiced their criticism and shared their delight on Twitter.
#CelticFC today announced that Chief Executive Peter Lawwell has decided to retire from his position at the end of June 2021, having held this role for the past 17 years.
Everyone at #CelticFC would like to thank Peter for his monumental contribution to the club’s success. ??
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 29, 2021
That’s your best tweet of the season .
— DB (@DB86_) January 29, 2021
Don’t ruin this news by announcing Lennon until the end of the season.
— Liam (@LK95_) January 29, 2021
Only the Iraqis, when the found Sadam can relate to my relief. Next now it has to be Lennon for the love of god please end Lennon as the boss
— marc cairney (@CairneyMarc) January 29, 2021
I would respectfully disagree mate. He oversaw 17 years of downsizing our club that saw us miss out on millions of CL money and having to sell our best to balance the books. The 1 time he invested in a manager in 17 years (Rodgers) it paid for itself with unprecedented success.
— Owen McGlone (@saranbhoy) January 29, 2021
All the Celtic Fhamily das telling me to be nice to a millionaire who has taken all our season ticket fees this year and delivered nothing. It’s always THIS season that matters most.
— ?MacBreeza? (@macbreeza) January 29, 2021
No revisionism. #lawwell failed. Failed to move the club forward significantly, failed to unshackle the club from the ‘Old Firm’, failed to look after fans and shareholders on #Res12, failed to make inroads into Europe. #poorleadership. #celticfc #lennonout
— Paul Gemmell ?? (@helenandpaul) January 29, 2021
This is good news, hugely successful period for the club, but also very frustrating, given the interference, player sales, and inability to secure assets due to desirory offers.
The dawn of a new era is exactly what the fans needed to boost the moral HH— Clash City Rocker (@clash_rocker) January 29, 2021
This explains further his absolute negligence this season, fella has been on the beach knowing he’s retiring.
He’s fleeced enough from the club, left us sinking and with a horrendous coaching set up
— Luke Bernard-Haigh (@50shadesofhaigh) January 29, 2021
He also failed to back the best manager we had in 15 years, and never saw Celtic win a knock out tie in Europe during his reign.
— Chairman Lmao ? (@BenTheTim) January 29, 2021