In less than two weeks time Celtic will have a ‘new’ chairman.
It is an appointment that the club is keeping very low key, almost as nondescript as the decade in the seat from Ian Bankier, a former Clydeport colleague of Peter Lawwell.
Other than a website statement endorsed by Dermot Desmond, Michael Nicholson, Ange Postecoglou and Bankier there hasn’t been a thing from Celtic as their former £3.5m a year CEO ‘returns’ to the boardroom as chairman.
From out of the shadows a dark presence is about to emerge, one that kept the handbrake on all aspects of the club’s development with the exception of executive pay.
Strangely in his 16 months out of work there has been no Arsenal type stories about the big hitter with clout across European football, as his unquestioning messengers never tired of stressing with zero evidence to back up their claims.
Since he stepped down as CEO on 1 July 2021 his Director of Legal and Football Affairs, Michael Nicholson has taken on the role of CEO while Mark Lawwell, Pete’s boy has been catapulted in as Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment from a minor background role at Manchester City.
Completing the familiar background is Tom Allison, an independent, non-executive director since 2002. Allison is joined on the Remuneration Committee by former Labour MP Brian Wilson.
Lawwell had been a Financial Controller at Celtic in the early nineties under the Kelly’s and White’s before returning in October 2003 as Chief Executive on a salary of £250,000.
At that time Celtic were UEFA Cup finalists, had taken seven points from their Champions League group and were about to beat Teplice and Barcelona in the UEFA Cup before losing out to Villarreal. In the last 19 years there hasn’t been a single victory in a knock out tie. In less than 12 months Giovanni van Bronckhorst managed four knock-out victories.
During the year that Lawwell joined Celtic, club turnover was a healthy £69m with the CEO picking up 0.36% of turnover.
Under the new direction income stalled on most fronts, there wasn’t any spectacular sponsorship deals, broadcasting agreements, retail contracts. With a worldwide brand Lawwell hitched Celtic in with an east end brewery whose logo was banned from being used in most European countries.
By 2019, after another Champions League failure turnover had edged up to £83.4m, had it kept track with inflation it would have reached £104m. One aspect of the club had far outpaced inflation, the CEO took home £3.5m in salary and bonus, now accounting for 4.2% of turnover.
For every £100 spent on a Season Ticket £4.20 went to the CEO who had been outsmarted by AEK Athens, Maribor and Malmo in recent seasons with each Champions League failure costing the club directly around £20m without taking into account the increased fees that you get for Champions League players compared to the Europa League types.
There are multiple examples of Lawwell’s failings on the football front.
Rather than growing a club/brand, parts of the stadium were closed. For the 2014 Europa League group stage the top tier covering three sides of the stadium was out of bounds.
Promoting Ronny Deila from Assistant Manager candidate to First Team Manager is a typical Lawwell false economy. Employing people dependent on him rather than the best person for the job was a trademark. Two Strachan’s are on the payroll, one might actually be quite decent but that is a happy accident.
In 2016 Desmond got fed up with the downward spiral at the club, appointed a top manager with the CEO a picture of misery as Brendan Rodgers was introduced to the media.
It took Lawwell two years to regain control, two seasons that brought all six domestic trophies and successive Champions League campaigns. Turnover soared. The first trebles since pre-Lawwell.
Back in the driving seat John McGinn was ditched for Youssof Mulumbu. Moussa Dembele sold with Vakoun Bayo brought in at the next transfer window. Scott Sinclair eased aside for cut price replacements in Lewis Morgan and Marian Shved.
The Shved deal was the clincher for Rodgers, within a month Lawwell had Neil Lennon back in place, praising his CEO to anyone that would listen. No recruitment process was involved with Lawwell again appointing his favourite caretaker on a permanent basis. He knew the city was good enough for the CEO.
Behind the footballing issues there are other matters where Lawwell’s ego has harmed Celtic, at the 2019 AGM, with a £3.5m pay packet to fall back on it seems that the long serving CEO let his arrogance go too far.
In his usual manner he laughed off one question about the election of Rod Petrie as President of the SFA.
A little more awkwardly he squirmed at his climbdown over a statement the club had made following John Beaton’s display at Ibrox. Tea and biscuits with Ian Maxwell at Hampden had resolved the matter, just like Steven McLean in the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final the SFA know that they can inflict anything on Celtic with barely a whimper of complaint from Lawwell.
There was one final question that exposed the arrogance of the Celtic CEO and his contempt for the supporters that have contributed to his multi-millionaire lifestyle.
Lawwell was asked if anyone from Celtic had been involved in the 2012 Five Way Agreement that provided a separate set of rules for the Ibrox Tribute Act founded by Charles Green.
Rather than flannel and deflect his answer the Celtic CEO laughed that he hadn’t even seen a key document in the governance of Scottish football. At the 2022 AGM Nicholson admitted that he had read the document.
Some shareholders were very concerned by the ‘I haven’t even seen it’ comment about the Five Way Agreement. There are reliable email trails to suggest that it had been sent to the Celtic CEO. Some issues aren’t for Rory Bremner comments.
There is only one conclusion to draw- either Lawwell deliberately mislead the Celtic AGM or he is incompetent over Scottish football legislation. Which one is it?
The day after he becomes chairman he will be on duty at Ibrox for the Loving Cup ceremony, an apt location to kick off a tired new era at the club.
So, what’s the answer Joe??
Lol Groundhog Day returns shouldn’t be to long now before he brings back the ALKIE Lennon.
If I was Ange I would be watching my back.
Liewell once again returns to pick up a coin from the dafties buying season books,remember for every £100 handed over to these CHISLING bastards Liewell is collecting the best part £5 that’s a lot of fivers,think on that when your parting with your cash.
KERCHING£!
So he lied previously when he was in post so more of the same then eh,if he ain’t telling lies he will be on his favourite sponsored silence.
When an excited Celtic coach who had done a month of work scouting a player with background checks approached Lawwell, Lawwell authorised a trip to France in the club hired private jet. He was told bid 1.5 M and the player will become a Celtic player. On the day of the scouting mission the player has a stormer and bags a hatrick.
Lawwell bids 750K which is rejected instantly. The player signs instead for Montpellier sighting that he wanted to sign for Celtic but didn’t feel wanted. The player,.. Olivier Giroud, World Cup winner and 2 time finalist signed for Arsenal 12 months later for 13M and playing at top level since. The trip cost the club a lot more than trip expenses and hiring off private jet.
Our club runs much more efficiently without the input of our soon to be new chairman.
for ceo taking a wage of 3.5 million plus pension pot plus share discounts and expenses etc was robbery on a turn over around 75 million pounds per annum now this greedy bastard is back never left mckay knew what was going on between him and the other buddy desmond both have held celtic really going forward they are just happy to keep the nice arrangement with the bigots look what they done season 21 gave the leauge to the bigots.
Lol looks like we are living in China or Russia with James Forrest from the Celtic blog taking the nip with posts being blocked,a few home truths and the guy doesn’t want to know about it,while blagging points made in the posts and putting them out there as his own,that’s what’s called plagiarism which he is forever calling Jackass Jackson out on.
Typical bias and lop sided report Joe.
You should be better than that.
Editor: Feel free to highlight the inaccuracies in this report.
We don’t all have CQN group think, I hope the return of your hero is cut short before he picks up where he left off. First £1m/year Chairman in UK football?
It is a rotten crew that run our Club. That goes against the moral compass of the vast majority of Celtic supporters who hold to honest values and the traditions of our Club.
Lawwell is anathema to those values. He reeks of dishonesty and duplicity. He is a jumped-up accountant who has corrupted himself and become a gambler. He is like Nick Leeson who ruined Barings Bank through dishonest means and practices. He had more power at Celtic than he has the ability to handle fairly and he is a failed operator at our Club.
The only reasonable explanation for his re-appointment is that we are going to take a nose-dive as a football Club, we are planning for Bust after our current Boom and success under our new manager. We do not have to go there!
Lawwell Out!
Lawwell was not on £3.5m per year, that is misleading. His salary was circa £1.75m. The oft quoted £3.5m is arrived at by including deferred bonuses over a 3 year(possibly 2, not sure) period, including annual salary forcthexyear in question. This does not mean in any way that I support him or his methods, simply a matter of accuracy, but the suggested sum lends artificial credence to the hype, which is worthy of the SMSM in general.