There was a very familiar feeling to last night’s defeat in Rotterdam for most Celtic fans last night.
Normally an underprepared side featuring players short of playing time got exposed in Champions League qualifiers but last night it was on the big stage with all the trimmings and crucially for the club executives, huge payments.
For years former CEO Peter Lawwell would tell his favoured reporters or the AGM about how Celtic aspired to be a Champions League club in everything that they do.
Held hostage by the poverty of Scottish football the countries most prominent club was working bravely to maintain a presence and respect on the continent, such as that November night in 2012 when Barcelona were humbled.
Since then there has been just two Champions League victories- after last night that statistic is looking like remaining static for at least another year.
Lawwell earned himself a place on the board of the talking shop known as the European Club Association where his influence is token, much like Celtic’s appearances in UEFA’s prime competition.
With his domestic title shifted from CEO to Chairman his influence on the club is all encompassing, highlighted by last night’s dismal performance away from the comfort zone provided by the SPFL.
A year ago there was consolation in playing well for one hour against Real Madrid and ‘what if’ moments from Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda.
Feyenoord are certainly not a Real Madrid with the only consolation to be taken from Matchday One being that the scoreline was only 0-2.
In 12 months the team and squad have gone backwards at a rapid rate, as others improve Celtic regress.
With £72m in the bank account at the end of June it almost feels that the Chairman’s policy is to prepare for failure, as if there is some sort of managed decline.
Celtic PLC is preparing for failure, not for success.
This from Lawwell below makes that absolutely clear. pic.twitter.com/KACEArZXl9
— IndependentAndFreeOfTories (@theoldgovanarm1) September 19, 2023
People are not getting the important point, we have 72M in the bank, CL results are for peasant with scarfs, not executives with club ties.
Told ye all, Lawwell was back, and some of ye gave me pelters, the only sad thing about tonight was predictability.— Joe (@JGS1888) September 19, 2023
This happy clapping justification of continuous FAILURE was brought to you by Lawwell stooges. 0 standards.
£72 million in bank. Yet tonight is consequence of awful summer window, once again failing to build from period of strength. Post-2012 our UCL group record: P25 W2 D5 L18 https://t.co/Jt4ifcH0v9
— Michael McDonald (@Mikey_Bhoy_1993) September 19, 2023
Peter Lawwell:
“Has anyone considered severely weakening our first eleven?” pic.twitter.com/zf6dYxDHyl
— Edgar Blamm (@EdgarBlamm) September 19, 2023
I am convinced back in March, Ange went to the board for money for the next stage and was told he wouldn’t get what he wanted. That then alerted his mate at Spurs, then he is off. It smacks of Lawwell.
— Giza Power (@Giza1610) September 20, 2023
Never bought into the Lawwell thing …but after yesterday’s statement….it’s clear, well do nothing in Europe as long as he’s here….the guy has zero ambition, except to the shareholders
— Grant (@coll_wild) September 19, 2023
“£41 MILLION pre-tax profit. This represents a record set of financial results for the club,” said a beaming Peter Lawwell, who became chairman in January.”
They don’t care about these hidings in Europe every year. Company is making a profit.
— Kevin McCallum (@oldpesky) September 19, 2023
Profit and Loss FC! Lawwell players. Lawwell’s standard!
— Simply Me. (@AnnieNob18183) September 19, 2023
Celtic in Europe is a lot like playing snakes and ladders, but without any ladders. (Lawwell sold those)
— John G ?? (@TicV67) September 19, 2023
We,as fans,only have ourselves to blame for this annual shambolic fuckfest !
We allow this ambition free parasite to lord it over us like some feudal Lord a la Henry the eighth, feasting at the EUFA banqueting table every year while throwing us serf like supporters some crumbs and telling us to be grateful that we are being allowed to watch him and his pals getting fatter and fatter at our expense.
When do we finally say to these leeches that enough is enough and start to mobilise against them and cutting off the supply that continues to keep him and his tory mates on the board at Celtic Park.
We should be organising an immediate TOTAL BOYCOTT of all merchandise until this shameless bastard Lawwell is run out of Paradise for ever.
That means……..
NO Paradise windfall tickets
NO halftime pies and bovril
NO Adidas kits
It means what it says on the tin,we buy absolutely nothing apart from our season books and match day tickets because the ONLY way to get this mob to understand is to hit them where it hurts.
We continue to encourage these bastards by throwing our money at them and we are given inexperienced projects to play at the world’s premier club football tournament, two of which got themselves sent off last night because they were totally out of their depth.
I could go on for hours and list the shit they have inflicted upon us while they pissed down on us from above and told us it was summer rain !
There is an old saying that charity begins at home……This mob take that adage to the absolute extreme.
How many more seasons are we prepared to put up with this ?
When do we, as a fanbase, say we have had our fill of their shite ?
When do we actually stop moaning about it and get off our arses and mobilise against zhe only thing stopping us from being a success in Europe !! ??
You say.. No purchases …Apart from Season Books and Matchday Tickets..???…
Seriously ..???
Don’t buy pies or Windfall Tickets….??.
Seriously…??
Lawwell wouldn’t sleep at night if that was implemented.
WOW !!
OK,brain of Britain,what’s your idea to get a positive response from the board regarding implementing a viable transfer policy whereby the team can flourish instead of what we have had in place for around two decades.
I see you conveniently omitted the bit about purchasing the most expensive part of my remedy,ie,the numerous kits they bring out every season but that wouldn’t suit your agenda.
Instead of decrying any suggestions to rectify this dire situation why don’t you give us all the benefit of your wisdom…..or are you happy with the status quo(and l don’t mean the shitey rock band).
I’ll wait !!
I had a Season Ticket for 18 years…and in protest at the way The Board was operating…I GAVE IT UP….What’s your situation…?? ..If everybody gave theirs up…That would send a message…But not buying KITS…PIES …and WINDFALL TICKETS…??….Gie’s a break.
Did I hear that Celtic FC has just cleared off loans totalling £50 million…??…How’s that for timing…??…Ye couldnae mark their neck with a blow torch.
What we should consider is a boycott of the last of this season’s CL games ,it will be a dead rubber going by our last ten or so years in Europe,If we finish fourth and already out then that would be a good game for a no show.simething needs done for this board to stop treating us like cash cows ,and serving us cheap project players to take on the elite of European football,we might even break SEVCOs record for being worst ever in Europe,these terrible Euro results are never ending.
Says it all…good post…and very good suggestion for last game…if needed
Our model is to stay one and a half steps ahead of The Rangers and nothing more.
That has many returns for the club: it keeps interest in the league from broadcasters and sponsors and portrays the illusion of a competitive league.
How much money do we need in the bank ?
It’s already gone beyond a joke.
Bringing back BR now seems like just a convenient PR ploy?
He / we have returned to February 2019:
a manager and support who are frustrated in a lack of European ambition from
the Board,
…and the Board – and the transfer business? – controlled by Lawwell.
Bob,the fish rots from the head !
Until we get our act together this board won’t sort theirs out.
The absent landlord, who fucks about on assorted golf courses trying to get his handicap to a respectable level rather than pay us the courtesy of attending the club AGM is laughing at us with his mate with the heated driveway while we keep the money rolling in as we struggle to heat our homes each winter.
More fool us because we all know the problem AND we all know the answer but are too lazy to do anything about it.
At least the huns protest about their problems but we ,for some reason, seem to just sit there in silence.
#Back of the bus CSC !
Do what I did…
Give up your Season Ticket.
Hard thing to do…But for me…the right thing to do.
While I admit that I was sceptical about Brendan Rodgers returning to Celtic FC after his disappearing act first time around , I slowly came round to the idea that he was the one guy who would agree to the manager’s job under his terms !
My hope was that he above everyone else would know that playing in Scottish football ,season after season ,with all of its failings , especially it’s financial poverty ,would be like playing with 9 men every game .Rodgers is a smart operator ! So how does playing St Johnstone ,Livingston ,Dundee and the like every other week ,make Celtic FC a feared UCL club with the greatest respect ?
Why do you think we struggle to entice £8 million + players to Glasgow ? Does the standard of our football league have anything to do with it ? You better believe it does ! Yes ,starting off in another set up means beginning in the lower leagues, but it will be relatively quick to reach the top and the financial rewards on offer ….then we can attract the expensive quality of players required for Europe .
That was my vision when Lawwell brought back Rodgers . It seems that the drawings and blueprints are still at the architect’s office ?
Editor: If Celtic moved to England it could be long odds of ever playing in the Champions League. Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs lost out this season, Celtic need to make the most of circumstances which are a near certain shot at the UCL every season.
John,the drawings and blueprints are in your imagination.
Like you,l was sceptical about Brendan Rodgers return but like you l thought it would be on his terms which would mean that Lawwell senior would be told by the Irish Billy goat to keep well out of the affairs of the running of the club and be content with being a figurehead.
We were led to believe the manager had a £30m transfer warchest,plus any profits on player sales being put at his disposal.
I am not saying that the two lads sent off last night are bad players, anything but…….However, they totally exposed themselves as being ill equipped for Champions League football by their actions last night due to their inexperience.
The Feyenoord players made the most of every opportunity to test as weak a referee as l have seen on the European stage.
I had to pinch myself to make sure he wasn’t supplied by the SFA,an absolutely shocking display by him.
We will continue to be mauled at this level until we have people in the boardroom controlling the purse strings who will equip the manager with the tools he requires for the job.
So where does the progression and evolution come from …playing St Mirren and the like ,every other week ? I disagree with your answer ! If Scottish football is as good as it’s ever going to be for Celtic FC a lot of people will be demoralised and you know what that ends up looking like !
Good article. The Liewells influence at the club is sadly all encompassing. This rubbish he spouts in the accounts about the cash buffer being required so that we don’t have to sell players in season’s where we don’t make the CL. We sell the best players every close season anyway, CL participation or not – Jota for example……
Brilliant article and brilliant comments, especially those of William Melvin.
Lawwell’s “ambition” begins and ends with an individual whose initials are PTL.
An absolute piece of tory scum whom I’ve been calling out for well over a decade and lapdog to the golfer who lives around Dublin and the rest of the world, of ‘course’.
Lawwell’s greedy paws are qall over this but if it can be proved then he can be forcibly removed as he has NO executive power according to Company Law. It’s why PLCs are heavily dissuaded from appointing ex-executives as Chairmen because, like Lawwell, they just can’t help but interfere.
The fitba? A game we could have won against bang-average opposition but had FAILURE writ large by every one of them bar Liam Scales and Daizen Maeda.
Hatate looks like he’s suffering from a mental breakdown and after last night I probably do too! Brendan is far from blameless here! Why TF did he start Daizen on the right with the hapless, hopeless Palma on the left when Yang looks a far better option to play on the right with Daizen in his best position mainly on the left but covering ‘every blade’ as he does. Grrrrrrrrrr! Far from finished here but a protest by our supporters to get the fat baztard Lawwell and his boss-man TF out and away from OUR CLUB.
Bloody Hell Pistol Pete has some scars in that photo with his Chief Executive…
Probably got them by not having his seat belt on in that serious car crash of a season with Neil Lennon –
He could do with learning how to tie a tie as well !
Interestingly, about that picture above you refer to, look closely at the suits and coats.
A kind of Celtic ‘uniform’? (The blacks over greys revealing their lack of personality?)
But the point here is: just WHO TF paid for them.
Made to measure in 1 single and one double breasted (coats) and 2 single-breasted (suits) but identical material for coats and very similar for suits. Same tailor!!!!
Aye, but who TF paid for them?
PLEASE NAW…… no’ the supporters again……I cannae take this any more.
You bet it was the Supporters Tic Toc…
These leeches won’t be paying for it.
By our silence and lack of action…we’ve got what we deserve.
Definitely the support would’ve paid for a good percentage of them for sure…
I think the suit jackets anyway should be green (possibly bottle green) and have the club crest on them –
These grey suits are ever so bland – but these old grey men are ever so… well grey and bland…
They probably sit at home looking at a stocks and shares computer listening to classical music –
It certainly won’t be Rebel Songs for sure !!!