Keith Jackson has called on the Celtic hierarchy to explain the club’s bulging bank balance and poverty on the pitch.
At the end of June the club had a bank balance of £72m with that figure likely to have increased significantly by the end of the year, or the start of the January Transfer Window to put it in football terms.
On February 10 last year Peter Lawwell announced profits of £33.9m after six months of trading with that figure largely down to playing in the Champions League group stage with three sold out home ties.
Similar figures can be expected to be announced shortly but last month the club was only able to find the funds for a £3m winger from Rapid Vienna and a striker from Norwich City who was announced with an hour left in the Transfer Window.
On Friday during his media duties Brendan Rodgers called on the club to be braver in the transfer market, without defining what that looks like it can be assumed a higher transfer ceiling and age limit was implied.
Since returning to Celtic in June all signings have been aged 24 or under with only Maik Nawrocki costing over £3m.
Fans have been left in the dark about what strategy the club is following, in the Daily Record Jackson asked:
If the men in charge of handling Celtic’s financial affairs are quietly squirrelling money away to create a rainy day fund then they should come out and say so. For example, they may have legitimate concerns over the legal ramifications which have been left behind by the monsters who used to prowl around the club’s inner sanctum in their guise as coaches with the boys club.
If the putrid legacy of these toxic individuals is about to land the current incumbents with a bill for a small fortune then there is nothing to be gained by carrying on and pretending it’s not a real and live issue. Or, if that’s not a genuine concern, then perhaps Celtic may have other plans to spend big on a long overdue refurbishment of the dilapidated and dreary main stand at Parkhead, potentially running into the tens of millions.
Whatever the rationale behind it, they owe it to themselves and, more importantly, to their supporters to come up with a plausible explanation for this lack of ambition and creativity in the transfer market. The fans might not like what they hear or even agree with the thought behind it. But, at the very least, they might be better able to understand. And only then will they begin to give their trust again.
Since becoming CEO in September 2021, Michael Nicholson hasn’t given any interview, not even to club media, outwith his duties associated with the AGM and putting his signature to regulatory statements.
Have said this for a while and he has brought it up. For once I totally agree with Jackson. Hanging onto the cash seems to be for one reason. We shall see.
I don’t ‘totally’ agree with that inbicile Stevie…
His WEAPONISATION of abuse victims for one –
I had wondered about stadium redevelopment possibly being the motivation. Anyone who has taken “the tour” recently will confirm it’s getting pretty dilapidated behind the scenes in the 1920s main stand. If that is the plan, it won’t be a like for like replacement, it would involve a significant increase in capacity, at least 10,000, maybe nearer 15,000, which would further increase matchday revenues, dwarfing everyone else in Scotland and further cementing our in-built advantage…. unless the underinvestment in the playing side leaves us with a team so crap nobody comes to watch it, and allowing Sevco the Champions League funding they desperately need to recapitalise.
Editor: The Main Stand was built in 1971, the frontage added in 1988.
No, sorry Joe, the base of it is still the 1920s Leitch stand. 1971 saw it re-roofed and the paddock fitted with the peculiar choice of orange seats (where I had my first season ticket). The 1980s refurbishment was to add new offices and some corporate facilities onto the back of it. It’s described far better in Simon Inglis’ book ‘The Football Grounds of Great Britain’. It’s a tired old facility now. At least all the buggering about with it in the 70s and 80s saved us from being landed with listed building status!
One week Jacksons calling the Celtic fans entitled for chanting about Lawwell and the board, the next he’s saying we have the right to know what’s going on. His blue bias causes him to flip-flop with his opinions every other week.
That’s probably more to do with him being an imbecile than his biases. That said, even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day…..
The window is closed now so he is safe to have a go, everything is done to aid Sevco.
Wouldn’t a payment like that be an insurance issue? What did the clubs down south have to pay out? I think Man City and Chelsea had the biggest issue in the top tier.
Mathematics was never my strongest subject at school and I’m still to this day not too clever , but even I understand that if Celtic would have spent say £20 million on 4 or 5 next level players in the window ,virtually to guarantee league success and automatic £60 million for CL qualification , that would still give us £40 million in gravy profit . What’s not to like about £40 mill ? Maybe to Mr Desmond that kind of cash is pocket change but to the average Celtic fan that kind of money is integral to the evolution of the club as an entity .
The Celtic board don’t believe in transparency. No need to communicate anything with the entitled fans. So much easier to turn the knife behind closed doors.
The fund is being kept for the Greedy Brigade to have their profit bonus guaranteed year after year.
Does the profit bonus work on a %factor, where the more there is in the bank the more they siphon out.