Jackson calls on Lawwell and Nicholson to explain rainy day fund to fans

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.