Back in January 2021 Celtic were suffering from the final acts of Peter Lawwell’s transfer strategy.
It was a desperate time but there were other things going on in the world, Tier 4 for instance although it hadn’t stopped the CEO from approving a jolly to Dubai for a failing squad of players and lame duck manager just as restrictions on movement across Scotland was being stepped up.
Already it had been a horror season for the fans locked out of Celtic Park. Going into Champions League qualifiers unprepared was a cornerstone feature of Lawwell’s strategy.
A one off tie at home to Ferencvaros should have been a straightforward route to the third round of the Champions League qualifiers but fresh from losing to Cluj at Celtic Park the previous year Lennon repeated that with a 2-1 loss to the Hungarian champions. It was a taste of what was to come.
Vasilas Barkas, Albian Ajeti and Diego Laxalt are names that Celtic fans shudder at, as the squad flew out to Dubai following a defeat at Ibrox that as good as finished their defence of the SPFL Premiership the League Cup had already been surrendered by losing at home to Ross County with bottom place secured in the Europa League.
Dubai was another masterclass in Lawwell’s misjudgement but there was still one more example of his transfer strategy to follow before January was completed.
Show me a bigger downgrade than replacing Jeremie Frimpong with Jonjoe Kenny.
— Paul John Dykes (@PaulJohnDykes) February 10, 2024
Frimpong was signed in the summer of 2019 from Manchester City, a project alongside Lee O’Connor, Luca Connell and Jonathan Afolabi.
The baby faced kid from the Etihad had O’Connor, Hatem Abd Elhamed and Moritz Bauer for competition at right-back but got his chance in a League Cup tie, afterwards Lennon struggled to leave him out.
Frimpong was the story of the season, the club brought out t-shirts with Oh My Days on it, he was everywhere in the team, defying his lack of height and turning in fantastic performances.
It soon became clear that he was worth more to the Balance Sheet than to the first team, even during Lockdown when clubs were putting a freeze on spending there was serious interest in Frimpong.
Of course it never crossed Lawwell’s mind that the young full-back could be a key part of the massive rebuild required almost certainly under new management with Lennon’s days numbered.
With various scouting options put in front of him Lawwell sold Frimpong for £11m, Manchester City were apparently due 30% of that fee with his replacement the utterly hapless Jonjoe Kenny, a fitting addition to the horrendous 20/21 season.
As Frimpong waits to move on to one of Europe’s elite clubs Kenny is struggling in Bundesliga II with Hertha Berlin.
After briefly taking a back-seat while his son was introduced to the club Lawwell Senior is back in charge of the strategy- the one that sells Jota for £25m and hopes for the best from Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun, Luis Palma and Nicolas Kuhn.
Zero lessons have been learned from his first time around, even when Dom McKay showed in one transfer window that there is a way to do business that benefits both the team and the cherished Balance Sheet.
Celtic were expected to release their interim results for the period to 31st December, showing around £100m lying in the bank but opted to hold those results back until after a difficult run of three away matches concluding at St Mirren today.
Dubai was another masterclass in Lawwell’s misjudgement ? i can still see lennon lying along side brown supping his pint , there’s example for you , i’m afraid anyone who thinks this guy is misjudging the game hasn’t been paying attention , losing mcginn , giving the managers job to lennon , Vasilas Barkas, Albian Ajeti and Diego Laxalt , failing to keep foster , numerous players had thrown in the towel wanting a move and expressed it on the field of play.
I will never ever be convinced that failure to win the ten was a home made broth , and the head cook and bottle washer was yours truly , when there are too many coincidences , it’s not a coincidence ! remember the sevco support would have crumbled if we won the ten and that was not in his chase a rolling penny accountants profession , his first loyalty is to the pound , kid yer self not !!
Aye… Lawwell n’ Lennon – The men who blew the ten…
I’m still bloody traumatise by that –
Lennon got a fair chunk of cash and blew it on utter duds all around (Turnbull apart)…
And then Lawwell did the Frimpong / Kenny switcharoo –
Anyway it kept Sevco alive so job done for Pistol Pete !
The biggest Lawwell scandal story came directly from an ex member of staff who scouted a player, went in private jet to France with Lawwell and watched the player score a hatrick. The member of staff told Lawwell, the club will do business at 1.5M, Lawwell bid just under a 1M and was told to get lost.
The player moved a few months later for 1.75 M then 6 months later for 13M.
Olivier Giroud said he wanted to come to Celtic but didn’t feel wanted so signed for Montpellier then Arsenal.
That is cast iron from the person who scouted Giroud and was sitting next to him on private jet.