Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Kilmarnock v Celtic - Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Britain - April 16, 2023 Celtic non-executive Chairman Peter Lawwell in the stands before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Michael Nicholson ignored the last ditch pleas of Brendan Rodgers to sign a striker, instead he delivered another trading profit from the January transfer window.
The sale of Matt O’Riley to Brighton in August ensured a transfer surplus to add to the £77m in the bank at the end of June, with that in mind the Celtic CEO repeated the trick over the January transfer window despite having an extra three days to strengthen the Celtic squad.
Kyogo Furuhashi and Alexandro Bernabei were sold for a combined £15m with just under £10m spent on signing Jota from Rennes.
Adding a further glow to the finances Barcelona recalled Alex Valle while Stephen Welsh, Luis Palma and Odin Thiago Holm went out on loan with the last two part of the disastrous summer 2023 intake masterminded by Mark Lawwell.
Rodgers overcame seven horrendous signings from the Chairman’s son to deliver the double of SPFL title and Scottish Cup, this season he secured the League Cup, has a double digit lead in the SPFL and took Celtic into the lucrative Round of 16 Play Off in the Champions League.
Next week Bayern Munich will become the fifth Champions League opponents to visit Celtic Park with gate money of around £3m generated plus a hospitality bonanza.
Rodgers and his squad have generated the profits but a basic request to strengthen the squad from the manager was completely ignored by the CEO in order to ensure a profit.
The day before the Transfer Window closed Rodgers told The Herald:
My feeling was always once Kyogo was gone, was to have someone else to come in. I don’t know exactly where it’s at at this moment, but I’d be hopeful that we can do that.
But the demand is still there to improve the squad. We have to make sure that there’s constant improvement. That’s been clear. I don’t need to fall out with anyone over it.
The January 2025 failings are similar to those of a year ago, soon afterwards Mark Lawwell decided to move on to fresh challenges although a new job has still to be announced.
Chairman Daddy used the 2023 Interim Report to explain the failings of the club to invest in the only area that matters, the playing squad.
Peter said:
The Board recognises the inherent inefficiencies of holding excess cash, and, in conjunction with other cash commitments, the importance of investing in strengthening the team to deliver football success. The Board shares the frustrations of the supporters regarding the less than anticipated activity in the recent transfer window.
Those inherent inefficiencies have been repeated, the squad is short of a striker and specialist left-back despite going into the window in as strong a position as could be imagined.
Clearly the CEO has no ambition of causing an upset against Bayern Munich and is prepared to hoover up the remaining monies from the Champions League and exit the competition with a whimper.
A win over Dundee on Wednesday will put Celtic 13 points clear in the SPFL with 13 matches left to play, their nearest challengers were only able to add Raphael Fernandes on loan from Lille during the Transfer Window.
Rodgers is expected to win the title, has a better than 50-50 chance of retaining the Scottish Cup to ensure a summer of executive self-congratulations.
August brings jeopardy in the shape of Champions League qualifiers. Celtic will go into the Play Off round with the victors gaining access to a likely £40m pay day from at least four home matches in the group stage. Their opponents will be well prepared and motivated.
Going into those matches with Adam Idah as the only striker would be another high risk strategy, on previous experiences no significant spending will be authorised until the final days of the summer window IF qualification to the group stage is ensured.
This January Window was Nicholson’s fourth as CEO, in his first Ange Postecoglou and Frank Trimboli held his hand through the signings of Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Matt O’Riley with three of them involved in the January 26 win away to Hearts.
Nicholson knows how to do the job, for his own reasons it seems that the extent of his ambitions is to stay just ahead of his Sydney Super Cup business partners no matter how dire things get at Ibrox.
Should Michael Nicholson lead Celtic's Summer 2025 Transfer Window business?
Yes, he has priceless experience, the only man for the job
No, never again, his failings are piling higher and higher
Really don’t think Nicholson has anything to do with it. Is he a decoy CEO for Mr Lawell to avoid flak
Who is surprised…??…Certainly not me…It was obvious from the start of the transfer window that next to nothing would happen…and so its proved to be…In fact I’ll go further and say its been a shambles and an embarrassment…But the faithful through and through brigade will continue to pour their money into the Club…while batting their gums on line…Sorry..but..KERCHING…is king.
Meant to ask Editor..Why is Nicholson allowed to vote in your poll..??
Editor: Don’t be surprised, the Balance Sheet Bhoys are strong in number, they even have their own websites to praise their Fiscal Heroes.
I see 3 other Board members have voted since my first post…Well spotted Editor…you called it right.
Proud to be part of the faithful through and through brigade…..can’t buy if no one is going to sell and why should we be held to ransom because we’re supposed to have a healthy bank balance… coming out of this window without some of the deadwood and having jota back is good business… yours faithful through and through
Rodgers should have been adamant and put his foot down that kyogo doesn’t go until we have a replacement,so who overruled him , liewell, Nicholson or golf heed Desmond,the whole thing stinks.
Jungle veteran you state that one can’t buy if no one is going to sell,it didn’t seem to hinder Rennes did it? Can you explain please?
Emmm they wanted to sell and we got rid of a player that didn’t want to be here anymore.. only my opinion but we done better out of that deal.., for a professional player kyogo didn’t understand the offside rule…
There is a real whiff of hun coming from you
There’s always one our Board can rely on…Along with thousands of others.
Thank you unidentified Board member.
What’s changed? Fck all so we just go round and round with the same old shouting matches.
Like always where is the invisible man (Desmond)when needed on the golf course they’re all as one another liars all if I was Rodgers I’d be outta there quick fire ABSOLUTE DISGRACE
You do have to wonder about BR’s attitude to this…Check out the final words in his statement…He’s not going to fall out with anyone about this…!!!…I’d be feckin’ raging.
Once again negativity from the the celtic big wigs, surely treating the fans with contemp again they have to move in.
To be honest I cannot see BR extending his stay with us, I’m sure the board will welcome yet another yes man into the managers seat with false promises , again this tells you that PL and his cohorts do not plan to keep Scotlands shame at arms length , they want them strong so he can forge ahead with the European league dream that they desire, with the bonuses that goes with it … joke
Window closed 10-13 pts in lge still in Scot’s cup and Europe. And 1 cup in bag. Time to just get on with it. In Jan it’s like panic buy at navids. U could end up with butter beans rubber gloves or pineapplade.
Hi hun
Read out the balance sheet instead of the team sheet before games.
Going back to the last January transfer window, we sold Turnbull and Abada while bringing in Kuhn and Idah on loan so we turned a profit then as well.
The summer before that we sold Jota and Starfelt and, yip you guessed it, turned another profit.
Rodgers should have been adamant and put his foot down that kyogo doesn’t go until we have a replacement,so who overruled him , liewell, Nicholson or golf heed Desmond,the whole thing stinks.
How can we get rid of PL Nicolson sand the rest of the cohorts with their biscuit tin mentality profit profit profit get rid now FFS
I think you could be right:
it’s as simple as PL insisting on trying to turn a profit at every window – regardless?
Really, really disappointed that KT wasn’t bought yesterday.
That could have at least presented some good news to the support,
and served as a useful deflection to the missing striker purchase?
But, no.
With £70M? in the bank, the team, the support, BR didn’t deserve even that!
Are we supporting a football team, or an industrial sized piggy bank? 🙁
Probably Arteta that scuppered the KT deal…
He will be wanting to curry favour with The Sevco Hun Hoards and looking to be the manager at Liebrox when he becomes a has been also ran in England !
Lets face it our esteemed Chairman whilst CEO was reported as saying that the loss of Sevco to the league cost Celtic 5M a season. His poodle will obviously never let his master down so we don´t push on and leave them behind. Both are forgetting that with them out of the way the 30M bounty was within our grasp EVERY year whilst they were out of the way, and what happened? Remember Cluj ? Ferencvaros ?
When we were crying out for new players to improve the squad SO THAT we could qualify and enter the League phase .. we waited and ONLY signed WHEN we qualified! This year we sell Kyogo and his goals and put all the pressure on Idah (with Kenny and wantaway Cummings as back up) Ok Jota is back and what push Daizen in the middle ? Brendan said in the press conference that was NOT the plan .. so what happened? The squad is weaker of that there is no doubt BUT on the other hand it does open up possibilities for the B team players to come in … Turley, Murray (who Brendan said in the conference was thrown in against Villa to show him the level that he needs to play at .. obviously not expecting him to make the mistake for the 4th !! Hopefully that won´t haunt the boy ?!) and of course Cummings who has one foot out of the door and due to our lack of forward thinking (when Kyogo had supposedly made it clear that he wanted away because he wants to play for Japan and the manager won´t pick him as he doesn´t rate the league.
Even Daizen who was once a starter now only just makes the bench behind 2 guys playing in Holland .. so will he be wanting away in the summer ? Will Reo ? ) So we are keeping a young lad who doesn´t see his future here and losing out on the deal (turned down 500-600K and will pick up a development fee of around 300-400K when he moves on) … Just wonder IF we had drawn Brest instead of Bayern and were 5pts instead of 10 (13 if we win the game in hand on Wednesday), would the window have been different?