Many Celtic fans laughed, doubted and derided Brian Wilson when he promised in June that ‘it was going to be a very active few weeks’.
The ‘interim’ Chairman was responding to a question from Gerry McCulloch about backing Martin O’Neill in the transfer market.
To be fair to Wilson he has certainly delivered on his pledge. Celtic have never been more active. Players have been getting shipped out all over the place. The club has been relentless.
Michael Nicholson has been working tirelessly to raise funds.
Cutting the wage bill helps but the real bonus is in transfer fees. So far Celtic are around break even despite making two high profile signings.
That will change soon with high hopes that Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels can be sold off.
Those deals should bank £40m. Perhaps more of Nicholson doesn’t try to get too greedy. He has form for that, missing out on selling Engels in January.
While fans look for a squad capable of competing without embarrassment in the Champions League the accountants, lawyers and politicians in the Boardroom have very different targets.
Neil Lennon, Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers identified the problem.
Fans highlighted seven failures out of nine in attempting to qualify to reach the Champions League.
Regardless of that Wilson has charged full on with company policy.
With LASK of Austria two weeks away Paulo Bernardo was sent on loan to Poland. Not even a fee involved but perhaps 50% of his wages being paid by Gornik Zabrze.
https://youtu.be/f5qLU-KY5vE
Asked if Martin O’Neill would be backed during the transfer window Chairman Wilson (2 minutes) was emphatic in his answer:
Absolutely, and that is very much part of the basis on which he’s wanted to come back and we’ve wanted him to come back.
It’s going to be a very active next few weeks, and we must come out of it with a stronger squad.
It’s worth mentioning maybe for all the criticisms last year, that eight of our players are at the World Cup. We had a lot of very, very good players, so we want to not only retain that strength but also to build on it.
Wilson and his chum Nicholson have certainly been very active.
In removing players from the club.
WILSON IS RELENTLESS AS THE CELTIC SQUAD IS SAVAGED
The Six on loan players were released at the end of their deals without any acknowledgment or thanks.
Gone were Julian Araujo, Tomas Cvancara, Joel Mvuka, Ben Arthur, Marcelo Saracchi and Junior Adamu.
Japanese projects Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura were disposed off. One on loan, one permanently. Both brought in by Dr Football, Paul Tisdale.
Celtic had no intention of retaining Kelechi Iheanacho.
Alongside their Albufeira Four partners they spread the claim that the Nigerian was demanding £47,000 or £50,000 a week to sign a new deal.
Tellingly Celtic let the option that they had on Iheanacho expire.
Kasper Schmeichel announced his retirement on social media. Celtic never commented
Next up Stephen Welsh was released with a year left to run on his contract. Apparently as a goodwill gesture.
Luis Palma was sold to Lech Poznan.
Next up was Maik Nawrocki to Lens.
Ipswich signed Daizen Maeda for a knock-down £8m.
And of Tuesday Paulo Bernardo was sent on loan to Gornik Zabrze.
Next up for Wilson and friends is the Johnston or Engels pay days.
Next up will be Ben Nygren and or Auston Trusty as the Celtic board strips the squad down to the barest of bar bones.
On Friday O’Neill is expected to reveal that he is hopeful of getting one or two in with no timeline offered.
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Boycotts are the only way this board will understand. Stop going to games.
Agree with Antony, empty Celtic Park is only way now
Yes boycotts are the only weapon we have now against this despicable board,the ST money is in so the board are rubbing their hands ,ST money plus incoming money from player sales, yahoo we’re loaded.An empty stadium is the only route left now to show our displeasure,yes it may or may not hurt the team,but doing nothing , will definitely detract from the team.As for CL I can’t see us getting past LASK,they are better than the team that thrashed the diets.At least o e bonus by not qualifying for CL is it will save us from further Euro humiliation because this team will be threadbare the time the qualifiers come around,does anyone know any other European teams with a 60.000 capacity stadium and even larger fan base ,that fail to qualify and get humped when we do qualify,this is all on these bastards on the board and I wish MON would just go now because I feel he’s just a board apologist now.
Doesn’t anyone think that £230 million in 2 years is an awful lot of money to run a parochial football club like Celtic?
Surely the main point of having a financial officer is to cut costs, not let them run wildly out of control?
I mean, that’s well over £100 million PER YEAR and no one even knows where that money’s going as the accounts are not itemised for us to see but there’s no way Celtic should be allowing their running costs to spiral increasingly out of control like this.
The only thing I can think is that this crazy spending is somehow tied to their inability to buy players as they’re behaving like Britain’s poorest club running a fire sale before bankruptcy.
It is the systematic downsizing and profiteering that has been the case for over 20 years now under the De Facto “Owner” and his incompetent Lackeys.
I’d heard that rather than a full scale boycott which is deemed to be near on impossible to achieve there was suggestion of a full scale walkout of the stadium on 67 minutes at each home game. Sounds like a better plan to me! ? Like the fact that, at 67 minutes there’s 23 minutes to go and Celtics last Euro final before this life in the slow lane was 2003. It’s near enough surely to reflect and emphasise the abject lack of European progress and standing.
How many of those players who no longer ply their trade for Celtic FC were reluctant to leave or extremely sad to go ? My guess is zero …not one of them ! I cannot believe that playing and competing for Celtic is any fun these days considering the way the board treats the players management and lifeblood of the whole thing ….the fans ? It’s not as if this current practice of lethargy in the recruitment department is a novel event or issue by the current board ? This has been ongoing for yonks but especially evident from the last two seasons in particular ! What has to happen for the board to finally awaken from this long slumber ? Something cataclysmic no doubt ?God forbid ! I will ask them the same question as last season …”Are you all tired and fed up with winning and being successful as a football club ? ‘ ‘Cos once again I am out of ways of trying to figure out the answers ! And I bet I’m not the only one either .
“What has to happen for the board to finally awaken from this long slumber?”
Desmond popping his clogs. Nothing short of that will persuade the nodding donkeys on the board to do anything useful or enable us to progress properly as a club.
The board aren’t in a slumber, it’s policy.
If you buy a season ticket, you’re backing the policy whether consciously or not.
Exactly
Thar he blows
It’s been a titanic struggle to get men-of-war to come aboard the ghost ship Celtic, Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh made a splash, but they’re just a drop in the ocean to what is needed for the voyage.
The crew is awash with cadets because so many good deckhands have been thrown overboard. Those few skilled seafarers that are still aboard will soon be set adrift to appear on Sail of the Century.
The ancient mariner Union Jack Wilson has been as slippery as an eel over the past 20 years in regards to joining the ship’s Work Party. The malingerer visits his shipmate Dock Holiday Nicholson for a prescription to ease his passage.
He got given a safe seat at the ships head where his white paper resolution proposals can be put to good use. Windbag Wilson had enough hot air to hoist the mainsail and melt icebergs, the old seadog now looks dead in the water, he was given vitamin sea for his deficiencies.
They don’t give a Continental F*ck for The Celtic Supporters…
Bhoycott all youse wanna bhoycott they’ve got yer cash…
Can only be revisited next May I’m afraid !