GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on September 01, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
The Celtic board takes responsibility for failure to reach the Champions League. Michael Nicholson claimed.
That was the bold comment from the CEO on 19 September 2025 on the back of Celtic’s Annual Report for the year to 30 June 2025.
That was a year of success on the park and record figures in the accounts. Both issues are related. Success tends to generate profits.
Reverting to form Nicholson and his colleagues have concentrated on profits with a vague hope of success on the park.
Domestically Celtic are successful, in Europe the 1967 European Cup winners are barely a footnote.
Opponents love being drawn against Celtic. An emotional step back in time, good content for social media and a better than even chance of success on the park.
Over the last 13 months Celtic have been going downhill fast.
Perhaps the decline started with the late Bayern equaliser in Munich.
Maybe it began the moment that Nicholson pushed through the sale of Kyogo Furuhashi with no intention of signing a replacement striker.
NICHOLSON- THE EMPTY SUITS THE DRAINS CELTIC
The CEO has looked on at eight SPFL defeats and two League Cup humiliation in just over a year. Plus Champions League humiliations in Kazakhstan and Austria.
All along Nicholson has been pocketing £17,000 a week for doing nothing in particular.
He is the Chief Executive Officer. He hasn’t mumbled a word in public since 17 December when he was gushing about his exciting plans for Wilfried Nancy.
In the 2025 Nicholson told the Annual Report (page 4):
Our objective each year is to compete in the Champions League. Unfortunately this season, we suffered a loss on penalties in the tie against Kairat Almaty, which resulted in Europa League entry instead. As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward.
We now look ahead to our Europa League fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.
Aligned to our core objective of competing in the Champions League is successful player trading. Last year, we invested record sums between transfer fees and first team player wages.
This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our objectives in the transfer window. We share and understand our supporters’ disappointment and frustration, and we will continue to seek to review and improve our strategy and execution as the market continues to evolve.
Yesterday Nicholson was at Ibrox watching the ‘world class’ set up that he has masterminded being taken apart.
The outcome of at least four sub-standard transfer windows was on the pitch at Ibrox.
Nicholson sat there pulling faces or giving off his trademark glaikit stare.
The 2026 Celtic Report is probably being prepared for publication in the next 10 days. It will only be a matter of timing.
No doubt some other form of weasel words will be found to explain more failure on Nicholson’s watch.
Dom McKay lasted 72 days in the job.
It is one of the biggest travesties in Celtic’s history that the empty suit that replaced McKay is now into year six.
It seems that keeping the events of July 2012 out of public sight is his only achievement.
Nicholson brought Mark Lawwell, Paul Tisdale and Wilfried Nancy to the Celtic pay-roll.
Since the Reports was published Peter Lawwell and Tom Allison have bailed out. No replacements have been brought in with Brian Wilson into his ninth month as interim Chairman.
We can blame this Board for many things but squandering a four goal lead with sixty minutes to go in a European tie isn’t one of them.
Sure, failure to plan, failure to prepare, failure to get players in early enough to assimilate into the squad, but they weren’t responsible for the pitiful collapse in Linz.
That came from poor tactics.
Editor: Blah balah blah. How about Kairat, Midtjylland, Cluj, Ferencvaros, AEK Athens, Malmo and Maribor- name the common factor and get a lifetime subscription to Celtic Thick News.
Glaikit Michael is an arrogant, incompetent imbecile. He and his cronies on the board haven’t a clue.
Sooner he and the rest of them are away the better.
Two things,Joe.
1,Was he chaperoned at the Stade de Bigot to be kept informed of what was actually occurring on the field of play as I’m sure he’s fn clueless about what is happening.
2,I won’t be there on Thursday as I didn’t take up the Europa league package but O also won’t be there on Sunday either.
Call it one man protest but there should be 60,000 empty seats at noon next Sunday to send a message that no one can ignore !
We can blame this Board for many things but squandering a four goal lead with sixty minutes to go in a European tie isn’t one of them.
Sure, failure to plan, failure to prepare, failure to get players in early enough to assimilate into the squad, but they weren’t responsible for the pitiful collapse in Linz.
That came from poor tactics.
Editor: Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. LASK wasn’t a one off, just the latest example of a club geared towards staying competitive with their O** F*** business partners.
Justshatered, the reason we lost a four goal lead was becsuse we have a poor squad and £100m in the bank courtesy of no one but the board, don’t start blaming others, the team is simply a minnow squad now
Editor: The board has the manager and squad that they want. No competent manager will go near a club where DD tells MN what he is allowed to do.
Yes Dan we have a poor squad as you put it,but I pretty much think ,Hibs ,hearts, Aberdeen sevco etc would have probably managed to hold out for 60 mins with a 4 goal league,yes the board are terrible unfit for purpose bastards but they weren’t on the field of play,LASK are nowhere near as big a club as us but they played us off the park,that’s got to be down to tactics and coaching.
Remember cape Verde stopped the Euro and world champions Spain from scoring once ,never mind 5 ,and as for kairat Almaty,how many shots on target over 210 mins,I think it was none.theres something just not right at Celtic at present,we scraped past Falkirk and st mirren FFS,who’s fault is that when you compare the disparity of these teams compared to us.
Yes the board totally f**ed us as far as European football goes and it’s been this way for years but I can’t believe McInnes got the making of our team and our system of play,like in Austria when the game was slipping away from us we never changed tactics,the same as against sevco on Sunday,losing the game and didn’t alter any playing style,I thought we got the big wake up call after LASK and now it’s a wake up call from sevco, we’ll see if anything changes.
Your a fkg liar nicholson
As long as that scumbag Desmond is here rat boy Nicholson is going nowhere they will willingly run OUR club into the ground and let’s face it they’re well down the road to achieving it.
100 million in the bank ,20 million profit on summer transfer dealings, a board that continues to ignore the fans demands the manager and backroom teams concerns and requests, and we are all supposed to be surprised, turn it up this has been a long time coming and with Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity it will not change . Stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
You have been warned ten years or so ago but you all give in and buy yer tickets.
The worst thing that could have happened to Celtic was the demise of Rangers. It let the incumbents on the board believe their own hype as we won treble after treble without any serious challenge from anywhere. I’d argue the rot really set in when McCann left — he had a vision and he made it happen.
I’ve never understood why we didn’t finish the stadium rebuild. It’s embarrassing that we can’t host UEFA finals because our changing rooms don’t meet the requirements. We could rebuild the main stand and have a 75,000?seater stadium. Renovate the other parts that are apparently falling apart — toilets, concourses, the basics that everyone complains about but nobody addresses.
No strategy, no vision, and the whole infrastructure is dragging us backwards.
Thank f*ck ah stopped going in 2015 is all I can say !
Celtic are just a bank account with a football club attached to it.