Nine months after bailing out as Chairman Peter Lawwell is still embarrassing Celtic.
Lawwell’s last act was to endorse the exciting appointment of Wilfried Nancy as manager.
Between 31 December 2025 and 5 January 2026 both were gone.
While Martin O’Neill turned around and salvaged the chaos created by Nancy the long term damage caused by Lawwell can’t be under-estimated.
It can be felt every week that Michael Nicholson drains another £17,000 from Celtic’s bank account. Followed closely by Chris McKay on £11,000 a week. The 2026 Annual Report is likely to show an increase for both men.
Lawwell brought Nicholson and McKay to Celtic. He groomed them and they continue to work in the same manner.
Self first, club second.
One of the most high profile failures of Lawwell was the 2018 attempt to sign John McGinn.
What could possibly go wrong when you want to sign a lifelong fan, a former Season Ticket Holder. And for good measure the grandson of a former Celtic Chairman.
When there is a Lawwell involved there is always a likelihood of failure.
Complacency and laziness are Lawwell’s hallmarks. Alongside arrogance.
With Brendan Rodgers pulling off back-to-back doubles and twice qualifying for the Champions League CEO Lawwell thought that he was the big shot.
That he could even up the Steven Fletcher sore with Rod Petrie of Hibs.
LAWWELL MISSES OUT ON THE EASIEST CELTIC TRANSFER EVER
Rodgers lined up all the pieces for his CEO to tap into the net by signing the young midfielder from Easter Road.
Lawwell did Lawwell things. Low balling, showing a lukewarm attitude, banking on McGinn staying put to run down his contract and join Celtic for a token development fee.
When he realised that wasn’t working Lawwell got desperate.
So desperate he tried to play on the heart-strings of an 85-year-old man to convince his grandson to join Celtic.
https://youtu.be/A8Gh8yKwclk?t=1865
The Overlap 31 minutes
I think the irony is if [Jack] wasn’t my grandpa and I wasn’t a Celtic fan, I probably would be a Celtic player.
I think they felt, because I was a Celtic fan, it would just happen. Nobody else would come in, and Hibs would crumble.
But Hibs were amazing at the time. They said, ‘We’re not going to stand in your way. We know you want to be a Celtic player, but they need to pay us what you’re worth.’
So I gave them my word that, ‘All right, that’s fine. You won’t stand in my way, but I’ll wait until they pay what I’m worth.’
And it never, ever got there. I can’t remember exactly. I think it was two or three million at the time. I think they bid a few times.
They actually phoned my grandpa to try and influence me at the time but he had a good relationship with both sides. He trusted me and my agent.
And he said, ‘Listen, nothing to do with me. If you’ve got the money, pay the money. And John will play for Celtic.’
But I think that was just another tactic and then it just went on and on for months.
I met Brendan [Rodgers, then-Celtic manager], I was desperate to go to Celtic, everyone at Hibs knew I was desperate to go and they were absolutely first class.
Lawwell might think that story is fading away, alas that internet thing loved by Bampots keeps the story alive.
That podcast has been watched 2 million times in 10 days.
Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville guarantee an audience.
And a reminder to the football world of why Celtic are baked in to failure.
This week two Norwegian teams will be in the Champions League, on Wednesday Celtic play St Johnstone.
Until those cloned clown’s are dispensed with I will not be setting foot in the Celtic store’s anywhere
He was arrogant, greedy, stupid and incompetent.
The European disasters were his fault.
There are plenty more of his arrogant, greedy, stupid and incompetent colleagues still there. This mirrors those countries with dictators in charge.
Joe that Lawwell done so much damage to club it will probably take a life time to fix….. that John McGinn saga is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
I’m really glad I’m not alone in seeing ‘through’ Lawwell.
I’ve been calling him out for around 15 years now and he still deserves every piece of shit that comes his way. Personally I’ll never forgive him under any circumstances and the dregs he’s left on the board are down to him and his Irish, golfing, parasite bastard leader, an approx 1/3rd shareholder in Celtic plc who runs OUR club like his own family business.
Do we not have any supporters that can take this up with whatever authorities are responsible for corporate governance and possibly the Financial Conduct Authority because the 2 above’s ‘conduct’ absolutely stinks. Oh and don’t forget the 5-Way Agreement which imo contains fraud (which has no time bar) within the email the 5 WA was attached to. Yet a “leading sports lawyer” could see no problem with it and his previous boss denied even seeing it even though it was sent to him. (Remember Lawwell’s a flyman, hence the rebuttal) Maybe ask Nicholson where he got his copy? Worse than scum the lot of them.
Well said, Tic Toc. Spot on in every respect.
Hail Hail.
Cheers Magua, but I often feel I’m just pissing into the wind as the apathy within the Celtic support is astonishing and what I hoped was a ‘new dawn’ of the Celtic Fans Collective is, imho, too long-winded and not radical or efficient enough.
Where did all the Rebels go?
That he never challenged Doncaster saying that “Rangers” (The Liar Doncaster’s word and not mine) were the same club ABSOLUTELY seen it to me not having been to a Celtic game ever since !