31 Aug 2024 16:26:11
not my work. Credit to the original Uthor.
In the 10 years before he joined Celtic the club were running a £38m DEFICIT on transfers (while running on a £22m DEBT when he was appointed) and had won 4 league titles in 15 years and hadn’t been in the European Cup/ Champions League last 16 in 24 years
Since being appointed as Celtic’s chief executive 20 years ago (and moving to chairman two years ago) - the club has made a profit of £230m on 35 players and in their next accounts will have in excess of £100m cash in the bank (after Champions League money and ticket sales are factored in)
In that time they have won 15 out of 20 league titles and been to the last-16 of the Champions League three times
They have also won 12 out of the last 13 league titles, have won five trebles in the last eight years and are one the most cash rich clubs in Europe in terms of profit margin (despite being in a country with one of the poorest prize funds and Tv deal) while being heavy favourites to win the league again, having a proven top class manager and breaking their record transfer fee this summer
Yet a large section, most likely a majority, of Celtic fans want him out the club ?
Player profit sales in Lawwell’s reign
(Bought for - sold for)
?? Stilliyan Petrov £2.2m - £8.5m
?? Stan Varga £0 - £1.75m
??????? Kenny Miller £0 - £3.8m
??????? Craig Beattie £0 - £1.5m
??????? Danny Fox £1.5m - £2.5m
?? Scott McDonald £500k - £3.5m
?? Aiden McGeady £0 - £10.5m
?? Artur Boruc £1.6m - £2.75m
??????? Stephen McManus £0 - £2m
??????? Shaun Maloney £0 - £4m
??????? Ross Wallace £0 - £1.5m
??????? Gary Hooper £2.2m - £5.5m
?? Victor Wanyama 600k - £12.5m
??????? Fraser Forster £2m - £10m
?? Beram Kayal £800k - £4m
??????? Joe Ledley £0 - £3.5m
?? Ki Sung Yeung £1.8m - £5.5m
??????? Adam Matthews £250k - £3m
?? Virgil van Dijk £2.2m - £18m
??????? Kieran Tierney £0 - £25m
?? Moussa Dembele £900k - £19.5m
??????? Stuart Armstrong £250k - £6.5m
?? Odsonne Edouard £9m - £12.5m
?? Jeremie Frimpong £250k - £12m
?? Kris Ajer £500k - £11m
??????? Ryan Christie £600k - £3.5m
?? Josip Juranovic £2.25 - £7.5m
?? Giorgios Giakoumakis £2.2m - £4.5m
?? Jota £7.5m - £25m
?? Carl Starfelt £2.5m - £4.5m
??????? David Turnbull £3m - £3.5m
?? Liel Abada £2m - £7.5m
?? Saed Haksabanovic £1.8m - £2.75m
?? Hyeongyu Oh £1.25m - £3m
?? Matt O’Riley £1.5m - £28m
How can you still doubt this man? Will it be another case like Fergus McCann when fans won’t truly appreciate what they have until he’s gone?
31 Aug 2024 17:13:39
That's what happens when you help resurrect Rangers and don't buy the players at the right time to win leagues and get into CL.
31 Aug 2024 17:23:20
Put up his bad buys as well Gerry if you want a balanced view, also put up the times we missed out on leagues and champions league competition as the manager wasn’t backed going into the qualifiers .
Or traipsing half way around the world for a million pounds to come back under prepared for euro qualifiers and lose out on 20-30 million .
31 Aug 2024 17:32:12
I wouldn’t disagree with the last sentence because I was one of our supporters that criticised Fergus back in the day and now I can’t be more grateful for the brilliant platform he left Celtic with.
I would say the same will probably happen with Peter.
31 Aug 2024 17:39:21
I still hold it against Fergus for the time he told us to put money in and he would buy.
{Ed007's Note - Have you noticed how many of the board's harshest critics are massive Fergus McCann fans? Looking back yes what Fergus done by getting the stadium built etc but he had some monumental effs up while he was here, the appointments of Peter McLean and Jock Brown, making and breaking promises to players, the Wim Jansen fiasco and more than most, Fergus McCann promised that the Club would never be in control of one single man/family and look where we are.
Fergus McCann could teach Peter Lawwell ways to penny pinch that would make Arkwright blush.}
31 Aug 2024 17:46:48
I remember that time he appointed Neil Lennon whilst he was in the shower and ruined the euphoria of winning a treble.
31 Aug 2024 17:50:17
quinn we've win 15 outa 20 leagues since hese been here so what about missing out on titles wee can't win them all mate.
31 Aug 2024 18:31:40
If he hadn't messed up it would have been 20.
With regards to Fergus I hated him at the time. The final straw for me was telling us to put our money in and he would use it to buy players. He failed to do that and we lost out at getting into the CL that season.
I still don't like him, though my disdain has softened over the years.
31 Aug 2024 18:35:40
Some of they figures for sold are miles off ??. I agree we have made some good money though.
31 Aug 2024 18:37:55
Doesn't matter what any of these guys do, because we aren't throwing money about like confetti like they would across the city, and we are financially responsible, they will always get kicked in the nether regions by some.
It is only when you look back in the cold light of day, do you realise that it is done for a reason, that us to keep us financially safe and secure and yes it can be bloody frustrating but when you overreach (or cheat) you end up living hand to mouth like the Govan globetrotters.
The one thing I do take great offence with is our major shareholder having the grip he has on the club without putting his hand in his pocket.
More concerning is that he has no intention of ever giving up his shares.
{Ed007's Note - What do you want - or what do Celtic need - DD to put his hand in his pocket for? That's not how good football clubs are ran and as I have said previously since 1994 DD has put in over £30 million buying shares and has taken out circa £7 million in dividends and salary, that's 30 years and that's all he's ever taken out of Celtic, money he is entitled to by law, so what happened to all those other millions of dividends he didn't take out?
DD - and his son Ross - don't want to make money out of Celtic - as it will never be sold while they are alive and Ross is only in his early 40s. Would you really want Celtic to fall into the hands of some faceless investment bank or venture capitalist that are 100% about making as much as possible with as little outlay as they can get away with, stripping the business to the bones to maximise profits, what about some Saudi billionaire despot with connections to appalling human rights? DD has his faults but I'd be careful what you wish for when it comes to replacing him.
We spend Celtic's money, we don't rely on our directors and in the modern game DD simply wouldn't be allowed to just give Celtic money or we would probably fail the new FFP Regs.}
31 Aug 2024 19:34:25
Agree with you 100% Ed, that is exactly how I have always looked at it.
Better the Devil you know might be too strong but - DD and Son have Celtic's best interest at heart. My opinion, we are fortunate. And I loved wee Fergus and his 'See you in court ' war cry. No one had ever stood up for the Club in the way he did.
He was not to be messed about and was no one's fool.
31 Aug 2024 20:11:02
Ed, I would like the fans to own more of the club, simple as that.
Maybe it came across that I want his money, I don't, I would like less of it and I certainly would not want a Saudi buyout.
We are a well run club and it would remain a well run club ven with more shareholders.
{Ed007's Note - Well the only way that can happen is through The Celtic Trust who are trying to get smaller shareholders together and try and grow their shareholding to where they need to be taken seriously. I'll be getting Jeanette Findlay back on the podcast soon, I've been trying to arrange a night that suits both her and JFP for a while.}
31 Aug 2024 20:49:47
"Fergus McCann could teach Peter Lawwell ways to penny pinch that would make Arkwright blush" . but both of them still have a long, long way to unseat Desmond White.
{Ed007's Note - True dat...
31 Aug 2024 20:52:13
Brilliant and thanks for the rant, blew the cobwebs away.
{Ed007's Note - ????