03 Jun 2014 11:18:14
Hi folks

In CFC's line of business where merchandise and tickets often sell on "hope value" IE where we fans believe we have uncovered a "gem" or a "rough diamond" or where we feel the collective multi-ethnic eleven starters represent "improving quality", we TURN UP in our droves hoping to see further improvement.

The job of PL is to keep us believing that there will be BETER TIMES ahead; yes his job criteria may have 30 bullet points and umpteen financial spreadsheets but at the heart of it all is to somehow sustain and enhance the "hope" value among fans, IE better days ahead.

PL has to do a lot of juggling because it is one thing looking at the stark realities of our game (a competition next year involving the likes of ross county, inverness, st johnstone, motherwell, hamilton, dundee, kilmarnock, partick, st mirren with the BOX OFFICE teams being aberdeen and dundee united!) and quite another in terms of "selling Celtic" and its history and its future.

Weirdly, I think selling the club's "history" is too difficult albeit the juicy bits are moving further and further back in to yesteryear, but selling the "future" would prove difficult for any person (given the economic backdrop)

In every walk of working life, people would WANT to work with a progressive company that is expanding, diversifying and going places. Some become jaded with companies that are stuck in a rut, and there are others that are sleepwalking backwards (either because of "markets" or poor management). Great people want to work with great people and great enterprises with great potential; it is instinctive. CFC can maybe tick the people box but they may be hard pushed to spell out (clearly) what lies ahead. There would be many many managers in the game would be happy with the current squad (no need to sell) and a £8m budget for 4 to 5 players (young and emerging) with ECL qualification a bigger possibility than not.

CL qualification has made a difference to the finances and given CFC a little bit of breathing space but CFC also need to keep their focus and my feeling is that they see trouble ahead in terms of revenues being further starved. Dropping crowds, less merchandise, discounted season tickets, worse to come next year with Hearts and Hibernian out of the league and their nemesis stumbling from one crisis to another.

Where are Celtic going and where could an "ambitious" coach take them? A young and ambitious coach would not cost the earth because young and ambitious does not equal young and proven. The young and proven ones would only come if the money was so extravagant that it made the lack of competition an irrelevance; we wouldn't want that. I mean, does anyone believe that Frank Rikjaard enjoys his job in saudi arabia? Seriously? The £6m helps though.

CFC would have to do a hard sell in terms of fan "buy in" if they go down the young, emerging, unproven but ambitious route for the next manager but I could see why they would do this; financially prudent, understandable, weighted risk, dynamic etc.

An older, experienced, tiring coach looking to come back out of early retirement for a 3 year gig won't necessarily have the drive and won't get backsides on seats either. The point I am making is that brokering the balance between "the level of appointment and financial pay" versus "what is actually required this year to maximise celtic's revenue" is quite a cute balance to broker.

That said, CFC still do have an "appeal" to young emerging players from nowhere land and we can still give them a "stage" on which to be noticed, notwithstanding that "stage" is fast becoming a laughing stock, IE the Ajax model is similar too but they have to contend with the likes of Twente, Feyonoord, PSV, Vittesse which makes there domestic season a little more relevant.

The "competition" will dictate the level of appointment we procure and the finances involve. The "competition" will dictate the summer transfer kitty. The "competition" will dictate just about every aspect of Celtic's financial performance next year and the reality is that the "competition" is dreadful; we are like a super heavyweight boxer in a ring with flyweights. We don't need to go on growing and eating to win. We could drop a few stones and come back to middleweight and still win; the point being CFC had hit a glass ceiling (even with CL qualification hopes) and the last 16 horsing we took from Juventus (with a better team than today!) maybe told CFC PLC all they needed know and that is that qualification for the CL is the limit or should I say the target.

That and a league and cup or cups will make the difference between an average season and an above average season; none of which will compare (or even come close) to the Seville years when we actually won nothing and still celebrated as though we had; you see back then we had "hope" and without "hope" of better things to come we turn off and lose heart.

How does PL give us "hope" and broker than financial balance between investment and prudence?

1.) 03 Jun 2014
I stopped reading at 'multi-ethnic'.

2.) 03 Jun 2014
Anton

i mean players from different countries; unintended 1000% to cause any offence

i meant multinational!

3.) 03 Jun 2014
03 Jun 2014 16:56:15
not being the sharpest tool in the box , I was lost @ Hi folks .lol

4.) 03 Jun 2014
Great post and I agree with every word mate.

5.) 03 Jun 2014
03 Jun 2014 23:05:42
Excellent post!

6.) 04 Jun 2014
Interesting post andI agree with most of it. PL is doing a good job in a struggling market place.

7.) 04 Jun 2014
I know what he has done a fantastic job of. Lowering our support's expectations and distancing us from our history!