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The Board - general discussion (including Res 12); notes from the AGM
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Topic Started: 15 Jul 2014, 12:03 AM (1,414,566 Views)
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Richie
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20 Nov 2016, 02:20 PM
Post #9121
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https://www.change.org/p/the-scottish-football-association-the-sfa-has-to-respond-to-allegations-of-impropriety-concerning-the-issue-of-uefa-licences?recruiter=158907509&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
Theres the link to the petition that demands answers from the SFa about their actions during the events that lead up to liquidation. Please sign if you haven't already.
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Zurawski 7
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25 Nov 2016, 12:05 AM
Post #9122
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Off treasure hunting in Holland
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JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, the Barcelona president, believes that when Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive “talks, you should listen”. Celtic have been concerned regarding proposals to alter the format of the UEFA Champions League, with the bigger clubs looking to create a system of entry that always favours the elite teams. Bartomeu has spoken earlier this year of a wildcard entry system that would enable prestigious teams who did not perform well domestically to still qualify for the Champions League – with fears that an entry could come at the expense of a provincial placed club. Celtic qualified for the Champions League this season as one of five countries from middle-tiered nations who emerged from the champions route, but there will be one less place up for grabs from 2018. From then the new format will automatically give four places to the top four nations – Spain, England, Germany and Italy – giving rise to fears that Europe’s premier competition could become a closed shop to teams such as Celtic, who are based in much less prestigious domestic leagues. Lawwell has been pro-active in ensuring that any changes which are implemented are done so with Celtic still guaranteed a part of it. The Parkhead side are expected to bank between £25m and £30m for their involvement in this season’s Champions League, figures that are imperative to the club given the paucity of domestic revenues. “I know Peter well,” said Bartomeu. “He is one of the best sports leaders in European football – and I do not say that lightly. He is quite incredible. "I know him through my work on the ECA [European Club Association] board so I see him often at meetings where we discuss. “When Peter talks, you should listen. He always speaks with a keen intelligence. He knows business, but he also understands football and how football works. “I am not a member of the Celtic board, obviously. But if I was then I would go forward with confidence because he is a man who knows everyone in European football. "That knowledge and expertise must give Celtic so much confidence as a club. He understands the landscape but he is also able to speak well and represent the interests of his own club.” A number of leagues have expressed frustration with the increasing polarisation of wealth in European football, while the likes of Bayern Munich’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has warned that changes are necessary to avoid a breakaway from UEFA by elite clubs. The new changes, however, will also see a change in how the current co-efficient is calculated with clubs set to be judged on their own records, removing the country share for co-efficients. Effectively, that means that Scottish champions from 2018 will be unaffected if other teams from the Scottish Premiership fail to progress. There will also be consideration given to historical achievements on the Continent. It means Scotland’s champions won’t be hampered if other clubs from the country fail to progress in European competition. Historical success will also be taken into account, meaning Celtic’s European Cup win in 1967 will boost their credentials if they are the country’s champions. And Bartomeu has maintained that he has always regarded Celtic as one of the key players in European circles. “I would see Celtic as one of the elite clubs,” added the Camp Nou president. “They are a club who have a strong history with European football; they have a pedigree. There is a lot of weight behind Celtic’s name. It is a reputation that was established through the way they played football and the support they got because of that. “I understand that there is some apprehension about the proposed changes, but we would very much see clubs like Celtic as being a part of it.” Bartomeu also maintained that there is more than just fluff when Barcelona players rave about the atmosphere at Celtic Park. Lionel Messi once claimed that the stadium was his favourite to play in throughout Europe because of the atmosphere it generated. The clubs have met nine times in the Champions League and, while there is always a feeling that talk of the noise and energy at Celtic Park can be overplayed to the point of sounding patronising, Bartomeu has insisted such sentiments are genuine. “In our club and in our city there is excitement when Barcelona play Celtic. The players talk of playing at Celtic Park as one of the real great adventures in their football lives. “This is not just for show. There is a feeling that Glasgow Celtic is one of the great names in European football and so many of our players are supporters talk highly of going to play in Glasgow.” http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/14927172.When_Peter_Lawwell__talks__you_listen__says_Barca_president/?
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Fearghas
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25 Nov 2016, 03:25 AM
Post #9123
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There is a feeling that Glasgow Celtic is one of the great names in European football
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tomtheleedstim
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27 Nov 2016, 02:12 PM
Post #9124
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A very good article on Resolution 12 http://twohundredpercent.net/resolution-12-proving-resolve/
If Celtic don't "fire the silver bullett" then there can be no doubt that they're complicit in the whole thing.
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Tiny Tim
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28 Nov 2016, 01:12 PM
Post #9125
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"a Premier League player in all but status"
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- tomtheleedstim
- 27 Nov 2016, 02:12 PM
I don't think they will, and, yes, I think they are. Hoping I'll be proved wrong.
Edited by Tiny Tim, 28 Nov 2016, 01:12 PM.
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Auldyin
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1 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM
Post #9126
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In a way this E Tims article tells supporters of Celtic and other clubs what they are up against. You would imagine that 5 years after bending/ breaking the rules the SFA would not attempt the same again,but this is Scottish football backed by Scottish media. http://etims.net/?p=10440 It’s not the first time the SFA have used STV to try and change what UEFA intend. It’s not a given a licence will be refused to TRFC (who might not qualify) but it’s not a shoo in by any manner of means and why Res12 matters.
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Pussyfoot
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1 Dec 2016, 12:15 PM
Post #9127
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- Auldyin
- 1 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM
In a way this E Tims article tells supporters of Celtic and other clubs what they are up against. You would imagine that 5 years after bending/ breaking the rules the SFA would not attempt the same again,but this is Scottish football backed by Scottish media. http://etims.net/?p=10440 It’s not the first time the SFA have used STV to try and change what UEFA intend. It’s not a given a licence will be refused to TRFC (who might not qualify) but it’s not a shoo in by any manner of means and why Res12 matters. Good stuff as always Auldyin.
Anything that comes from STV needs careful deliberation, there's always an angle.
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Tiny Tim
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1 Dec 2016, 03:10 PM
Post #9128
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"a Premier League player in all but status"
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- Auldyin
- 1 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM
In a way this E Tims article tells supporters of Celtic and other clubs what they are up against. You would imagine that 5 years after bending/ breaking the rules the SFA would not attempt the same again,but this is Scottish football backed by Scottish media. http://etims.net/?p=10440 It’s not the first time the SFA have used STV to try and change what UEFA intend. It’s not a given a licence will be refused to TRFC (who might not qualify) but it’s not a shoo in by any manner of means and why Res12 matters. Good etTims article and well done again the Res 12 team for chipping away at this. One thing's for sure, if it wasn't for Res 12, all this would all be getting quietly settled behind locked doors, and we'd be none the wiser. The comments from Aberdeen suggest that not everyone's going to stand back and let them do what they like.
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Lobey Dosser
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3 Dec 2016, 09:53 AM
Post #9129
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- Tiny Tim
- 1 Dec 2016, 03:10 PM
- Auldyin
- 1 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM
In a way this E Tims article tells supporters of Celtic and other clubs what they are up against. You would imagine that 5 years after bending/ breaking the rules the SFA would not attempt the same again,but this is Scottish football backed by Scottish media. http://etims.net/?p=10440 It’s not the first time the SFA have used STV to try and change what UEFA intend. It’s not a given a licence will be refused to TRFC (who might not qualify) but it’s not a shoo in by any manner of means and why Res12 matters.
Good etTims article and well done again the Res 12 team for chipping away at this. One thing's for sure, if it wasn't for Res 12, all this would all be getting quietly settled behind locked doors, and we'd be none the wiser. The comments from Aberdeen suggest that not everyone's going to stand back and let them do what they like. Agree with your praise for the Res 12 guys, years of digging and slog to get to this point.
Outstanding work and perseverance.
I fear however , that the Celtic board will find some position to adopt that refutes their own complicity in the situation to date, yet goes nowhere near forcing the SFA to apply the rules as laid down by UEFA and in accordance with good governance.
Weasel words and compromise would not surprise me in the slightest.
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Seántics
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3 Dec 2016, 10:23 AM
Post #9130
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KDS Euro 2008 Champion Tipster
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Graham Speirs interview with Lawwell in The Times today.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/if-you-cant-afford-champions-league-players-it-has-to-be-in-the-creating-szbccdjqw
Any subscribers care to do the copy/paste honours?
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Zurawski 7
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3 Dec 2016, 11:29 AM
Post #9131
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Off treasure hunting in Holland
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It is impossible to spend any time with Peter Lawwell without quickly reaching the subject of Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic chief executive, you soon get the impression, is very pleased with the state of his club, not least in having one of Britain’s most prominent managers in his office just across the lobby.
Lawwell does not have his problems to seek at Celtic but Rodgers isn’t one of them. Instead, he enthuses at the ability of the club to lure the 43-year-old Northern Irishman to Glasgow six months ago.
“He is a fantastic coach, an intelligent guy, and he’s charismatic,” says Lawwell. “Never mind the future, he has taken on and improved what he inherited. If you look at the team that beat Aberdeen last Sunday at Hampden, ten of them were here last season. Brendan has galvanised them, motivated them and made them better.
“I think the size of Celtic, and the intensity of the job and the ambition we have here, has surprised him. He is thoroughly enjoying it.”
All well and good. But how long will Rodgers be at Celtic? Martin O’Neill did five years at the club, Gordon Strachan did four. Most believe that, at tops, Rodgers might do two or three seasons at Parkhead, though Lawwell begs to differ. “Nothing is guaranteed in football but I have no reason to doubt that he will be here for several years,” he says. “We are planning together for the coming years, and I would like to think he will be here for the next few years.
“Ultimately, will Brendan go back to the English Premier League or elsewhere in Europe? That is highly probable because he is a fantastic coach. But I do see him being at Celtic for quite a while. It will all be determined by his level of satisfaction and his feeling of achievement in his work.”
Many assumed that, given Rodgers’ onerous wage requirements, his Celtic deal was being in part private-financed via some Dermot Desmond [the club’s largest individual shareholder] largesse. It is a suggestion Lawwell swiftly dismisses.
“If you mean Dermot putting in a bit of money ... that’s rubbish, that’s nonsense,” he says. “There is no private funding that comes into the club. I’m not going to go into Brendan’s package, but the club lives within its means.
“Just look at our accounts: we are a self-sustaining, cash break-even club. It was said that Dermot was paying Robbie Keane’s wages [in 2009/10] ... it was rubbish. It’s all done by the club.”
Lawwell has lofty ambition for Celtic, especially in Europe, but there is a distinct element of silk purse and sow’s ear about it. The club, its fans and board want and expect Celtic not just to dominate in Scotland, but also be competitive in the Champions League. Yet, financially, the odds are stacked against it.
“We are a top-class European football club: we’ve got a story to tell, we’ve got a global fan base, we’ve got the facilities, we’ve got the profile,” says Lawwell. “But what we don’t have is TV revenue.
“The reality is, in the modern game in Europe, domestic TV revenues dominate. But we are in a country of only five million people. If you look back just 25 years, to the monies generated by Celtic and Manchester United, there wasn’t a lot in it back then. There is now — they are part of an English football phenomenon and they have left us behind.
“Our ambition remains in Europe: we expect to be competing regularly in the Champions League. But to compete at the very highest level, it is a major disadvantage to be from a small country with meagre TV money.
“In our current Champions League group I think we have competed reasonably well. But look at the group: we are in with teams from Spain, Germany and England. Borussia Mönchengladbach’s wage bill is £100million. Then Barcelona’s is about £300million. Our wage bill is probably a fifth of Mönchengladbach’s. That is what we’re up against.”
So how to fix it? Lawwell says his job is an endless quest to make Celtic better and more astute beyond mere money.
“For us it is about investing in our intellectual capital — the best coaches, the best recruitment, the best sports scientists etc. We need to create Champions League players and be cleverer than everybody else.
“We don’t have the financial capital compared to our opponents but we feel that through being a bit cute and clever, we can fulfil our ambition. So we’ve put in place one of Britain’s top managers in Brendan.
“It is intelligence versus money. If you cannot afford to buy Champions League players, then it has to be in the creating. That’s it in a nutshell. Manchester United can buy in — to a degree we can’t. But it’s not just Celtic. It’s Ajax, PSV, Anderlecht — we’ve all got the same problems.
“We want to dominate in Scotland but our ambition is also Europe. We want to be in the Champions League every year, trying to get out of the group stage and going as far as we can. It can be done. We’ve been to the last 16 three times in my time here.”
Given this ambition — getting the best, mixing with the elite — I asked Lawwell if, in hindsight, the appointment of Ronny Deila in 2014 had been either a mistake or a lowering of Celtic’s ambition. Certainly, the difference in quality between Deila and Rodgers is glaring.
“No, Ronny was not a mistake,” he said. “The ambition was the same, and so were the expectations. If you accept that, at Celtic, it is about creating our own, adding value and building, then the attraction in [recruiting] Ronny was that he was a creator, a builder.
“In his first year we were progressing and he was very, very unlucky not to make history and win a treble. Then in his second year: defeat to Malmo and bang! He was a young manager and wasn’t experienced at this level. After Malmo, the pressures on him came into conflict with our aim of long-term development and building. He stopped enjoying the job.
“In terms of the philosophy and the strategy, Ronny fitted. In terms of delivering in his first year, he did that. But everybody accepts that in the second year we underachieved on the pitch. He stopped enjoying it and wanted to move on.”
Ironically, a ludicrous piece of refereeing in the 2014/15 Scottish Cup semi-final denied Celtic a 2-0 lead against Caley Thistle and, almost certainly, a Scottish Cup final against Falkirk and a likely Deila treble. Was his fate cruelly changed by this one event?
“I don’t know — maybe,” says Lawwell. “A treble would certainly have helped Ronny. He would have made history and it might have added to his confidence. That game was an important moment for us and for Ronny. Who knows, but it’s gone now.”
Lawwell is 57 years old. He has been chief executive at Celtic for 13 years — quite an innings. The club has landed 18 trophies in that time. But they say in football that everyone has a shelf-life: a player, a coach, most especially a manager. Does the shelf-life argument also apply to CEOs?
“In football, stability is so important. We have a stable board here and we’ve got stable ownership. I’ve been here for 13 years. So I think, in a risky business like football, that stability is crucial.
“I love this club and I love my job but, yes, there is a shelf-life and at some point I’m going to have to say ‘that’s it’. But at the moment I’m enjoying working with Brendan — it feels new, it feels something different. The club is in a good place.”
Yet his critics are out there. On more than once occasion in recent years, during a Celtic lull in fortune, someone has posted a message saying: ‘Peter Lawwell, do kindly p*** off’. Or worse.
“Everyone has his critics, of course you do,” he says. “I don’t go on social media but I believe it’s the case with me. It’s all about results — if you’re winning it’s fine, not so if you’re losing. Thirteen years is a long time, granted. It’s for others to judge me, it’s for the Celtic board to do that. I do think about it [retiring]. It will be important, when the point comes, to go out at the right time.
“You don’t want to leave any job as a loser. So, yes, of course I think about it. You hope it all comes together — that it’s the right time for the club, the right time for me, and the right time in terms of what has been achieved.”
What Lawwell is less happy about is talking about Rangers. Relations across the Glasgow divide remain frosty at times, and the invitation to chat about their city rivals is politely declined. But one thing is obvious: Lawwell enjoys crowing about the robust state of Celtic, especially in light of the carnage of recent years at Ibrox.
“I don’t really want to talk about that,” he says of relations with Rangers. “That’s for later. We are not defined by any other club. You’re as well asking me how we get on with Aberdeen. We’re not defined by anyone else. We are independent. We’re getting on with it.
“We have built a great foundation here at Celtic over the years. We have been able to get someone of the quality of Brendan because of the way we have run this club. We have been responsible and we have looked to the long term. Both in terms of finance, and on the park, we deserve to be where we are.
“We aim to be dominant in Scotland for years to come.”
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Lobey Dosser
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3 Dec 2016, 11:29 AM
Post #9132
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- 3 Dec 2016, 10:23 AM
It's paywalled. Oops someone found a way round it, thanks.
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tonyjaa-csc
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3 Dec 2016, 12:22 PM
Post #9133
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Some nice quotes there I do like this headshot though " “I don’t really want to talk about that,” he says of relations with Rangers. “That’s for later. We are not defined by any other club. You’re as well asking me how we get on with Aberdeen. We’re not defined by anyone else. We are independent. We’re getting on with it."
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Seántics
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3 Dec 2016, 02:20 PM
Post #9134
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KDS Euro 2008 Champion Tipster
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Cheers mate
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georgiesleftpeg
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4 Dec 2016, 07:05 PM
Post #9135
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Everyone's Fantasy Football first pick
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SPLOB; “No, Ronny was not a mistake,” he said. “The ambition was the same, and so were the expectations. If you accept that, at Celtic, it is about creating our own, adding value and building, then the attraction in [recruiting] Ronny was that he was a creator, a builder.
“In his first year we were progressing and he was very, very unlucky not to make history and win a treble. Then in his second year: defeat to Malmo and bang! He was a young manager and wasn’t experienced at this level. After Malmo, the pressures on him came into conflict with our aim of long-term development and building. He stopped enjoying the job.
“In terms of the philosophy and the strategy, Ronny fitted. In terms of delivering in his first year, he did that. But everybody accepts that in the second year we underachieved on the pitch. He stopped enjoying it and wanted to move on.”
If ever a definition of arrogance wasn't required...
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mick82
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4 Dec 2016, 07:21 PM
Post #9136
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Retired and now a BT Sports pundit
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- georgiesleftpeg
- 4 Dec 2016, 07:05 PM
SPLOB; “No, Ronny was not a mistake,” he said. “The ambition was the same, and so were the expectations. If you accept that, at Celtic, it is about creating our own, adding value and building, then the attraction in [recruiting] Ronny was that he was a creator, a builder.
“In his first year we were progressing and he was very, very unlucky not to make history and win a treble. Then in his second year: defeat to Malmo and bang! He was a young manager and wasn’t experienced at this level. After Malmo, the pressures on him came into conflict with our aim of long-term development and building. He stopped enjoying the job.
“In terms of the philosophy and the strategy, Ronny fitted. In terms of delivering in his first year, he did that. But everybody accepts that in the second year we underachieved on the pitch. He stopped enjoying it and wanted to move on.”
If ever a definition of arrogance wasn't required... Not sure I see that as arrogant
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paulfg42
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4 Dec 2016, 09:56 PM
Post #9137
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Fiat justitia ruat caelum
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- mick82
- 4 Dec 2016, 07:21 PM
- georgiesleftpeg
- 4 Dec 2016, 07:05 PM
SPLOB; “No, Ronny was not a mistake,” he said. “The ambition was the same, and so were the expectations. If you accept that, at Celtic, it is about creating our own, adding value and building, then the attraction in [recruiting] Ronny was that he was a creator, a builder.
“In his first year we were progressing and he was very, very unlucky not to make history and win a treble. Then in his second year: defeat to Malmo and bang! He was a young manager and wasn’t experienced at this level. After Malmo, the pressures on him came into conflict with our aim of long-term development and building. He stopped enjoying the job.
“In terms of the philosophy and the strategy, Ronny fitted. In terms of delivering in his first year, he did that. But everybody accepts that in the second year we underachieved on the pitch. He stopped enjoying it and wanted to move on.”
If ever a definition of arrogance wasn't required...
Not sure I see that as arrogant It is bullshampoo though.
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qualitystreetkid
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4 Dec 2016, 10:21 PM
Post #9138
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Thank you, bye-bye for calling
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- Zurawski 7
- 3 Dec 2016, 11:29 AM
Spoiler: click to toggle - Quote:
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It is impossible to spend any time with Peter Lawwell without quickly reaching the subject of Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic chief executive, you soon get the impression, is very pleased with the state of his club, not least in having one of Britain’s most prominent managers in his office just across the lobby.
Lawwell does not have his problems to seek at Celtic but Rodgers isn’t one of them. Instead, he enthuses at the ability of the club to lure the 43-year-old Northern Irishman to Glasgow six months ago.
“He is a fantastic coach, an intelligent guy, and he’s charismatic,” says Lawwell. “Never mind the future, he has taken on and improved what he inherited. If you look at the team that beat Aberdeen last Sunday at Hampden, ten of them were here last season. Brendan has galvanised them, motivated them and made them better.
“I think the size of Celtic, and the intensity of the job and the ambition we have here, has surprised him. He is thoroughly enjoying it.”
All well and good. But how long will Rodgers be at Celtic? Martin O’Neill did five years at the club, Gordon Strachan did four. Most believe that, at tops, Rodgers might do two or three seasons at Parkhead, though Lawwell begs to differ. “Nothing is guaranteed in football but I have no reason to doubt that he will be here for several years,” he says. “We are planning together for the coming years, and I would like to think he will be here for the next few years.
“Ultimately, will Brendan go back to the English Premier League or elsewhere in Europe? That is highly probable because he is a fantastic coach. But I do see him being at Celtic for quite a while. It will all be determined by his level of satisfaction and his feeling of achievement in his work.”
Many assumed that, given Rodgers’ onerous wage requirements, his Celtic deal was being in part private-financed via some Dermot Desmond [the club’s largest individual shareholder] largesse. It is a suggestion Lawwell swiftly dismisses.
“If you mean Dermot putting in a bit of money ... that’s rubbish, that’s nonsense,” he says. “There is no private funding that comes into the club. I’m not going to go into Brendan’s package, but the club lives within its means.
“Just look at our accounts: we are a self-sustaining, cash break-even club. It was said that Dermot was paying Robbie Keane’s wages [in 2009/10] ... it was rubbish. It’s all done by the club.”
Lawwell has lofty ambition for Celtic, especially in Europe, but there is a distinct element of silk purse and sow’s ear about it. The club, its fans and board want and expect Celtic not just to dominate in Scotland, but also be competitive in the Champions League. Yet, financially, the odds are stacked against it.
“We are a top-class European football club: we’ve got a story to tell, we’ve got a global fan base, we’ve got the facilities, we’ve got the profile,” says Lawwell. “But what we don’t have is TV revenue.
“The reality is, in the modern game in Europe, domestic TV revenues dominate. But we are in a country of only five million people. If you look back just 25 years, to the monies generated by Celtic and Manchester United, there wasn’t a lot in it back then. There is now — they are part of an English football phenomenon and they have left us behind.
“Our ambition remains in Europe: we expect to be competing regularly in the Champions League. But to compete at the very highest level, it is a major disadvantage to be from a small country with meagre TV money.
“In our current Champions League group I think we have competed reasonably well. But look at the group: we are in with teams from Spain, Germany and England. Borussia Mönchengladbach’s wage bill is £100million. Then Barcelona’s is about £300million. Our wage bill is probably a fifth of Mönchengladbach’s. That is what we’re up against.”
So how to fix it? Lawwell says his job is an endless quest to make Celtic better and more astute beyond mere money.
“For us it is about investing in our intellectual capital — the best coaches, the best recruitment, the best sports scientists etc. We need to create Champions League players and be cleverer than everybody else.
“We don’t have the financial capital compared to our opponents but we feel that through being a bit cute and clever, we can fulfil our ambition. So we’ve put in place one of Britain’s top managers in Brendan.
“It is intelligence versus money. If you cannot afford to buy Champions League players, then it has to be in the creating. That’s it in a nutshell. Manchester United can buy in — to a degree we can’t. But it’s not just Celtic. It’s Ajax, PSV, Anderlecht — we’ve all got the same problems.
“We want to dominate in Scotland but our ambition is also Europe. We want to be in the Champions League every year, trying to get out of the group stage and going as far as we can. It can be done. We’ve been to the last 16 three times in my time here.”
Given this ambition — getting the best, mixing with the elite — I asked Lawwell if, in hindsight, the appointment of Ronny Deila in 2014 had been either a mistake or a lowering of Celtic’s ambition. Certainly, the difference in quality between Deila and Rodgers is glaring.
“No, Ronny was not a mistake,” he said. “The ambition was the same, and so were the expectations. If you accept that, at Celtic, it is about creating our own, adding value and building, then the attraction in [recruiting] Ronny was that he was a creator, a builder.
“In his first year we were progressing and he was very, very unlucky not to make history and win a treble. Then in his second year: defeat to Malmo and bang! He was a young manager and wasn’t experienced at this level. After Malmo, the pressures on him came into conflict with our aim of long-term development and building. He stopped enjoying the job.
“In terms of the philosophy and the strategy, Ronny fitted. In terms of delivering in his first year, he did that. But everybody accepts that in the second year we underachieved on the pitch. He stopped enjoying it and wanted to move on.”
Ironically, a ludicrous piece of refereeing in the 2014/15 Scottish Cup semi-final denied Celtic a 2-0 lead against Caley Thistle and, almost certainly, a Scottish Cup final against Falkirk and a likely Deila treble. Was his fate cruelly changed by this one event?
“I don’t know — maybe,” says Lawwell. “A treble would certainly have helped Ronny. He would have made history and it might have added to his confidence. That game was an important moment for us and for Ronny. Who knows, but it’s gone now.”
Lawwell is 57 years old. He has been chief executive at Celtic for 13 years — quite an innings. The club has landed 18 trophies in that time. But they say in football that everyone has a shelf-life: a player, a coach, most especially a manager. Does the shelf-life argument also apply to CEOs?
“In football, stability is so important. We have a stable board here and we’ve got stable ownership. I’ve been here for 13 years. So I think, in a risky business like football, that stability is crucial.
“I love this club and I love my job but, yes, there is a shelf-life and at some point I’m going to have to say ‘that’s it’. But at the moment I’m enjoying working with Brendan — it feels new, it feels something different. The club is in a good place.”
Yet his critics are out there. On more than once occasion in recent years, during a Celtic lull in fortune, someone has posted a message saying: ‘Peter Lawwell, do kindly p*** off’. Or worse.
“Everyone has his critics, of course you do,” he says. “I don’t go on social media but I believe it’s the case with me. It’s all about results — if you’re winning it’s fine, not so if you’re losing. Thirteen years is a long time, granted. It’s for others to judge me, it’s for the Celtic board to do that. I do think about it [retiring]. It will be important, when the point comes, to go out at the right time.
“You don’t want to leave any job as a loser. So, yes, of course I think about it. You hope it all comes together — that it’s the right time for the club, the right time for me, and the right time in terms of what has been achieved.”
What Lawwell is less happy about is talking about Rangers. Relations across the Glasgow divide remain frosty at times, and the invitation to chat about their city rivals is politely declined. But one thing is obvious: Lawwell enjoys crowing about the robust state of Celtic, especially in light of the carnage of recent years at Ibrox.
“I don’t really want to talk about that,” he says of relations with Rangers. “That’s for later. We are not defined by any other club. You’re as well asking me how we get on with Aberdeen. We’re not defined by anyone else. We are independent. We’re getting on with it.
“We have built a great foundation here at Celtic over the years. We have been able to get someone of the quality of Brendan because of the way we have run this club. We have been responsible and we have looked to the long term. Both in terms of finance, and on the park, we deserve to be where we are.
“We aim to be dominant in Scotland for years to come.”
I'm pretty sure Monchengladbach have a wage bill that isn't really multiples of ours - no way is it around the figure PL is quoting (5 to 1). He likes to play fast and loose with numbers.
Edit: The Global Sports Salaries have the average annual pay for BM at £975,093 and the average annual pay for Celtic at £717,860. (Although if those averages include Lawwell's own pay then he's probably right )
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connorj
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9 Dec 2016, 07:09 PM
Post #9139
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Destination Donegal
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http://www.celticfc.net/news/11760
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CELTIC is pleased to announce that is has appointed Sharon Brown as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect.
Sharon, aged 48, is currently a non-executive director at McColl’s Retail Group plc, Fidelity Special Values Plc and F&C Capital & Income Investment Trust plc. Between 1998 and 2013, Sharon was Finance Director and Company Secretary of Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd, and between 1991 and 1998, she held a senior financial position within the retail division of John Menzies plc.
Celtic chairman, Ian Bankier, said: “I am delighted to welcome Sharon to the board of Celtic. Sharon brings a wealth of expertise and business acumen, especially from the retail sector, which will further enhance the skill-set of the board.”
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BombJack
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17 Dec 2016, 02:34 PM
Post #9140
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He twists, he turns, Tommy Burns...
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So what's the latest on Res 12?
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