Asset Management Day

739

You and I are old enough to remember the grief when a star player left to go to England.  Today, with Odsonne Edouard’s anticipated departure, grief is replaced by relief.  This is nothing to do with the player’s ability, he will be missed on the field, but success on the grass is determined by the astuteness in the Asset Management game.  If Celtic are to enhance their chances with the former, they need to optimise the latter.  Eddie has to leave with financial compensation coming the other way.

Whatever Crystal Palace pay, a significant portion will to go Paris Saint-Germain (widely reported as 40%).  We paid €10m when the player signed permanently in 2018, so although the money will have an impact on current and future trading, we will scarcely break even on the player, a sign that his value (€10m plus sell-on clause) did not appreciate during his time in Glasgow.

Ryan Christie, like Stuart Armstrong three years ago, is one I hoped we would be able to hold onto.  Ryan spent three years going nowhere (if you discount loans to Inverness and Aberdeen) before he transformed Celtic when coming on as a halftime substitute against Hearts at Murrayfield in October 2018.  Celtic started that season poorly with Brendan Rodgers unable to conjure a fix until a series of injuries gave Ryan his chance.  He played a significant role in rescuing Celtic’s season, and Brendan’s reputation, as they secured the Treble Treble and remained a key player in the subsequent treble and European campaigns.

Money talks and Celtic players listen when wages above £50k per week are mentioned (Edouard will earn significantly above this).  With only six months left on his current deal, I doubt we will earn much for Ryan, but the principle remains the same; churn them before they leave for free.

Filipe Jota and Georgios Giakoumakis are waiting in the tunnel, so the ‘F5 hours’ should be busy.

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  1. Just reading one of those red top sponsored sites on Celtic news now . Why I bother I don’t know , but one story that caught my eye was the Ali McCann of st Johnstone one , Watched this young man closely, IMO he is one we should go after ,a very good player with a good engine AND a bit of dig , had we half decent scouts he would definitely be on our bucket list , but it seems that 3 million is beyond us now cracking player too . Don’t see many comments regards Ryan Christie ,s contract being allowed to nearly run out , whoever was responsible for that and letting eddy,s wind down when it was clear he was wanting off , is again negligent. .HH

  2. @ROBERTTRESSELL on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:45 PM

     

     

    The summer transfer window that preceded BR’s last season also needs to be taken into account.

     

     

    Dembele, Armstrong and Paddy gone – Mulumbu and Morgan in. Eddy was signed, but he played in the same team as Mousa, so hardly a replacement.

     

     

    We had such a decimated squad that we turned up to Ibrox with MJ up front in Jan 2020. We have had such piss poor asset management (to use Paul’s phrase) that we turned up to a league cup final in 2020 in a similar state, we started Ryan Christie up front v the Hungarians and in this year’s CL qualifying we had Welsh and Murray as our centre half pairing.

     

     

    Our squad management has been atrocious. Sevco have had roughly the same back 4 for the last four seasons.

  3. we needed to strengthen squad last week…. when RC and OE were staying…and Jota/Greek on way so even more so now… we have one CH fit at club.

  4. Loving all the chat about waiting until Jan to spend some of the OE / RC cash.

     

    Do some in the support have a fear of debt / financial sky falling in / deathwish.

     

     

    We need to be the best we can be today to get us through the next 4 months.

     

    No holding back / no saving for a rainy day / no trying to be cuter than we actually are.

     

     

    We need a massive improvement.

     

    The rainy day is now.

     

    Playing games didn’t work last season.

     

     

    Consequently get in who we can / who we need / who will improve our chances of winning the SPL and improve our chances of making progress in Europe.

     

     

    No more playing stupid bonus inspired games — we are at a crossroads and we need to push on.

     

     

    Let January look after itself.

     

     

    We need surprise and delight now.

  5. Go tell the Spartim on

    Jam tomorrow quick news

     

     

    With both OE and RC in the match day squads we’ve already lost 2 games out of 4, with them gone and to date no replacements for for them just how exactly are we going to compete in all competitions?

  6. Leeds signing Daniel James from Man Utd for £25million , thought that money was set aside for Ryan Kant ????

  7. @SAINT STIVS on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:54 PM

     

     

    “If I suggested, we win nothing this season, but improve enough that for the next 4 seasons after we win 4 trebles, would that be a success ?”

     

     

    You talk of 5 year rolling plans. I don’t see any of that planning at Celtic (maybe things will change).

     

     

    We had not won a treble under the PL tenure – BR arrives and puts us well on the way to a treble treble. Neil comes in, squeaks one before the whole edifice collapses, leaving us in the worst position since the late 90s. It is credit to Ange how has been able to reinvigorate the players and the support.

     

     

    Also, look at the pre BR years – £50m turnovers, half empty stadiums, losing 6-1 to Legia. What was the great 5 year plan then?

     

     

    PL was incredibly lucky that the financial crisis occurred and ended Oldco’s ability to overspend, either by Bank loans or Murray moving debt to his own companies. We then had a free run at the league and as long as TIAR was a possibility, all the European failures, piss poor planning and otherwise was swept under the rug.

     

     

    Failure to win the league this year means 5 years out of the CL – some 5 year rolling plan PL cooked up there.

  8. Now is the time to spend, anything else is pure folly.

     

     

    Then again we have watched this mismanagement shit show from our custodians for years now.

     

     

    Pathetic that our custodians are not backing Ange to the Hilt.

     

     

    Real pathetic and I know there is still about 6 hours to go of window but we should never be in this position.

     

     

    We have learned nothing over the years, our custodians are a disgrace.

     

     

    D :)

  9. if WGS’s consultancy role was actually to help us get Griff to Dundee? Well worth the fee 😜

  10. Pre Covid, Chris Sutton said that Eddy would be a target for a Top 6 EPL club and it was hard to argue.

     

     

    I’ll be surprised if he recovers his form from then for at least a year.

  11. The squad at the end of the window will have ‘ fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ unless the positions required are filled with players with the ability required.

     

    All the jargon about ‘asset management’ won’t disguise and cover up a squad not prepared for up to 26 matches in the next 4 months while the board sit with millions in the bank.

     

    ‘jam tomorrow’ may fool some of the dafties on here, the last wee clique of board sycophants.

  12. Go tell the Spartim on

    If we were to get one more signing it should be a CB, I’d let Shaw play the defensive midfield role if McCarthy isn’t available, Soro is tidy on the ball but is bewildered by defensive duties.

     

     

    I’m all on board the Ange train, think Dom is on a handcar

  13. vale bhoy

     

     

    And so on it will go until the Desmond Dynasty leaves the stage (we’ve talking a couple of decades here).

     

     

    Btw, I’m giving them until midnight to prove me wrong but experience tells me I might be right…

     

     

    Jota and Giakoumakis are very welcome at Celtic, but they aren’t enough.

  14. Exactly, all season tickets sold. money banked.. “Tried to get deals over the line but ran out of time!”

  15. onenightinlisbon on

    New boss, same as old boss, who would have thought.

     

     

    Ange will hopefully now know what he has to deal with.

  16. Jota is replacement for Elnaoussi….. need a replacement for Christie and Mikey Johnson. Need at least 2 or 3 more loans in today. Can you still sign out of contract players in next few days?

  17. LAMBERT14 on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:16 PM

     

    CELTIC40ME on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:44 PM

     

     

     

    Just to keep you right, percentages are arithmetic, not maths

     

     

    I’M SORRY, OK?

  18. ARADOMINIC on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:45 PM

     

    Jota is replacement for Elnaoussi….. need a replacement for Christie and Mikey Johnson. Need at least 2 or 3 more loans in today. Can you still sign out of contract players in next few days?

     

    —————————

     

    Can you name one out of contract player who couldn’t get picked up by a club in the transfer windows who went on to establish themselves?

     

    We got to that stage before due to the dreadful lawwelesque way we were run.

     

    Do you remember he signed an out of contract Mulumbu who had no club because he haggled for 2 months over John McGinn?

  19. People seem to be forgetting we have signed three CHs in the shape Urhoghide, Scales and Starfelt. Might not be the quality we would like to see but I cannot see either Urhoghide or Scales signing just to be benchwarmers. That gives us, with Welsh and Julien, five players for two positions without having to slot Biton in or look at our reserves for cover.

  20. Jota, Montgomery & Johnson will be our attacking left side options, Taylor, Montgomery & Scales will be our LB options.

  21. we have signed three CHs in the shape Urhoghide, Scales and Starfelt. Might not be the quality we would like to see

     

     

    somebody thought they are the quality we like to see.

  22. DENIABHOY on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:52 PM

     

    People seem to be forgetting we have signed three CHs in the shape Urhoghide, Scales and Starfelt. Might not be the quality we would like to see but I cannot see either Urhoghide or Scales signing just to be benchwarmers. That gives us, with Welsh and Julien, five players for two positions without having to slot Biton in or look at our reserves for cover.

     

    ——————————-

  23. losing goals , lots of them from set pieces week in week out! This is THEE most critical situation at Celtic. Could argue it has been an emergency for months.

     

     

    Starfelt stats didnt ever suggest he was a commanding areal ball winner.

     

     

    The Celtic board wait until the last min of the window to steal a deal for a CH is absolutely pathetic and imo negligence.

     

     

    What a way to run a football team.

     

     

    Other than that position, I’m happy with progress with manager, Kyogo, hart, Josip, starfelt, abada and the development of youth. Hoping to announce the greek, Jota and a strong experienced defender!

  24. Asset management.

     

    Sell big. Buy cheap.

     

    Nothing has changed and nothing will change as long as the board remains unchanged.

  25. ROLLING_STONE on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:28 PM

     

    @SAINT STIVS on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:54 PM

     

     

    You talk of 5 year rolling plans. I don’t see any of that planning at Celtic (maybe things will change).

     

     

    ——————————–

     

     

    From the company investor relations web pages. as per having to operate within AIM rules as a PLC –

     

     

    ROLLING_STONE on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:28 PM

     

    @SAINT STIVS on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:54 PM

     

     

     

    ROLLING_STONE on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:28 PM

     

    @SAINT STIVS on 31ST AUGUST 2021 2:54 PM

     

     

     

     

     

     

    “If I suggested, we win nothing this season, but improve enough that for the next 4 seasons after we win 4 trebles, would that be a success ?”

     

     

    You talk of 5 year rolling plans. I don’t see any of that planning at Celtic (maybe things will change).

     

     

    ————————

     

     

    From the Company Investor Relations pages, as per normal AIM rules to operate as a PLC entity.

     

     

    —————————

     

     

    The following information is disclosed in this section and elsewhere within the Celtic plc Investor Centre for the purposes of full and transparent compliance with Rule 26 of AIM Rules for Companies.

     

     

    DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

     

    The main aspect of our business is the operation of a professional football club. This encompasses a wide range of activities including match ticketing, stadium operations, merchandising, events, multimedia and publications.

     

     

     

    The Board of Directors has legal and financial responsibility for the affairs of the Company. The Board delegates day-to day operational responsibility to the executive Directors, the Chief Executive, Dom McKay and Financial Director, Christopher McKay.

     

     

    The Board as a whole monitors Company performance against budgets and a rolling 5 year business plan as well as making specific decisions on key areas of the Company’s business, risk management and setting future strategy. The Board operates, through the Audit Committee, a comprehensive set of internal financial controls, which are reported on regularly by the internal auditor and reviewed each year by the external auditors.

     

     

    There are some matters which only the Board can decide upon including, for example, the appointment of directors and auditors, the payment of dividends and the approval of budgets and interim and annual results. Decisions on significant contracts and expenditure above certain levels, also require Board approval.

     

     

    —————————–

     

     

     

     

    ———————–

  26. and from the last annual report

     

     

    STRATEGY, THE BUSINESS MODEL AND OBJECTIVES

     

     

    Notwithstanding the current challenges arising from Covid-19, the

     

    Group’s objective is unchanged – to create a world class football

     

    club through our strategy and business model for growth focusing on

     

    three key areas:

     

     

    (i) Core Business – football operations with a self-sustaining

     

    financial model, relying upon: youth academy; player

     

    development; player recruitment; management of the player

     

    pool; sports science and performance analysis; and football

     

    success.

     

     

    (ii) Development of the Celtic Brand – incorporating the Celtic

     

    Park Masterplan and the development of international revenues.

     

     

    (iii) Improvement in the football environment in which

     

    Celtic plays – representation within football governance and

     

    administration at domestic and European level.

  27. DENIABHOY on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:52 PM

     

     

     

     

    People seem to be forgetting we have signed three CHs in the shape Urhoghide, Scales and Starfelt. Might not be the quality we would like to see but I cannot see either Urhoghide or Scales signing just to be benchwarmers. That gives us, with Welsh and Julien, five players for two positions without having to slot Biton in or look at our reserves for cover.

     

     

     

     

    ——————————-

     

    Did you watch Urhoghide in the friendlies?

     

    Rabbit caught in headlights would sum his performances up.

     

    Tellingly he hasn’t featured in any competitive matches, Dane Murray being preferred.

     

    He is the definition of a project.

     

     

    There have been several contribution from Shamrock Rovers fans on the huddleboard regarding Scales.

     

    They all rate him but everyone said he certainly isn’t ready to come from part time football to playing for Celtic and will need half a season to be try to be up to it.

     

    At the pace that Ange wants to play at, with a league to win and matches against very good European sides then relying on the players mentioned for a club of our size is absurd.

  28. @ DENIABHOY on 31ST AUGUST 2021 3:52 PM

     

     

    The fact that Dane Murray played ahead of Urhoghide this season is indicative of Urhoghide’s level of development.

     

     

    Scales cost 600k Euro – we need better than that and have the funds to get better.

  29. no surprise here re Eddy transfer, going by the pace of play he’s shown over the last 2 seasons.

  30. Is asset management new speak for getting rid of a 19k a week striker and replacing him with a 9k a week (at the very most) striker….we have battered some huge wage earners of the bill…MOI LAXALT DUFFY BROONY…..tho I suppose hart and Mccarthy will be on big money ….but it would be interesting how much the wage bill has been decimated

  31. Lambert 14 – I don’t disagree with you. My point is only that having signed three CHS, giving us five in the first team squad, I don’t think they will be rushing out to buy any more. We see Urhoghide and Scales as “projects” but I have the feeling that the board don’t. And by that I mean that they will tell Ange he has all the CHs he is getting.

  32. and continued –

     

     

    ———————–

     

     

    KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

     

    The Group monitors performance against the following key

     

    performance indicators:

     

     

    • Football success (refer to page 7, Overview and page 38

     

    Five Year Record);

     

     

    • Match attendance statistics (refer to page 8, Stadium and

     

    Matchday Operations and page 38 Five Year Record);

     

     

    • Sales performance per revenue stream (refer to The Financial

     

    Review page 12 and Note 5, Segmental Reporting);

     

     

    • Wage and other costs (refer to page 13, Operating Expenses

     

    and page 14, Current Trading and Outlook);

     

     

    • Capital expenditure (refer to page 13, Property Plant and

     

    Equipment);

     

     

    • Profit and cash generation (refer to page 14, Current Trading

     

    and Outlook);

     

     

    • Shareholder value (with weekly share price reporting

     

    disseminated within the business); and

     

     

    • Player trading (refer to page 13, Net Player Trading).

     

     

    The key components of these KPIs are discussed on the following

     

    pages.

     

     

    The Group operates a 5 year plan which is updated and reviewed

     

    on an annual basis.

     

     

    A detailed budget is prepared and approved by

     

    the Directors in advance of each trading year. The budget identifies

     

    all the key performance areas noted above. The actual performance

     

    of the Group is then monitored against the budget with particular

     

    emphasis against the key performance indicators as noted above.

     

    Monthly management accounts are prepared highlighting

     

    performance against budget and the prior year, detailing analysis

     

    of sales performance, total cost control including total labour

     

    costs, player trading gains or losses and capital expenditure. The

     

    management accounts also include regular re-forecasts of the

     

    anticipated outturn performance for the financial year end to which

     

    they pertain.

     

    Actual and forecast performance is fully considered at the regular

     

    Board meetings linking back to profit and cash generation as well as

     

    total shareholder value. Management and departmental meetings are

     

    held on a regular basis to discuss actual and forecast performance

     

    with future action agreed accordingly. On a weekly basis, performance

     

    is reported through a series of key performance indicators, which are

     

    shared with business decision makers and managers, including by

     

    revenue stream and match attendance analysis.

     

    A review of the performance of the Group, particularly in relation to

     

    football success and match attendance statistics, sales performance,

     

    wage and other costs, and player trading is outlined in this Strategic

     

    Report, under the sub headings which follow, as appropriate.

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