Two years ago, it was Neil Lennon under pressure. Celtic were on a course to lose their first league title in a decade. Fans were unable to attend but a few turned up anyway to boo and harass. Confidence was low and the siege that soon surrounded the club didn’t help.
I spoke to ‘sources close to the club’ after the 2-2 draw at Easter Road in November 2020 and suggested, ‘You’re probably going to lose the league, but if you change manager, it might not be too late’. Changing manager sounds easier than it ever is, but once you make that decision, more difficult questions arise.
When Neil eventually left in February, we promoted John Kennedy as caretaker. John could have taken control earlier and generated something of a dead cat bounce, but that change was not going to transform Celtic from losers to winners.
If we sacked Neil after that draw with Hibs, we could have gone to market trying to recruit a replacement for a manager, who at that stage, had won 100% of the domestic competitions the club competed in during his tenure. It is one thing to sack a failed manager, but sack a manager who had never failed because some fans demanded it? Proportionality of response is required if you are to be taken seriously by serious candidates.
Managers all know the script when it comes to the pressure clubs are under to sack someone when results go south, and they always go south at some point. Celtic didn’t sack Neil that autumn, he left by his own hand with the season’s business overwhelmingly settled.
The problems we had that season were far from limited to the manager. The goalkeeping situation was a disaster zone, as was central defence. We had a defender, midfielder and striker all in the final period of their contracts and wanting away. Jock Stein himself would not have been able to parachute into that mess and turn things around.
After a very lengthy and circuitous process, Celtic eventually recruited an outstanding talent who has transformed every aspect of the football operation. The recovery worked out better than any of us could have hoped. Still, we lost THAT league title.
There were a few reasons why Celtic didn’t sack Neil Lennon early that season, when the writing was on the wall. The man responsible knew he had to subsequently attract a replacement who was able to work the kind of magic Ange Postecoglou delivered. That is not easy. We did so with Brendan Rodgers, but when Brendan left, the recruitment job was much harder. We ended up with Neil, more than appointed him.
I think if a Brendan Rodgers-type candidate was there and prepared to come, Celtic would have made the move earlier that season. This was not the case. None of the options convinced anyone at Celtic that they were going to rescue a season that was so badly out of kilter.
Instead, the club looked to the horizon and planned how to put Celtic back on top as quickly as possible. Changing the manager in haste was not material to this, so Neil did the hard work and got on with the job to the best of his ability. For the record, those of you who spent time yesterday reminiscing, 10 years after beating Barcelona in the Champions League, might consider he was a talented manager. Many worse options were available in November 2020.
Looking back on a successful recovery, this makes sense. At the time, most people just wanted a clearly failing manager sacked. When things are going wrong, we want action, often without considering if the most likely actions will only make things worse.
I cannot believe the bloodthirst for Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Less than six months ago he took a team of journeymen to a European final, one they would have won bar a remarkable save two minutes from the end of extra time. He then beat PSV Eindhoven to qualify for the Champions League group stage, again, a remarkable performance.
The problems at Newco are not all his doing. He lost his best players in the summer and was given little of the proceeds to replace them. His team are aging and, like some in the Celtic squad of season 2019-20, have an eye on the door. He is also up against a formidable Celtic. Sacking the manager will not fix any of this. But still, the demands for action could scarcely be stronger.
Having watched how Celtic kept their eye firmly on recovery in November 2020, it is easy to look around at the mistakes of others.
Newco are surrounded by many worse options that sticking with van Bronckhorst, and I doubt they have genuine faith in a way forward that they believe will knock Celtic off the podium. They can sack a manager who achieved spectacularly for them, or face down some entitled fans. It will be a measure of their board if they are prepared to take abusive flack personally when a scapegoat is available.
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BTW
i think we need a farcical situation where about six penalties are awarded in a game before there will be any change to VAR`s effect on the game.
HOT SMOKED on 9TH NOVEMBER 2022 10:04 AM
BTW
i think we need a farcical situation where about six penalties are awarded in a game before there will be any change to VAR`s effect on the game.
Not if they are all awarded to the huns , it won’t !
CELTIC40ME on 9TH NOVEMBER 2022 8:57 AM
Absolutely no need to apologise to me mate. I enjoyed the debate. Your views are always articulate and well worth a read so keep them coming.
My take on their accounts – admittedly I’m nowhere near p67 levels on this stuff and did a very quick skim read of the notes.
The huns auditors have failed to comment on going concerns – their board are satisfied there’s adequate future funding but the auditors have not commented.
That’s significant because our auditors stated clearly they were satisfied we had no going concern liabilities.
I’ll look forward to P67 take on this because he excels at this stuff.
The Huns didnt post a profit. Dont be fooled by the reports, they didnt.
They lost £0.9m in a year when they sold a player for £12m (the accounts confirm it was that much) and got to the final of the Europa League. They earned more in Europe that season than they will in this.
They will point to the £8.25m one-off settlement payment for the Sports Direct debacle (!!!!!!) as proof that they can be profitable, but they exclude the one-off payment for Gerard and his staff.
They still needed 9.1m in new investor and bank loans and 4.3m in share issue capital to get through the year.
” Never put domestic football,before European football.
At a loss to know how that works.Success in one,guarantees playing in the other.
Corporate accounts are prepared by independent auditors. Posters casting doubt on the accuracy of the Rangers annual accounts almost by default are desperately clutching at straws.
£8.25m settlement costs for the Sports Direct debacle
Turkeybhoy,
I glad that you realise that European football is a prize for domestic success.
We have previously ” rested” players in European competition to play upcoming domestic games.
Others may disagree however I say never again.
Cheers and HH.
That claptrap from across the City.Not fooling me.Have a real look at the figures.
I am sure Phil’s guy will be more forensic when he has had a study.
As Jim Royal would say,” Profit my Arse”
Play your best game Celts and victory will be ours ….be wary of Moult …he has the ability to hurt us
Good morning all from McKinnons bar on Gallowgate Boulevard. A fine day for thrashing another bunch of huns without the bus fare.
SFTB
I think the anger actually built up from May 19 when Lennon was appointed.
The vast majority of the support were deflated and I believe they never recovered.
Going from Rodgers to Lennon.
Just wasn’t going to cut with the fans.
Sevco group
Total wage bill – 54.804
Amortisation – 11.822
Celtic group
Wages – 58.830
Amortisation – 13.045
We have more non-football employees on our wage bill
Don’t let anyone tell you we have a big financial advantage over them, we spent roughly similar amounts on our football departments last season, it was the same story in 2020/21
What is the opposite of deflated ?
Celtic40me
“Apologies to An Dun and SFTB for my tone last night.”
——————–
As An Dun said, I did not detect anything unacceptable in your tone.
Are those hun accounts post or pre tax? Does make a difference😱
St Tams
I accept that there was anger amongst some fans at the appointment. I believe it was still a minority then and people were exaggerating the Bolton and Hibs “failures”.
Neil’s record at Celtic should have earned him more than a job at the basket case Bolton.He also won promotion at Hibs and got them into Europe.
That initial anger from his appointment grew into a much stronger position by October/November because it is much easier to persuade people of the unsuitability of the appointment once he had actually failed rather than before failure had happened back in May. As it turned out, on this occasion, the forecasts of doom turned out to be correct.
For me, it’s all moot. My argument is that Neil needs to be measured in the round. Our anger at his part in the abject failure to pursue 10iar has overwhelmed all the good that Neil did for us. The anger, justified at the time, led to overstated comments that verged on hatred and certainly showed a lack of appreciation of the man. He suffered because of his association with us. His life was threatened when he left a comfortable position as a NI internationalist playing for Leicester to become a hated fenian in both Scotland and the Occupied 6 counties.
I love Neil for what he did for us. From that position, I can criticise him as the figurehead of the lost 10iar campaign. I worry about those of my fellow Celts who hate Neil because of that.
On the account summary page they lost approx 1 million. That is not disputable. The papers are highlighting bits of the accounts where they have made major improvements and ignoring that even with a massive increase in turnover, they failed to turn a profit.
I imagine their next set of accounts, with CL money and the transfers of Bassey and Aribo, will be similar or better.
But that might be it. They have no major stars left to sell and a squad needing to be rebuilt.
We have several players who will be targets for 10-20 million transfers over the next couple of seasons.That plus potential CL money of 20-30 million next season will see the gap widen significantly again by 2024.
All, of course. just an educated guess.
Good morning CQN
Have missed the blog last two days.
Busy at work. (priorities all wrong).
Neil Lennon – brilliant chat on here last night.
My tuppence? If the Celtic family is indeed a family time to “forgive” Neil (if that is right word) and move on.
Anger, rage, continuing frustration?
Old news. Let it go. Release your anger. Reject the Sith.
As for Neil? I think his coaching career is coming to an end and I think he’ll carry some emotional baggage until his dying day.
All the best Neil.
Totting up his ledger? One of the good guys by a distance.
PS ….
Sevco reach a European final, sell a young asset and inch into the black.
Quelle Surprise.
Why Neil Lennon got the job 252
BY PAUL67 ON 27TH MAY 2019CQN BLOG & COMMENTS
And so it’s Lenny. Let’s put some easy to apply context onto the decision, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez were not about to pitch up in the east end of Glasgow, those names were placed in the pubic domain by those in the betting markets. Jose is pondering his next move, with a number of oil wells pumping away at his disposal. Should Rafa leave Newcastle, he has a mind-blowing deal on the table from a Chinese club, and that’s before he is on the market. There was not a candidate of Brendan’s calibre.
Salzburg manager, Marco Rose, ticked lots of boxes. Salzburg were scintillating against Celtic this season, but the whole of Europe knows about Rose, who will join ‘some German team’ in the summer.
We could have had David Wagner, two great seasons with Huddersfield before it all collapsed, but never having managed a club bigger than Huddersfield (or any other club), the risks were evident. How would he cope with the scrutiny and pressure to win every game, when he has not actually won anything? Before he joined Schalke, he was a possibility, but not a clear favourite.
We could have thrown the field open and gone for a Ronny Delia-type candidate, someone who has outperformed – and won things, in another European league. There is a time for this kind of appointment, but is that now?
This month saw new names on the market, like Chris Hughton. Hughton did for Brighton what Wagner did at Huddersfield. He was a worthy candidate but there were red flags among the green. Hughton spent £77m at Brighton this season (selling £12m of talent), but it was careless. £17m went to Alkmaar for Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but the player was given 90 minutes only four times. This is the kind of shabby recruitment that values Oliver Burke at £15m. It is as wrong for Celtic as it was for Brighton.
The major consideration, and why Neil got the job, is that Celtic have a major rebuilding exercise to undertake. They need to replace Lustig (whether he remains as backup or not), Boyata, Benkovic and Mousse Dembele. Despite the mainstays of central mid being under contract, this area of the team needs at least one significant recruit.
Not only do they need to spend money this summer, but they need a high success rate from the new arrivals. Signing the likes of Burke, Toljan and the legendary Compper would jeopardise the most precious of properties in football – a place in history.
Whatever you think of Brendan Rodgers, Celtic know very well the commercial impact a manager of his calibre brought to the club, but that level was not open this time. We could have repeated the Ronny Deila experiment from Europe, or picked up someone recently out of a job in England, but not at this time.
Everyone at Celtic knows that for the next 100 years, fans will look back at this period and ask one of two questions: What was it like to live through +10-in-a-row? Or, How did they not get 10-in-a-row?
We need to spend, what for Celtic, is a lot of money, perhaps more than ever. It needs to be spent well, with a lot more hits than misses. If we break our transfer record again this season, the player(s) needs to an outstanding success.
Whatever Neil’s strengths and flaws, one comment from Peter Lawwell immediately after the Cup Final gave insight into what the club seen in the manager, “he has a great eye for a player”. This appointment was not about stepping up when required, being a real Celtic man, or winning the league and Scottish Cup. This was about spending a lot of money to make sure we get nine and then 10-in-a-row.
Celtic believe Neil Lennon can spend your money effectively. That is why he is here. Buckle up.
It’s not confirmed yet but some leaks are showing that CCV has made the USA squad for Qatar.
If true, it’s a well deserved response for our most consistent CB and current captain
Gerrard compo – £4.25m
Included in the operating income.
Resolution of Mike Ashley dispute – £8.25m
Not included in the operating income
Both exceptional one-offs.
Thats why they are reporting an operating profit for the first time ever.
An Dun and SFTB
Thanks
new article posted.