You and I know there is still work to so, but ask Newco fans or client journalists and they will tell you, they are out of the league chase this season, the title is going to Celtic. The question is why? At the very least, they have to give some credit to Celtic.
Ange Postecoglou transformed Celtic from the moment he arrived, bringing players from a market few in Europe had proper access to. Despite losing the title in 2021, the infrastructure at Celtic and profile of the squad was sufficient to raise money in order to scout, buy or loan with an option, Kyogo, Hatate, Maeda, Jota, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Juranovic, Hart and more.
The rebuild process continued at Celtic Park in the summer, consequentially, Celtic have won all but one of their domestic games this season. They are imperious rivals, far stronger than the side which lost their way in season 2020-21. If you want to compete against them, you need a comparable budget and scouting system; Newco have neither.
Despite taking over midway through a campaign, Giovanni van Bronckhorst won one of the two domestic trophies available to him. His immediate predecessor won one from nine. As we left Hampden in April, out of the Scottish Cup, we knew we had a resourceful rival.
In what seemed an impossibility, he eliminated Sparta Prague, Brondby, Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and Leipzig on his way to the Europa League Final in Seville, losing in the narrowest of margins possible. History will record that this record was one of incredible overachievement.
Then came the summer. He sold his two best players, bringing in over £30m in transfer fees this calendar year, money that would have been enough to challenge Celtic, but he was allowed to spend less than half this figure. After qualifying for the Champions League group stage – something I never thought I would see – Giovanni was given no additional funds. Zilch!
Two weeks ago I explained some of what happened inside Celtic when Neil Lennon’s side came off the rails, why Celtic did not sack him early in the season, how it is easy to sack a manager but immeasurably more difficult to get the next decision right. In particular, that “Proportionality of response is required if you are to be taken seriously by serious candidates.”
Celtic could have recruited those desperate for a job, but right then, they were not attracting a candidate that convinced them to hand them the keys to the kingdom. If you think ANYONE inside Ibrox right now believes they have a plan to flip fortunes with Celtic, you are wildly mistaken.
In that earlier piece I wrote, “[Newco] 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.”
Abusive. Flack. Personally. This is impossibly difficult. I watched it at Celtic, when Peter Lawwell took on the grief because, as he told me at the time, he believed that firing Neil just months after his successes, would make it more difficult for him to attract a great candidate. He wanted to be able to say to a new manager, “I have your back when the going gets tough”. This counts in football.
The experience was painful and in all honestly, I don’t know if I would have gone through the same. It is no surprise those in charge at Newco reached for a scapegoat instead of facing down their more entitled fans at next month’s AGM.
There is another pertinent question, why didn’t Newco sign anyone after disposing of PSV Eindhoven to reach the Champions League group stage? Why were they unable to invest more of the cash they took in, or some of the guaranteed European revenue? Why did they send Gio into battle naked?
For this, I refer you to two news articles published in September.
Firstly, Uefa’s statement on 2 September. Newco were one of 19 clubs mentioned that Uefa said “will be monitored closely in the upcoming period” with regards to the new Financial Fair Play regulations.
Then in his annual report, Celtic chief executive, Michael Nicholson wrote, “Celtic played a significant role at a strategic and technical level in the development of the new regulations.” Having crossed swords with Uefa on FFP for many years, last season, Peter Lawwell spent half a day a week working with Association on their new FFP regulations.
He was hugely influential in drafting their objectives, which were material in inhibiting Newco from splurging cash again – material in what happened today. When I read the new FFP regulations in the summer, I mentioned to ‘sources close to Celtic’, “This is going to get wee Gio the sack.” I wasn’t wrong. From now on, if you want to catch Celtic, live within your means, run a good business, recruit good people and take your chances with the rest of them.
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Auldheid great post 👍
Radio Clyde in the 80’s
Caller: Hello Richard , … can I speak to Jimmy Sanderson please?
Jimmy:
Hello caller!
Caller – blad blah blah blah blah blah
Jimmy:
Are you accusing me of mendacity?
Caller:
Eh?
Jimmy :
Are you accusing me of mendacity?
Caller :
Dialling tone
Hail Hail
Good left footed penalty.
John is getting just a wee bit carried away.
See the USA players telling the ref to check VAR only for the ref to say what for, it was right in front of my eyes.
Good to see a ref having the courage to stick to his own decision.
DENIABHOY on 21ST NOVEMBER 2022 8:29 PM
From Celtic Underground
All I know is that whoever replaces GVB at Ibrox is going to have some pretty small shoes to fill.
A wee pair of Clarks Tufs lols
Or a wee mini broonbrogue
:-)
HH
bale cons the defender by making no attempt to play the ball .
Bale’s like a one man team. Got them through the knockout qualifiers almost single-handed and got them a goal out of nothing
9 mins extra time? The ET in the games so far is amazing. The Dutch scored in the 99th minute in previous game.
The last I heard Qatar had never invaded another country, unlike one of the countries taking part in this WC who in the past say, 50 years has invaded at least 30 at a conservative estimate and killed millions, that’s millions of innocent people, but it is what it is, not in any way defending Qatar, far from it, just pointing out the hypocrisy of it all.
At CP we”re used to seeing 10 substitutions, time wasting from the 10th minute, a couple of stretchers on and a board going up saying 2 minutes extra time.
Got Britain has invaded 90% of countries on earth.
Fact CSC
*Gt
Nite all
HH
Could England have gotten an easier group?
bournesouprecipe
Only group with all four teams in the FIFA top twenty.
Strange but true
USA crap second half.Wales deserved the draw.
Greenpinata, 7:38pm
Your quote of Alan Thompson, is word for word what NFL told me in 2011.
Ronnie
How many personalities can one poster have?.Strange thing is,quite a few sound the same.Defying known science.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Hello again all you young rebels
When will this Celtic fest end ?
Another great day in the lovely city of Brisbane, but my
Goodness , so hot, but ice cold Guinness soon cools you
down.
Met up with some old friends who moved up there from
Victoria, a few Celtic fans who are still not home yet from
Sydney, and others who just decided they liked the sight
and sounds of happy Celtic fans.
Back on our big cruiser now heading up to the sunshine
coast and Cairns, and absolutely no doubts another party
with fellow bhoys and ghirls.
Passing some islands now reminds me of the Hebrides…
Not. Lol.
Since I mentioned the isles, here another for BIG JIMMY.
Hamish and Donal having a chat.
Donal..You’re such a wise man Hamish with your world knowledge
and all that, I bet you could tell me the nationality of that man
chasing the bus ?
Hamish.. I sure am Donal, just look at the clues and it’s very clear
he’s a Russian.
Donal.. My, my Hamish that’s incredible, but what about that very
happy chap there shouting at everyone ?
Hamish.. Again Donal look at the clues, he’s a Celtic fan and he’s
shouting Neil..nein so he’s a German.
Donal.. That’s incredible, but here’s a difficult one, what about him
entering the toilet in a hurry ?
Hamish actually that’s the easiest, he’s a FELLAPEEIN. 😜
H H. Mick
What an enjoyable birthday!
World Cup on the TV all day and I’m off work!
Ange sees off another hunterloper. Lol
Only downside is restaurant that was booked phoned to cancel reservation as they had ‘no kitchen’ tonight’…..no me neither
So take away and beers instead whilst watching more footy…and rebooked for Friday, so 2 birthdays! 😜
Feliz Cumpleanos AoW
Cheers TET, long time no chat bud. Hope you are well. 🍀
P67
The biggest problem you have with your Joseph Goebbels like puff pieces on Lawwell is that everyone who lived through the Lawwell years knows what he was like and what he done.
Would you not be better owning up to what your man done and, if he is going to be the new chairman , attempt to make a case for how he can do this with all that happened?
Abusive. Flack. Personally. This is impossibly difficult. I watched it at Celtic, when Peter Lawwell took on the grief because, as he told me at the time, he believed that firing Neil just months after his successes, would make it more difficult for him to attract a great candidate. He wanted to be able to say to a new manager, “I have your back when the going gets tough”. This counts in football.
‘…The experience was painful and in all honestly, I don’t know if I would have gone through the same. It is no surprise those in charge at Newco reached for a scapegoat instead of facing down their more entitled fans at next month’s AGM..’
Not a mention of the fact that Lawwell gave Lennon the job in the first place and the cowardly way he done it.
Again, your problem is that everyone knows this.
This site has a few Lawwellites but if you go on every other Celtic site and try to pull the wool over peoples eyes like your header today, I think you are well aware of what the reaction would be.
AoW
From what I have read better than you physically at least, speedy recovery mi amigo
AoW
Best wishes and hope you had a great day!
TURKEYBHOY
Moniker status, pure ragin
Lambert14
Lol what’s a Lawellite?
:-)
HH
Art of War
Happy Birthday,.
Hh
Who would win in a fight between Orwellian and Lawwellian ?
1984 CSC
Coisty????
Wit a character, eh?
*bleurgh*
Sleekit frontman for scoddlands shame.
The Voice Of A Football…….
A hunned-up windbag devoid of insight.
Hand-made in scoddland from auld bawbags.
:0
HHH
Regardless of evidence, I suppose, on a site such as this, posters can offer any opinion they want but when they say the likes of ` we all know` or ` everyone knows` and other expressions of that ilk, I switch off.
Although I had no real interest in this World Cup,I quite enjoyed that Wales USA game. I thought one of the US central defenders was excellent but, for all I know, he already plays for a top European side.
CCV wouldn’t have made that tackle.
Lambert14 – what took you so long?
I think the defendeer was Walker Zimmerman. If so, he still plays in the US. Hmm…
One of the top 5 ska and reggae classics
Desmond Dermot and the Aces – “the Lawwellites”
HOT SMOKED
Best game I’ve seen so far, love a bit if cramping up at the end, shows it matters.
CELTIC40ME on 21ST NOVEMBER 2022 10:36 PM
Glad you enjoyed it.
Incidentally, although I don`t believe the World Cup should have been given to Dubai, the temperature in Doha is around 26 degrees during games. Hardly a dreadful state of affairs.
Anyway, it is a cheerio from me,
Goodnight all.
Qatar, not Dubai !!!!