Memories of the “second worst thing to hit Hiroshima” attempt to undermine Wim Jansen on his arrival as Celtic manager from Japanese football in 1997 remain vivid. With no internet, we knew little of Wim. His short stints as assistant with the Saudi national team and as manager of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the four years since leaving Feyenoord did nothing to enhance his reputation.
Ange Postecoglou is an easier man for the support to make their own minds up about. He has a record of developing talent, improving teams and winning titles. By any reasonable measure, his CV is spotless. None of his success happened in Europe and there is nowhere as acutely intense in the football roster as Glasgow, so there are hurdles to overcome.
I like that he is an established winner and that he has not relied on the chequebook to become so. I also hear great things about his strength of character, he has old school authority, as well as a technocrats brain.
Eddie Howe went to the top of the candidate list around two months ago. The time since has been lost, although Postecoglou was not in serious contention that far back. We are now three weeks from preseason training. If Ange is to be appointed, he faces a two week isolation period before being able to visit Celtic Park or Lennoxtown. He might just make it.
Before any of that, he needs to exit Japan and his contractual arrangements with City Football Group’s Yokohama F Marinos, pack his family and belongings up and fly to the opposite end of the globe. There is a lot of work for him to just sit at the Celtic manager’s desk.
At Howe’s request, we were prepared to recruit his entire football infrastructure. He would have endorsed the appointment of coaches, scouts and director of football. Celtic signed up for this but when you let them bring their encourage with them, the successful ones inevitably take the same faces (and more) back out the door with them when they go.
With Ange it will be different, although he may be familiar with some of the faces from City Football Group. This infrastructure is equally as important as the managerial appointment. Celtic need to rebuild a team ahead of a season that offers automatic Champions League qualification for the Scottish Premiership winners. Much of that burden will fall on the manager’s supporting cast. Lots to do, not a lot of time to do it in……
A quick word on Newco’s £6.75m public share offering, announced this morning. Newco have returned an operating loss every year of their existence and have been unable to trade players to meet the shortfall. The burden has thus far fallen on directors. Turning to the fans may indicate a possibility the directors’ largess has dried up. It could also imply no fresh investor has been found.
Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules mean any fresh equity investment cannot be spent on most operational costs, like football or support staff. Competing against a team that runs a persistent eight figure annual deficit has its drawbacks, but we have seen this movie before. We are back at the roulette table with all the chips on Champions League money.
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The close season is proving to be just as big a balls up as the season was . Almost 6 months after the mythical January review , our leadership (sic) is floundering around like Ryan Christie trying to play fitba and blootering the ball over the bar with every knockback .
Somebody step in and save us please!!
JHB on 1ST JUNE 2021 8:26 PM
LAMBERT14 on 1ST JUNE 2021 7:27 PM
JHB
Can you name just one other individual from Celtic’s history in the boardroom who batted for our main rivals at our expense?
———
Winning 29 trophies out of 51 – 57% success rate. Main rivals 11 – 22% success rate. If that’s someone who ‘batted for our main rivals – then let’s hope that Dom is similarly inclined.
Standing firm when ‘our main rival’ was committing suicide by debt – if that’s ‘batting’ for them – then let’s hope that Dom can do likewise.
I’m afraid there is a section of the Celtic support who have made their mind up, for their own ‘private’ reasons, to hate PL – others have jumped on the bandwagon – it’s actually a rite of passage for some – to me that is pathetic!
——————
Ok, lets go over it piece by piece.
Firstly, you couldn’t name anyone else in our 133 history who deliberately done things, or didn’t in some instances, in order to help our biggest rivals at our expense.
That says it al!!
Regarding the trophy haul, imagine what it would have been if he had earned his obscene bonuses and took up the matter with Uefa of results obtained in hundreds of matches with players ineligible to play.
And yet you praise this guy!
Next, so you want to praise Lawwell for the club not pursuing EBTs, the reason for the death of rangers.
Well you are wrong again, as it was Brian Quinn who stepped up to the plate on that occasion re Juninho EBT and advice he gave to the board on not pursuing that avenue.
Next, my and others ‘private’ reasons for hating Lawwell..nothiing private at all.
Go on Kerrydale St and Huddleboard and nobody is backwards at coming forward. Everyone will explain the exact reasons for why he is detested.
Should I go into his lies and devious ways on RES12?
‘Bring me the smoking gun’, which he then buried away.
Years of dogged determination by the requisitioners at no little expense while Lawwell sat back and palmed them off year after year.
The lies about the 5WA and how he had never seen it, when it was sent to his private email.
He lies so often that only Dave King can compete with him.
The 5WA he was a party to, giving special dispensation to sevco over existing rules while the club he is CEO of has to abide as normal.
He is very fortunate he isn’t CEO of a Central or South American club, where fans are extremely volatile, because if he was, and fans of a club he was CEO of found out he shafted his own club and lied to its fanbase in order to help their main rivals, while ignoring existing rules and documents proving a license to play in Europe was obtained fraudulently, or doing nothing when their own club lost out to a club who played ineligible players, because if he was I genuinely wouldn’t fancy his chances of making old age.
Harkin not being appointed is nothing to do with Howe,
We dont know the narrative but it doesn’t stop posters on here making it up and quoting it as the Gospel truth
Gordon64 and VP – thanks for that. Hope our paths cross soon and we can have a chat about this shambles. Take care
Guyfawkes – if it were up to most of us, appointing someone with a limited track record who won’t be with us in time for pre-season training or possibly even the first matches wouldn’t be high on our list of doing what it takes to win two leagues. Indeed, not so long ago I identified at least half a dozen “gettable” managers with CVs much better than Ange’s but as you’ll have noticed the club don’t really engage with fans, except to let us know who has knocked us back and to ask for money even though they’ve failed to “add value” last year and don’t know when we’ll get back to games this year…
Bigbhoy – agreed. Nowt to do with Howe. It’s as likely to be that as Harkin gave us Ange’s name for a laugh and saw we were running with it so he’s giving us a wide berth…
Interesting take Paul has on Twitter as to why Harkin isn’t in the role.
Not qualified. I await the announcement on the DoF with great interest, and in particular because our host, who seems to know so much, posted this on 19 April, the same day what I presumed was a preposterous story appeared in the press linking Kennedy with the job.
“If today’s story on John Kennedy being promoted to work with Eddie Howe is true, he will add a couple of decade’s experience of how Scottish football works to the new management team.”
I scorched that story because Eddie Howe would NEVER have stood for John Kennedy as his boss, and neither would the fans.
Who knows what the Aussie will put up with?
And the fans? We already know what some of them will put up with.
Remember where you heard it first; I’ll give you a clue, it wasn’t on The CelticBlog. I’ll certainly remember where we heard it first.
Hard to know from the outside, but do we know whether the PLC board actually acts collectively or whether, in reality, the CEO and/or Dermot Desmond call(s) the shots?
It seems to me that, given the shambles of the second half of last season and the post-season, whoever is responsible should take that responsibility.
If it is the board as a collective, the board should go. If it is Mr Desmond, he should go. Obviously PL has gone and little of this seems to be the fault of Mr McKay.
We are weeks from pre-season and CL qualifiers. Weeks, in fact, from what is the greatest financial opportunity the club has seen in years- automatic CL group stage qualification for next season’s champions. The fact we have no manager, no DoF, no new signings, players potentially leaving, no vision, no footballing ethos, is truly embarrassing. How we laughed at a certain other side. Then we went and threw the massive advantages away.
SB sales must be very poor. I’d be amazed if substantial numbers are giving the club four figures in the current circumstances. That wont be the case with our biggest domestic rivals.
It appears we might be bringing in a 53 year old manager whose qualities have, to date, escaped the attention of all European teams (bar a lower league Greek team). He has no experience in British, Scottish or European football. Forgive my pessimism but whilst I would wish him every success, I simply cannot see him doing more than Ronny Deila.
There’s only one poster on here who had hysterics all the while assuring is that Mark mcghee was about to be made manager just before Tony mowbray was confirmed. The same poster also received significant help from a previously well known CQN poster to generate some income from his own blog. That same poster is still no less prone to hysterics, but spends an inordinate amount of time criticising the host of this blog. Remember where you heard it first, it certainly wasn’t the Celticblog. Strange that, as well as incredibly rude and ungrateful.
JAMES FORREST on 1ST JUNE 2021 9:38 PM
I read the piece you put out today on your reply from Uefa on Postecoglou.
I despair of the way our club is being run, and can’t see how it will change in the short term.
SPIDEY101 on 1ST JUNE 2021 6:46 PM
The academy is part funded by the paradise windfall and celtic pools, costs next to nothing to operate when those are factored in.
We have produced a lot of players and made a lot more than 39 million from the academy, also have to factor in players like McGregor, forrest who have done it on the pitch for us over many years. guys like johnstone, welsh and to a lesser degree dembele and Montgomery etc. may well become players too. A good few boys leave us before signing their first professional contract but still command 5 figure fees. I would include boys like ajer into the bracket of youth footballers although clearly a very different path.
The academy is very beneficial for the club but I would prefer to see a better structured pathway into the first team for academy graduates. However, we spend to much time bulking up our squad with poor squad players and shuffle players between positions rather than giving youth a chance.
But clubs like managers are short sighted and see the next game as the most important
HH
BOB LOBLAW:
If John Kennedy is our DoF or Sporting Director or lands any other job which makes him the next manager’s boss, I think it is NOT a ridiculous suggestion that perhaps this was one of the reasons we failed to land Eddie Howe. I’m pointing out that this will not have come out of a clear blue sky.
I didn’t any “help” in generating income from the blog except from the advertiisers themselves. Your oblique suggestion to the contrary is interesting but ultimately errenous if I’m being generous.
In certain areas, and on certain subjects, believe me when I say I know more than you, a lot more than you, including things that I’ll never divulge in public or in private.
If you THINK you know something, roll the dice. I’m not the only person who’ll be watching.
DEXTER P. BAMPOT on 1ST JUNE 2021 9:47 PM
Obviously PL has gone.
Sorry DEXTER PL has NOT gone, he is not due to go ’till the end of June and you have to wonder if he is still calling the shots, given our recent past history and the more recent history of the last few weeks or so!
As I have said previously, why would you expect the people who got us in to this mess to be the very people to get us out of the mess we are in. There is in fact no evidence that Einstein ever actually said it, but I must say I see the veracity in the statement “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
I’ve been on CQN for a long time now. Had a lot of rows into early days about politics mostly. Not my bag now but I do enjoy reading a good debate regardless of the topic. The problem though is there is little debate any longer. It is all attack. And the attacks on the guy who started and runs the blog are hard to read sometimes.
I have no interest on going on any other blog and having a go at the authors for posting their opinion or claims of informed comments. I really don’t understand why people do it.
I also have no intention of going back to having online barnies with guys on here but I am mighty tempted to at present. However, what would it profit any of us?
Paul67 I don’t always agree with your take on things but I have massive respect for what you’ve done and continue to do in terms of CQN – head and shoulders above others Celtic sites. By a distance. Thankyou
ROBERTTRESSELL:
Good call. Take your shot. Move to a new firing position. Take another shot. Move to a firing position. Take another shot.
A more noble effort than leaping into the fray.
lambert 14
“……because if he was I genuinely wouldn’t fancy his chances of making old age”
That is a disgraceful use of language, of which you should be ashamed, but probably won’t be. That you should use it less than two weeks after Peter Lawwell’s home was attacked by arsonists, a home occupied by his daughter and grandchild makes it even more unacceptable. That happened in Scotland, not in El Salvador or in Columbia, as in his life, and those of others was put at risk, by those whose behaviour is reckless in extremis. Your language comes into that category.
Stephbhoy – completely agree on the Academy and need for a pathway. Obviously it’s “value” to us is higher than the £39m it’s brought in on transfer fees – that was probably lower than what it’s brought in as I only really included a handful of players I could find a transfer fee for (Tierney, McGeady, Caddis, Henderson, McManus mainly) so I’ll have missed some. It’s clearly been a boon to us in terms of income – McGeady and Tierney paid for some decent players.
I also didn’t include Forrest, CalMac, etc as they’re still with us – they’re value is immense as we’d never afford that quality on the market and we’ve had great service from them. CalMac will, I expect, have been considering whether to go for a payday this summer and now will, so I expect that’ll take the Academy income over the £50m Mark.
My main point was that our buy low sell high strategy hasn’t been a success, other than in a handful of cases. It’s been too scattergun with failures exceeding successes. We’d have been as well relying on Academy kids and saving the money we’ve blown on the likes of Bangura, Amido Balde, etc.
Spidey101 on 1st June 2021 9:36PM
Cheers for that. Very rarely other readers engage with anything I type. It’s a ridiculous situation today for Celtic bloggers to be swirling round the drainhole. Myself, I’ve lost patience with it.
On the first game we’re* back at Celtic Park, we celebrate our four Trebles. Twelve trophies on the bounce. Who can passover such an achievement, except enemies?
(won’t be me. 50,000+ before my family get a green light)
Good post RT, the response from the wee man says it all..
CELTIC MAC on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:05 PM
lambert 14
“……because if he was I genuinely wouldn’t fancy his chances of making old age”
That is a disgraceful use of language, of which you should be ashamed, but probably won’t be. That you should use it less than two weeks after Peter Lawwell’s home was attacked by arsonists, a home occupied by his daughter and grandchild makes it even more unacceptable. That happened in Scotland, not in El Salvador or in Columbia, as in his life, and those of others was put at risk, by those whose behaviour is reckless in extremis. Your language comes into that category.
—————————
So if I had posted that a month ago it would have been ok?
Obviously you know little on how Central and South American fans react.
Also
CELTIC MAC on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:05 PM
lambert 14
“……because if he was I genuinely wouldn’t fancy his chances of making old age”
That is a disgraceful use of language, of which you should be ashamed, but probably won’t be. That you should use it less than two weeks after Peter Lawwell’s home was attacked by arsonists, a home occupied by his daughter and grandchild makes it even more unacceptable. That happened in Scotland, not in El Salvador or in Columbia, as in his life, and those of others was put at risk, by those whose behaviour is reckless in extremis. Your language comes into that category.
—————————
So if I had posted that a month ago it would have been ok?
Obviously you know little on how Central and South American fans react.
Also I gave my reasons as to why, which you have conveniently ignored.
JAMES FORREST on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:03 PM
ROBERTTRESSELL:
Good call. Take your shot. Move to a new firing position. Take another shot. Move to a firing position. Take another shot.
A more noble effort than leaping into the fray
————
James, I’m more than capable of having an open debate with you. I just don’t want to. There is little point.
And leaping into the fray? What fray? Some folks on here, you included, have irked me. Maybe I should have named you. I have now. I’m not sure if other prominent bloggers come onto your blog and direct stuff at you as you do on here toward the host. I hope not.
No shots fired here James, just some venting. And I’m done. Frankly I have enough real frays in my day to day life to keep me going without feeling I’d be somehow enobled by engaging in a debate with you.
Over and out.
New statement from Celtic:
https://mobile.twitter.com/TamsellicsonIII/status/1399816027484176393
Guyfawkes – agree we should celebrate and it’s sad that we’ve been robbed of the chance to do so. And I take the point on swirling round the drain, but the club and supporters are so distances at the moment and the club seem to be set on making the quad treble/9 in a row just a distant memory because of the shambolic actions in the here and now. It reminds me of the old board post/Centenary season – flailing around like headless chickens, reminding us of recent-past glories and having friendly media make out like everything is going swimmingly…
Big Pedro getting found out in spectacular fashion this past year.
Poor Dom McKay. Nightmare inheritance.
Guyfawkes @ 9:04pm.
Completely agree.
Selective historical context is just another form of revisionism.
Facts quite often skewed, nuanced, qualified or just plain ignored in order to fit a preferred narrative.
Classic CD.
Robertressel @ 10:01 – good one.
lambert 14
I heard you the first time.
It doesn’t get any better second time around.
You didn’t use a month ago, you used it just over an hour ago.
Back to basics,
I don’t think I’m being revisionist, just setting out some facts about Lawell’s tenure over 18 years –
We’ve won 6 out of 11 titles in which we had a credible competitor;
We qualified for the CL 8 times, failed to qualify 9 times and the one time we weren’t in the CL qualifiers, we qualified for the Europa League group stages due to Sion’s registration issues;
For a decade, we’ve pursued a “buy low sell high” strategy that saw us make very minimal profit on transfers;
We’re now floofing about, having failed to get our preferred manager and DoF, trying to bring in an under qualified manager who may not be able to take the job (UEFA permit or work permit may get in the way) or if he can will be lucky to be here for our first matches of the season.
That’s not a great record in anyone’s eyes. Better than the dying days of the Kelly’s/Whites but still not great.
How the tables have turned.
Sevco were toxic. Nobody would touch them.
Just to be clear I have no inside information on the current position unfolding slowly in front of us , Also to be clear no one else posting here has a clue what is going on … despite childish claims to the contrary … poppycock and balderdash as once famously cited …
CELTIC MAC on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:41 PM
lambert 14
I heard you the first time.
It doesn’t get any better second time around.
You didn’t use a month ago, you used it just over an hour ago
——————
My point still stands.
South American and Central American countries have fans who simply wouldn’t stand for paying someone’s wages to be deliberately coniving behind their backs to aid their bitter rivals at the expense of the own club.
Take it whatever way you want.
It’s the truth and has bugger all to do with what happened to him a couple of wks ago.
Better still, have a search through the internet regarding what i’ve said.
Might open your eyes.
James Forrest @ 9.55 am
“In certain areas, and on certain subjects, believe me when I say I know more than you, a lot more than you, including things that I’ll never divulge in public or in private.”
————————-
I fail to see how this moves any debate on.
“I know things that you don’t know but I cannot tell you what they are in advance. But in the future I can come back and claim that I knew about things that have since come to light and no one can disprove that I didn’t know this in advance???”
And what certain subjects?
Egyptian hieroglyphics?
Polynesian Art?
Sub Atomic Physics?
1950’s Comic Books?
Everybody knows more than me on certain subjects and I know more than Everybody on certain subjects too.
So long as they remain unspecified, neither me nor Everybody can claim to have superior or inferior information.
LAMBERT14 on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:12 PM
CELTIC MAC on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:05 PM
lambert 14
“……because if he was I genuinely wouldn’t fancy his chances of making old age”
That is a disgraceful use of language, of which you should be ashamed, but probably won’t be. That you should use it less than two weeks after Peter Lawwell’s home was attacked by arsonists, a home occupied by his daughter and grandchild makes it even more unacceptable. That happened in Scotland, not in El Salvador or in Columbia, as in his life, and those of others was put at risk, by those whose behaviour is reckless in extremis. Your language comes into that category.
—————————
So if I had posted that a month ago it would have been ok?
Obviously you know little on how Central and South American fans react.
Also I gave my reasons as to why, which you have conveniently ignored.
===========================
Lambert14.
i tend to agree with CelticMac here.
in pollok terms your bein ‘wide with the lingo’
maybe just me mate.
if it were you who had that attack on your home.i would respond the same.poor stuff in the context of recent history.
HH
Watched the Alex Ferguson documentary last night.
(It was a slack night & curiosity got the better of me)
An excellent piece that pulled no punches about how he was hounded out of his boyhood heroes ground in Govan. Also how he was close to getting the sack at United.
Mrs C, who was a reluctant viewer at the start, said when it was over that she like to watch it again.
Bank holiday Monday over here (well Memorial Weekend) so we sat outside late on just to get some air.
Lots of planes flying in and out of Charlotte Airport as it’s almost back to normal but Mrs C points out a strange looing light in the sky. Not flashing at all & very bright (think Jupiter or Venus in the Western sky bright). This thing is moving and flies directly over us…then the light fades until the thing disappeared.
The blooming International Space Station and the light was the reflection of the sun’s rays on the panels etc.
I checked it out with the website & it’s due back over us tonight at 9.46pm.
HH
AN TEARMANN on 1ST JUNE 2021 11:11 PM
https://www.france24.com/en/20181127-argentinas-hooligans-endless-cycle-football-violence
LAMBERT14 on 1ST JUNE 2021 11:23 PM
AN TEARMANN on 1ST JUNE 2021 11:11 PM
https://www.france24.com/en/20181127-argentinas-hooligans-endless-cycle-football-violence
———————————
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/96337.stm
AN TEARMANN
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-40527733
Spidey101 – (my fellow Celt) cheers.
Hadn’t actually read your earlier post when responding to Guy Fawkes.
I hear you but, if I may, …
… a key point of your thesis is a period without a “credible competitor”.
Why was this?
The “credible competitor” KILLED themselves trying to compete with us.
BTW – the above isn’t a flowery metaphor.
It’s a documented, incontrovertible fact.
Could the CEO (2003 – 2021) have done better or different?
Absolutely.
If his successor delivers 13 of 18 titles – irrespective of the circumstances (I don’t care if our competition Devon Loch it every year) – I’ll be happy.
Night all
Hail hail
Keep The Faith
We’re Not Half of Anything
19-1
We share a city AND NOTHING ELSE
WESTCRAIGS on 1ST JUNE 2021 10:41 PM
How the tables have turned.
Sevco were toxic. Nobody would touch them.
==============================
check out TimTims post on Scottish football monitor at 19.26.
https://blog.sfm.scot/here-we-go-again/#comments
The toxicity is still reeking out them.it will always.it looks at the type of financing they are routed to with Tifosy.
Youll also know our accounts are fully disclosed. we can argue bout recaliberating depts we do it with full published accounts.
hh