My friends in Celtic, the third domestic trophy returned to the boardroom earlier this month. We sit 14 points clear at the top of the league table, and with 20 games remaining, you can get 20/1 on Newco for the title and 750/1 on Aberdeen. Yet again, Celtic are not so much a sporting favourite, than an investment asset (this is not gambling advice!).
We have nine points after six games in the Champions League and could confirm qualification for the knockout round next month. The club reported record turnover for last season of £124.6m, with £77m in the bank.
Good performances in Europe contributed significantly to this calendar year seeing only two defeats in all competitions: a random 10-man loss at Hearts and an absolute drubbing at Dortmund. 2024 is the year that delivered more major trophies than defeats. This has never happened before and surely will never happen again.
The summer transfer window saw £31.2m spent on in-coming players, with a new high watermark of £11m splurged on Arne Engels. How easily we moved on from the loss of Jota and Matt O’Riley.
A new transfer window opens tomorrow, so before the madness gets underway again, recall the angry and entitled writers who despaired all summer at Celtic’s transfer activity. Their form is as consistent as Cameron Carter-Vickers, so you will hear from them again soon. Transfer business is skewed to the end of the window and is more complicated than many would have you believe.
2025 opens at Ibrox, where it is seldom easy. However, a Celtic defeat would not convince any of the 50,000 attendees that their ‘heroes’ are capable of catching the champions.
In February we had slipped behind Newco and were playing poorly. I was concerned the title would be lost, Newco would earn a Champions League lifeline and Celtic would plunge into disarray.
As it turned out, the Premiership, Scottish Cup and League Cup were all decided in pivotal games against Newco: 3-3 draw at Ibrox, the 1-0 Scottish Cup Final win and the penalty decider in the League Cup Final. All of these games could have gone the other way, and for a period, looked as though they would.
It is to Brendan Rodgers eternal credit that he knows how to win tight games. Marginal differences in the game at Ibrox were enough to change Scottish football history – and not just for last season. With £77m in the bank, Celtic would have coped with a second place finish, albeit, there would have been a trauma. Newco, however, were devastated by the consequences of only taking a point that day. They celebrated the passing of their last chance.
We are in the fortunate position to have a manager, players and entire club who collectively have the corporate experience to get the job done. As long as Celtic perform as they have been recently, we will dominate in Scotland and give a reasonable account of ourselves in Europe.
Some of us lived through the 90s, when Rangers were out of sight and Celtic were under-resourced. Always. We won the league in 1998, due to a random series of events, including signing a winger from Feyenoord, but that was a one-off. The next two seasons were a return to more of the same.
The rebirth of Celtic under Martin O’Neill had a compelling side story: the corporate disaster zone that was Rangers under the bombast of David Murray and his non-execs. They lost £35m in one season; Martin found himself battling against a dying empire.
Rangers acted as though their domination was guaranteed. Even our 1998 triumph was handled interestingly by Murray, saying “9 out of 10, not good enough”. The seeds of their downfall were writ large over their accounts and those of Murray International Holdings, for anyone who cared to read them.
Their domination was so overwhelming, it was almost impossible to get anyone to listen to reality back then. So let’s be clear:
Domination is good.
Generation(s) of Domination is great.
Ignore the fundamentals of business and you sow the seeds of downfall.
Celtic are successful domestically because we recruit well, we develop players well and we have elite level managers, coaches and sports scientists. There is, however, a gap between where we are and where we could be.
Brugge spent around half of what we spent on Arne on their most expensive summer signing and spent less overall than Celtic (in absolute and net terms). They have not and never will spend £9m on a player from the Norwich City bench.
Champions League qualification is coming your way quickly and we will be up against teams who work the way we did to find and develop Kuhn, Bernardo, Johnstone, Jota and our Japanese contingent. Celtic excelled in that space for over two years.
Looking back on Ange Postecoglou’s time, recruitment now appears to be his strong suit (he has no such controls at Spurs). Brendan is more of a master tactician. If we continue to scout players Brendan has watched or worked with, we will decline.
The players we sell for a profit in 2027 and 2028 should be signing targets in 2025. They need to have development potential and eventually leave a price several times higher. If we get this wrong, it is the chink in the armour our opponents need to become relevant again.
Our operating expenses for the year to 30 June, which excludes transfer fees, were £105m. That’s the cost of doing business at Celtic currently. You don’t need me to tell you what happens to our profitability if we fail to reach the Champions League.
We are not Oldco Rangers; the financial reserves are there to prevent a cataclysmic retrenchment in the event we run at a loss, but keeping the club profitable, improving the player trading model (good though it is, it still has a long way to go) and maintaining salary levels consistent with our income spectrum will determine if you ever get to celebrate 10-in-a-row.
No harm to Real Madrid, who have normalised winning the Champions League, but Celtic fans have the best role in football. Despite being pushed all the way, we get to win so many trophies, achieve our own level of joys in Europe, with remarkably few god days.
This was not always the case and it took God-level strategic planning to achieve. It cannot last forever, but a quarter of the way through this century there is no sign of a sunset. The 2024 title win was genuinely pivotal. Congratulations to everyone at the club who played a role in delivering yet again, often in the face of absurd hostility.
Have a great New Year, Paul.
317 Comments- Pages:
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Before the drink kicks in too much, can I just say how happy I am with Celtic FC. Such a fab time to be a Bhoy. Lots of love to all you Bhoys. Thank you to the Board, to Brendan, to the squad, and to the fans.
HH and never take these good times for granted.
HH
An Dún on 31st December 2024 9:51 pm
The fact Ange wanted Riley McGree over Matt O’Riley would back this up. Thank eff for Middlesbrough !!
———-
A wee Aussie read on McGree v O’Riley…
https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/05/23/the-two-lives-of-riley-a-sliding-doors-moment-that-is-yielding-two-completely-different-footballing-stories/
HNY to you !
All the best to all in 2025 when it comes.
Goodnight and thanks for being here.
May you never
John martyn
https://youtu.be/LOi_wxypeGc?si=qr95yZMqOJJ-4WD
Christy Moore
Cumann na Mna
https://youtu.be/BJmyf4VJ3R8?si=0_KaSHuwUw8s06Zw
Good health and luck to all on here wishing you all the very best today,tomorrow and in the future.
https://x.com/antearmann1967/status/1874232877107613762?s=19
Thanks Voguepunter 👍
Happy New Years Celts
Happy New Year to all (world leaders and those complicit in wars and genocide excluded)
A very happy New Year to every CQNer and their loved ones throughout the world
and I exclude all the f4nnies setting off fireworks too.
Happy new year to one and all hope you have a fantastic year ahead. Come on celtic three points on Thursday please.
Happy New year , all the best :)
Happy New Year to All…Love to You & Yours…
Celtic PLC ruined Scottish football in 2012 by sleekitly swerving the EBT disaster which was constructed to cheat Celtic supporters who’d paid a lot of money to watch a rigged game.
But for Celtic supporters to fall in behind the “Its nothing to do with us” cop out that the PLC spun says everything about them as supporters as well.
You were cheated out of 20 odd trophies but its nothing to with you?
To Celtic supporters post 1994, Jesus would have said…
“I never knew you.” Or “Tims my arse!”
Happy New Year
Happy New Year for 2025 mine is a treble 🏆🏆🏆
Ordinary Joe. You are such a fecking bore. Why don’t you crawl back to were you belong.
Happy NY from the Wood of Knights.
I’m shit at contacting family but having just concluded calls from Portree, Newport, Melbourne & Dublin it would be remiss of me to not wish you all the very best for ’25.
God bless you and yours!
AoW
All the very best to every Cqner & their families for 2025 …
Cqn in my opinion is a very special place, personally have met a lot of terrific fellow Celtic fans, ma old man passed away 2nd Jan 1995 so 30yrs anniversary tomorrow … wish I had spoke to him more about Celtic than I done when I was a wee dafty and took no notice of his stories :-) but also recently having shared a refreshment with SFTB just before he was sadly taken away from us … both probably have forgotten more about Celtic than I will ever know … enjoy Celtic, in good times, bad times or even especially terrific times like now … :-)
Through CQN I have been delighted to meet many fellow supporters who I would have never met
Hail Hail 🍀
aye and Jesus would have stood with IrishInquiry too – my feckin 4rse.
Happy New Year to all CQN and their families.
Happy New Year HH
Happy new year CQN.
GFTB – terrific
C’mon the Celtic,ram it to these british bastards.
Again 😁
Happy new year Bhoys
Happy New Year to all CQN and their families
Best wishes to all CQNrs
It’s a New Year
It’s a New Dawn
It’s 2025 ergo It’s a Celtic Dawn
zager&evanscsc
HAVE WE SIGNED ANYBODY YET?
TT
Most improved player of 2024.
I nominate Liam Scales .
TT
A happy, peaceful new year to all except huns. Sorry guys but why is it OK for organised fireworks displays all over the globe apart from bonnie Scotland?
Oh and a happy new year.
D :!
Happy New Year Celts – Grand 2025 To Yin & All.
Hail Hail
Hello again all you young rebels
Fought my way through the ads to make a very rare post
to wish all you fine Celts a happy new year.
And in memory of all those fine bhoys we lost in 2024, and
also a wee mention to BIGYINMILAN ( Professor PETER BOYLE
who passed a few years ago.
Spent New Years Eve sailing up the Brisbane river on a party
boat, absolutely thrilling.
The D.J asked if anybody had a request, he didn’t have Hail..Hail
so the proclaimers it was … I will walk 500 miles, just to watch
the famous Glasgow Celtic 💚🇮🇪
Come to think of it, I did more than that hitchhiking to watch
the bhoys over the years 👍
H.H. Mick
HAPPY HOOPY NEW YEAR to all the GOOD BHOYS on here.
Hopefully the New Year will be even better IF The Celtic can GUB The Huns in their ain midden Tomorrow….
LOL.
HH from The CALTON.
Good moooooooooorning worllllld from a 16 degree currently dry and cloudy but soon to be 23 degree Garnga….nawww Tenerife, poolside.
We Sat to 4am talking to an ex military guy named James (probably Bond) who now does private security and said he works with different wealthy families around the globe (probably a bullshiter) but he was OK to me and mine. Anyway, we discussed Colonialism etc, Ireland and he was staunch, until I asked about his grand and great grand parents, of course they were Irish and his lovely lady had links to Jamaca and beyond.
So the question I pose to him was why so staunch in your defence of a Royal family etc
After discussing everything from slavery to stealing gold, oil, diamonds he conceded that it was what he got taught at school.
Basically I broke the poor cnut.
But not a word spoke in anger.
What a new year that was.🤣🤣🤣🤣
As I sit here alone I don’t think my wee Shaz is talking to me.🤣🤣🤣
Anyhoo I cannot wait to mañana
Bring on Der Hun
Peace, joy and love to everyone.
COYBIG
D. :)
MM how are you?
You still schooling those young loooooons.
D. :)
MM ps I know or think you moved area.
But you still coaching?
D. :)
A Guid New Year to One an A’
And a Big Thank You to everyone at Celtic for a wonderful year and looking forward to much of the same for 2025!
HOOPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2025 TO YOU YOUR FAMILY AND OUR GREAT CLUB
CELTIC
🍀🥳
Happy new year all!
Prestonpans bhoys on 31st December 2024 2:52 pm
This is bad news, would rather he played:
==================================
After discussions with his Physchiarist The r2angers have released the following STATEMENT:
“Captain James Tavernier will miss the clash with Celtic amid a defensive injury crisis at Rangers.”
Sleep easy Tav, no bad dreams 😇