My friends in Celtic, you and I have discussed this subject for over two decades, seldom in that time has the club been in such disarray. No one football game determines the health of a club, but yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at Fir Park perfectly illustrates what a soft touch Celtic are.
Credit to Motherwell, this is as good a side as I have seen from them, but they are not a Champions League-level team. However, they out-thought Celtic and controlled the game throughout. The list of Scottish clubs who have already done this, this season, is significant: St Mirren, Hearts, Dundee and Dundee United have all beaten Celtic and bossed them, at least once each. Kilmarnock were denied a point by an added-time penalty, 10-man Aberdeen by two goals after the 87th minute, while a truly awful Livingston twice took the lead against us.
Wilfried Nancy inherited much of this mess. Three misfiring transfer windows proceeded Brendan Rodgers departure and Wilfried’s arrival. Despite significant spending the squad was left imbalanced, the new manager had to cope with that, but he is far from blameless.
When plans meet grass
Few of us looked forward to last night’s game expecting yet another new formation. I am sure this made sense on a flipchart at Lennoxtown on Monday but it was destroyed from the start by a Motherwell squad which benefited from a total spent this summer of £250k.
The lack of structure which caused the alarm in the first half was not due to a lack of a decent striker, it was a consequence of what was written on that flipchart. The second half saw a return to the formation which won the previous two games, and allowed Celtic a degree of control of the ball, but roles were changed. McCowan came on at wingback, not the inside role he has been enjoying so much success in. Maeda, whose crossing was a real asset in recent weeks, was hooked, while Shin Yamada was given the lost striker role. Better than expecting Reo Hatate to plug the gap, I suppose.
We are at the cusp of the ‘favourites for the league title’ shifting from Celtic to God knows who. Either one of two poor-to-average teams who because of Celtic’s inept performances are likely to win the league.
Football fans love a scapegoat; take your pick. None of the players involved last night were to blame, nor was the referee. The result was a failure of team planning and the team planning failure was a consequence of the second successive poor managerial appointment by the board.
When appointing a manager, I support Celtic looking outside the box. We will not out-perform unless we follow different leads to our wealthier competitors. On paper (or a flipchart, if you prefer), finding someone with a bit of form in the MLS ticks this box, so I was happy with the appointment. The diligence and transition planning, however, was woefully short.
20 years ago, Gordon Strachan started his Celtic managerial career with a terrible defeat and an alarming draw (at Motherwell). Despite winning three successive league titles and taking Celtic into the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first and second times, he never quite recovered in the eyes of some supporters. 20 years on, the world has not become more tolerant. Wilfried could recover and win the league, but it will not be enough for some.
Layered on top of this is transfer planning. The head of recruitment brought the manager in and the manager has plans to spend many millions in January. This is what the club hopes will deliver salvation from what ails us. Players suited to the formation in three or four positions might work. The return of Jota and Kelechi Iheanacho, then Callum Osmand and Alistair Johnston, will help. Our prospects of a league title this season are circling the drain, but they have not yet flushed.
The other side of the equation is equally important. It is easy to destroy but difficult to build ‘What next?’ Sack the manager is easy, subsequently recruiting someone who can deliver the kind of success Celtic has come to expect not so much. Sack the board, that’s easy done too. Replaced by what? I’ll save you a lesson in corporate governance structures, but if you think any fool can run a successful Celtic, you are the fool.
My expectation is that Celtic will not win the league this season, despite that being entirely possible right now. Head of Football Operations Paul Tisdale has been thrown in at the deep end in at a level he had little experience of. We are not Exeter City. Nor are we Columbus Crew. Our football structure is simply not operating at the level we were even two years ago.
To our board, I suggest they reflect on how we got here. Why was Brendan brought back, who was inevitably going to play the same games he did during his first spell and resulted in the summer debacle? Why did we move from importing Manchester City’s recruitment imprint to that of Exeter City? Celtic is a big ticket job, recruitment analysts across Europe would jump at the chance to work here.
I expect the club will throw the dice in the January transfer window in the hope of landing some sixes. The fallacy of sunk costs is powerful. You and I do not have all the information, so we should also consider where we are on the Dunning-Krugger chart. People on the outside who believe obviously clear decisions are not being made are usually at the first peak.
Personally, I would have a chat with Shaun Maloney this afternoon. I might be one of the fools, but he is not. We have talent at the club. There is a squad with potential to achieve more than they currently are. There is enough money in the bank to fix whatever is wrong – all a consequence of years of good work.
It has been a real honour sharing 2025 with you. The blog can sail through the good times with little of substance to contribute. It is needed most when clouds gather and perspective is low. Some may regard today’s as being light on perspective, but there is no point having a blog if we do not step forward and say when we believe things are going wrong.
Very best wishes for the new year. I hope you have a healthy and happy one, and I hope we see Celtic back bossing the land once more. Take care, all.
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Happy New Year KevJ
Pixies – Where Is My Mind
youtube.com/watch?v=chXk-wzWmfk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ62RzJkYUo&t=2s
lol
Due to taxi-ing my kids all over ayrshire last night and the sobriety that had to bring
Now you poor fuckers have to put up with my music tonight
Faithless – Insomnia (Live from T in the Park, 2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1sI47xpqHg
Jamiroquai – Love Foolosophy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK-JZja-3MQ
Death In Vegas – Dirge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-dqd5Q18EQ
Dido – White Flag (nancy defence remix)
https://youtu.be/GvYarluqINA?si=ijSA3D_lCJaqryBo&t=60
To all those that have passed on to the CQN in the sky
May you never walk alone
The Fields of Athenry – The Dubliners & Paddy Reilly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NlrsmEvv1Q
You’ll never walk alone | Celtic fans pre match vs the huns
https://youtu.be/aShbjSHtITM?si=pZpL6fsBZmQdl5YW&t=49
Happy New Year KevJ.
Calmac is one of the true Celtic greats. We will look back at his time as golden years.
In my opinion he lost a yard two years ago. Biggest failure was not replacing Calmac.
We kept Lenny and Broony for one season to long and it meant the others had to work harder. Not ideal when we are talking about our key player who conducts the game and leads the rest of the players. If Calmac goes, I would be ok. We need a new Calmac.
Is Nicholson still under the duvet waiting on the tablets of stone from Desmonds boy? It’s too cold this morning to be getting out of bed, maybe tomorrow morning or the next day or week or year. No hurry Michael, take your time.
Isn’t it great that the temp chairman has made such an impact. Almost as good as the CEO. I’m sure that when they’ve finished banning everyone they’ll get on to the strategy for Fy 26.
Covid season re-run. Do nothing the remake.
Starring the mute and the invisible chairman.
When does the signing deluge begin?
If only the fans were much better behaved we’d coast this league.
Does anyone know where I could get around £1m per year to watch slow motion car crashes?
The duvet beckons.
Swiss Ramble
Hearts Finances 2024/25
Bloom has installed James Franks on the club’s board as his representative, but control remains in the hands of the FOH supporter movement.
He said, “My involvement is very much in the background. I’m not involved at all in the day to day. That’s the role of the executive team and the board of directors at Hearts.”
Separation of selling pies shirts etc from the Football operation
As we enter 2026, there is an unexpected sight in the Scottish Premiership, as Heart of Midlothian sit proudly on top of the table, ahead of the Glasgow giants.
Of course, Hearts have been greatly helped by the disastrous campaigns to date by Celtic and Rangers, who have both dismissed their managers with Brendan Rodgers and Russell Martin being shown the door.
It remains to be seen whether Hearts will be able to last the distance, but it feels like something might just be changing in Scottish football, where the title has been the property of the two Glasgow clubs for the last 40 years.
In the meantime, Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay summed up the thoughts of most fans, “I mean it’s impossible not to be delighted with where we are.”
Bloom Baby Bloom
Hearts’ dramatic improvement this season owes a lot to Tony Bloom’s investment in the club in June, when the Brighton owner paid £9.86m for a 29% stake in the club in non-voting shares. This change was overwhelmingly voted through by 98.5% of Foundation Of Hearts (FOH) members.
Bloom has installed James Franks on the club’s board as his representative, but control remains in the hands of the FOH supporter movement.
He said, “My involvement is very much in the background. I’m not involved at all in the day to day. That’s the role of the executive team and the board of directors at Hearts.”
Bloom’s arrival led to what the board described as perhaps “the most significant relationship in the club’s recent history”, as Hearts became the sole Scottish partner of Jamestown Analytics, the world’s leading football data analysis firm.
The club explained, “It is anticipated that this partnership will revolutionise the club’s recruitment processes and bring to life its player trading model.”
From an investor’s perspective, Hearts ticked many boxes, as the club is located in a wealthy city, attracting millions of tourists, while it has a of potential on the pitch.
Bloom explained, “I just thought there was an opportunity here to shake things up in Scotland. I think we’ve got a very good chance of at least being second this season.”
Indeed, he went further, “If we have not won the league title in the next 10 years, I will be very disappointed. I want to make sure that we are in the talk to win the title at the start of each season.”
Although new owners often bang the drum in this way, Bloom should be taken more seriously, as he has a solid track record at his other clubs, which have made good use of his team’s algorithm.
Obviously, Brighton have flourished since promotion to the Premier League, but possibly of more relevance to Hearts is his achievement at Union Saint-Gilloise, who were bottom of Belgium’s second tier when he took over in 2018, but then proceeded to win the Belgian top flight for the first time in 90 years.
Indeed, Jamestown’s influence was very much in evidence this summer, when Hearts brought in no fewer than ten new players from lesser known territories such as Norway, Slovakia, Iceland and Estonia, as well as Germany, Portugal and Belgium, only splashing out around £3m in total.
Ann Budge’s Role
Following the successful completion of Bloom’s investment, Ann Budge announced that the time was right for her to stand down after an 11-year involvement.
Budge played a huge role in the Hearts’ survival after the club was placed into administration in 2013, deducted 15 points and then relegated to the Scottish Championship.
She took ownership in June 2014 in partnership with the Foundation of Hearts, following the misguided Romanov regime.
In August 2021 Budge signed over 75% of her shareholding to the Foundation, making Hearts the largest fan-owned club in the UK. The club described this as “Heart & Soul Day”.
Budge said, “I’m beginning to feel that I’ve done everything I can do for the club and it’s now time to move into a different kind of business and have different people leading it.”
2024/25 Season
This season is already a big improvement on 2024/25, where the club said that “results on the pitch were extremely disappointing” and “failed to live up to the standards required”.
In fact, Hearts finished a relatively low 7th, thus failing to secure a top four spot in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since promotion. They also lost to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final, were beaten by Falkirk in the second round of the Scottish League Cup and failed to qualify for the knockout round of the UEFA Conference League.
Managerial Changes
This led to much upheaval, as Hearts parted company with two permanent Head Coaches in the season.
Steven Naismith was dismissed in September, replaced by Neil Critchley, but the former Blackpool manager went the same way in April, as Hearts struggled to cope with the additional workload imposed by the return to Europe.
However, control then passed to a safe pair of hands, as Derek McInnes was given a 4-year contract in May. He is very experienced in managing a Scottish club, as he has previously led Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and St Johnstone, as well as having a stint at Bristol City.
Let’s take a look at the financial situation of the club before Bloom got involved, based on the latest 2024/25 accounts.
Profit/(Loss) 2024/25
The club said that the “poor on pitch performance” had impacted the finances, though it had still delivered a “robust set of accounts”.
As a result, Hearts’ pre-tax loss more than halved from £4.4m to £2.0m. Revenue rose £4.1m (21%) from £20.3m to a club record £24.4m, while they made £1.3m profit on player sales compared to just £5k the previous season.
As always, Hearts benefited from £6.0m donations from benefactors and the Foundation of Hearts, up 9% from the prior year’s £5.5m, while there was also a £1.9m accounting gain from the revaluation of a benefactor loan.
This was partially offset by £3.5m (12%) growth in operating expenses from £30.1m to £33.6m.
Hearts noted that the significant increase in revenue was driven by “a strong commercial performance and our participation in European League Phase football”.
In fact, all three main revenue streams saw good growth, led by broadcasting, which shot up £2.5m (47%) from £5.6m to £8.1m. In addition, commercial rose £0.9m (10%) from £8.7m to £9.6m, while gate receipts increased £0.8m (12%) from £5.9m to £6.7m.
In addition, player loans were unchanged at £0.2m.
Hearts continued its investment in the playing squad and support staff, so the wage bill rose £2.6m (16%) from £16.5m to £19.1m, though player amortisation fell slightly from £1.3m to £1.2m.
Other expenses surged £2.7m (25%) from £10.6m to £13.3m, while depreciation was up £0.2m (15%) from £1.6m to £1.8m.
Following the improvement last season, Hearts’ £2.0m pre-tax loss was in the middle of the pack in the Scottish Premiership. On the one hand, this was miles behind Celtic’s staggering £45.7m profit, but at the same time it was a lot better than Rangers’ £14.9m loss…
A Partnership handing over to the FOH after 11 years
It will never catch on under the Desmond dictatorship
The football world in evoloution
Will Celtic be the last colony of Football dinasours
Following the successful completion of Bloom’s investment, Ann Budge announced that the time was right for her to stand down after an 11-year involvement.
Budge played a huge role in the Hearts’ survival after the club was placed into administration in 2013, deducted 15 points and then relegated to the Scottish Championship.
She took ownership in June 2014 in partnership with the Foundation of Hearts, following the misguided Romanov regime.
In August 2021 Budge signed over 75% of her shareholding to the Foundation, making Hearts the largest fan-owned club in the UK. The club described this as “Heart & Soul Day”.
Budge said, “I’m beginning to feel that I’ve done everything I can do for the club and it’s now time to move into a different kind of business and have different people leading it.”
We need change from Trumpian billionaire philosophy of attack everyone, his mantra below…..sound familiar ?
“a simple formula: attack, counterattack and never apologise”. Cohn was also expert at media manipulation.
Excellent film on the relationship between Trump and Cohn
The apprentice
Roy Cohn: The mysterious US lawyer who helped Donald …
BBC
https://www.bbc.com › culture › article › 20240517-ro…
17 May 2024 — His alliance with Trump began in the early 1970s when the US government sued Trump and his father for discriminating against black renters in …Read more
aff oot its chilly
So we continue into the game tomorrow with Nancy in charge no recruits for forward positions and the club at war with the support, some are even setting a price for selling our only player of quality and leadership, we are going down the plughole rapidly.
And no Desmond won’t do a budge either he hasn’t a high opinion of the Celtic support to do that
We are without news so far this morning so i guess we continue as is – terrifying.
Saw an article outlining possible consequences of doing nothing and it was some scary shit. Including but not limited to a player exodus leaving a very unappealing football destination behind for everything from new recruits to management/coaches even youth players with promise. Sure there are players that need and should go as part of our trading model but when it’s not managed and controlled by the club in terms of the who and the when then it becomes a shambles – another one!
The prospect of greatly reduced revenues is very real. We are no where near a CL team now and changing that is fanciful. At current rate we are Conf League at best and the drop off in earnings is huge. Add to that reduce ticket uptake, corporate etc and the damage is likely to be upward of £30+ million. Again if we continue along this path with this board it’s guaranteed that season tickets will drop significantly. The pre BR era where the uptake dropped drastically may visit us again. Sadly the apathy cultivated by this board will find a home in many thousands who don’t like being taken for fools. The mythical waiting list will shrink, if it exists at all, and huge gaps will appear at CP again killing the famous? atmosphere and slashing more £millions from the revenues. We’ll sure burn through that rainy day fund then eh?
So there you go, a small snapshot of what Celtics spectacular mismanagement looks like. It’s not exaggerated it’s simply anticipated consequences and doesn’t even consider the effect of the uplift that our biggest rivals get should they win the league and god forbid manage to get to CL…..that would be carnage…….. and all from a position of absolute strength?
Moisey17
There is no atmosphere at CP. Its now a library or even a morgue. It is feckin embarressing to be honest.
we are just not singing enough for our masters in the comfy seats
Lets get back to the game tomorrow , i am totally terrified of Der Hun people on here saying it is not the Managers fault how can you justify that when he took over from Martin O’Neill , we had a side that was winning & full of confidence , he( whom i cant mention by Name ) or stand the sight of has destroyed that , & i for one am expecting a bad bad day tomorrow if they score early
A turgid read back…..
This Board were not even smart enough to keep MON on,even though he was winning games,and keeping the heat off them for a few weeks, absolute clowns.
Maybe someone has had the organisational skills to look at the weather overnight and use the dome at Barrowfield even though it won’t change this guys hopeless tactics at least the players won’t catch colds
Dessybhoy
I was one of a few who talked transfer speculation about Callum.
It didn’t mean I was exhorting or endorsing it.
It just seems like a genuine possibility that if the right offer came in from BR for Cal, we might accept it.
And the player – questioning the current leadership – might see it a good opporchancity for him too.
I don’t see the convo as treasonous talking points at all.
This board would do this as spite and to make up for their merchandise losses they need to buy punts you know ,they also have folk on here and im sure on other blogs reporting back to base if this would fly.
noticed “Fergie and the Celtic Offer” by CQN Magazine – thats really ripping the piss out of the readers given who Celtic PLC have recently appointed – not even funny
question – what happened to the magners sponsorship on the back of the strips – and why was there no replacement ?
https://www.youtube.com/live/SduQKN7QcPI?si=MPpGcHofTLH4hNDy
1st ACSOM of the new year.
Julian Araujo
https://x.com/i/status/2007044700365078713
A loan has joined us this morning.
Couldn’t be any less interested in new arrivals. How can you throw a guy into a formation that the rest of the team don’t even understand. He will be another lamb to the slaughter and he was also identified by the Exeter chief scout.
https://x.com/celticfc/status/2007044700365078713?s=48&t=4qngReqcybvOWPPXccPzUw
Welcome to the shambles
Hardly played since August, that will give the squad a lift
THE BADA BING
Don’t worry, Doctor Football has scoured the globe to find him.