Celtic are about to embark on their fourth season as the last remaining Superpower in Scottish football. The old wars were won, while current challenges on the domestic front are accomplished with ease, but many questions remain about the club’s place in the world, what it’s objectives should be and how best to deliver them.
My expectation is that Celtic’s annual accounts, which will be released next month, will show they club washed its face, largely aided by the sale of Fraser Forster, but turnover is likely to be around 35% below the peak figure from season 2012-13, where we progressed to the knock-out stages of the Champions League, selling tickets and merchandise by the ton.
Season ticket sales are down around 10,000 from their peak a decade ago, reflecting the lack of domestic competition, an overhang of the economic climate, and – I expect – a tail off from what was an unsustainable high during the years of regrowth after the long, dark, 90s. The good news is the distress rate appears to have bottomed out. New blood has replaced old in many parts of the stands, as many learn to appreciate The Game for its sporting merit, not simply a means to three points.
We had a terrible start to the Ronny Deila era. We huffed and puffed in Iceland, were torn apart in Poland, but the performance against Legia at Murrayfield was nothing short of a capitulation. From the opening minute of the game we were worse, much worse, than we were in Warsaw.
Results and performances remained disappointing for months as Aberdeen regularly led the league into the new year, but signs of recovery appeared in the Europa League, where we qualified for the knock out stages and put on two credible performances against Inter.
Last autumn Ronny was under pressure. In another era, this could have been overbearing pressure. The change in managers brought a change in tactics, training and personal objectives, which disoriented the club. It also meant that we didn’t have a recruitment strategy in place for the new requirements.
There are many long term strategic threats, but if Celtic ever lose a league again, it’s likely to be when they embark on such an overwhelming technical change. If we do this again, we need to anticipate the shock and compensate accordingly.
Sporting objectives remain clear: win the league every season “forever and ever” and qualify for the Champions League group stages. Having given this some thought, I cannot see the scenario when we will lose the Scottish league title.
A horizon exists in Scottish football, no one can see beyond 10-in-a-row. This season WILL be five-in-a-row, most bookies are offering 1/33, a 3% return on your money, on this outcome. After that the countdown to 10 will grow louder, but 10 is not a real horizon, it just exists because Jock Stein’s ways were eventually copied. He had no mystical touch, only good strategy.
Rangers should never had stopped at 9. The money they had gave them an enormous advantage. Wim Jansen arrived from nowhere (Japan) with half a team signed by Jock Brown. It defied logic how we won that title, but it’s also clear than many at Ibrox had put their tools away before the start of that season. There is a warning here for Celtic. The latter parts of the Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon eras were all characterised by less innovative signings. More scouting trips to Edinburgh, fewer to Cracow, and the like. When the players, manager or scouts get weary, teams fail.
Achieving Champions League group stage qualification is the most difficult challenge Celtic face. We are clearly a better team than Qarabag, and have considerably more resources, but much of Wednesday night was spent worrying if the goal would come, and about what we would face in Baku. Even if we’re successful, strong unseeded teams will await in our section of the next round draw.
We are more than good enough to win league after league, but we’re not more than good enough to qualify for Champions League after Champions League. This should be Celtic’s objective for the next year – arrive in next summers’ qualifiers with a much better team.
The success of this will depend on Ronny’s ability to turn potential into actual European class players. He can do this, but he’ll need a tail wind. In particular, we have to hope that an earlier, ‘recruit from Edinburgh’ strategy, has not been redeployed in the form of a ‘recruit from Dundee’ one.
There are objective measurements we can point to. We are sound financially, pay our bills when due, have seen off all domestic competitors, will report more than 40,000 season ticket holders, a buoyant retail business and strong commercial partnerships. The stadium looks incredible, whoever conceived of the Celtic Way deserves some credit – but please – finish the job.
Copy what we saw at Murrayfield, put turnstiles at the perimeter of the footprint, build fan zones, build a café outside the ground. 30 years from now people will not sit in stadiums like Celtic Park, they will have better facilities, start planning for them now.
As anyone will tell you, football is a results business, and results over the next four weeks will have an enormous bearing on what state we feel the club is in. Defeat will not mean we are on the wrong path any more than victories mean we are on the right path, but it’s the game we play, so ‘play on’.
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I think I’ll check in later.
Hail! Hail!
PAUL 67
Good article.
Celtic Park, and environs, is looking great but there is still so much more that needs to be done as you rightly point out.
Getting the hang of things on here – no major problems. Yet!
:-)
HH!!
My goodness, there is about to be some high excitement…!
Has anyone got a spare hard hat? #Rangers
Last 2 tweets from Graham Spiers
The CL is clearly extremely important to our turnover
Why do we continue to enter the qualification rounds under prepared ….limited investment in the team
The overbearing risk averse approach is stifling our club
Neganon2, you’re wrong to suggest that Celtic has any involvement in the corruption surrounding rangers. What is disgraceful is our club’s secrecy and silence about the shady deals and manoeuvring that have allowed the reborn club to be any part of the senior professional game in Scotland.
Modren overbearing risk averse approach is rubidge.
The Celtic Board and the new layout of this comments board are divisive issues. I’m highly suspicious of both, but I will do absolutely nothing about it…
The lack of a trombone emoticon is ruining my life.
NegAnon2 on 31st July 2015 1:48 pm
Yes, and no. I think we do struggle to keep our game right at the top level. I think this partly comes from playing the same teams 4 times a season. If we lose once to Aberdeen we know we’re likely to be better than them over the 4 games. If it was just home and away the buffer is smaller, so you’d need to be more conscious that you really need to win all the time. I don’t think that pressure is on out players enough, and that affects us in Europe.
I also think it’s taking longer than people imagined for the youths to come through Lennoxtown. That is partly because people want more than SPL level from it (for some reason) but there are graduates of the system playing well enough in other teams. It’s also worth noting that most teams don’t bring through top level players from their set-ups at rates of even 1-a-season.
So I don’t think it’s quite as bad as you seem to be suggesting but at the same time I don’t think it’s totally rosy but some of that is outwith the control of the club at the moment.
DBBIA
I’d imagine you’d put in a Herculean effort in the ole green and white …you’d come about as close to scoring as Ciftci
However you’d be more handsomer and debonair
LENNON’S PASSION on 31ST JULY 2015 1:54 PM
My goodness, there is about to be some high excitement…!
Has anyone got a spare hard hat? #Rangers
Last 2 tweets from Graham SpierS
………………..
Do you have a link?
Thought I’d give it a try on the old phone thing, this IT malarkey is simple :-)
Burgas Hoops, very best of luck to you
negation, wish I had known some team was being sold for £1, they would have been extinct quicker, and I would still have my season tickets to see the Celtic:-)
do enjoy reading your posts though
Hail Hail
Anyone know what WITS horsey tips are? thanks.
Negation = neganon2 – hoooops
BSR- brassed off?
Here’s some kettle drums to blow away the ole blues.
lennon’s passion
Fae tinfoilheid on twitter
I’m told @GrahamSpiers has had press privileges for Ibrox removed with immediate effect. Years of lies about fans and club catch up to him.
Ole tinfoil heid, Chris Graham has tweeted:
I’m told @GrahamSpiers has had press privileges for Ibrox removed with immediate effect. Years of lies about fans and club catch up to him.
1:46pm – 31 Jul 15
Paul,
‘Nice’ article….but it really doesn’t get to the nub of the matter. Where are we going? How will we get there?
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Looks to me as if we are treading water. We no longer make ‘big’ signings, for reasons that I think we all understand. So, there is no cheque that we can write that will propel us forward. By that, I mean up the coefficient ladder, into a Pot 3 scenario.
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Instead, we are signing young players who have potential. For those players to propel us forward, they need to be with us for about 4 years. But the trend seems to be that the really good ones will only sign one contract with us. No extension for Wanyama or VVD for example. As such, we seem condemned to tread water. Maybe even falling back a wee bit every year.
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Now, I am not blaming anyone for this. England and all its money, the myopia of those who run our game, and yes, the absence of danger to our domestic dynasty. If we end up running away with 7 in a row, 8 in a row, or a decades worth of Ross County games – what value then will the Scottish game have? Will tv companies increase their stake? Or sponsors? Or even season ticket holders?
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It is one thing for some Celtic supporters to hate our board, wail about a 5-way agreement, want deidco to be really died, etc. But who will pay for the inevitability that comes with a bad game of monopoly?
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So, I think any state of the club discussion needs to focus on what comes next. Maybe if Platini wins the fifa job, things might change for European Club Football. I am hearing that people are looking to the end of the current UCL TV deal for an opportunity for change. That being said, I have no idea whether any groundwork is actually being done.
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PS, blog is looking good……..
Cheers,
Ronnie
BIG-CUP-WINNERS on 31st July 2015 2:03 pm
Anyone know what WITS horsey tips are? thanks. –
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Page 1 of this article
12:50pm
Could one of our more learned patrons advise me if and for how long have we been paying out dividends?
LEFTCLICKTIC on 31ST JULY 2015 2:05 PM
Not that exciting then
Paul you are an optimist and are often positive about celtic when others are not, the end of year report is a fair reflection of our club. However, i would be more critical with regards improvements around the stadium and i don’t feel that closing off the envious would benefit celtic, unless we are talking about matchdays only.
After all the progress made pre-commonwealth games i thought momentum would see the contraction of the much talked about museum, superstore, ticket office and cafe (purpose built building), it did not and has gone very quiet, so still nowhere to eat or refresh self (toilet) when visiting the stadium on non-match days, poor when asking people to fork over £7 for a tour!!!!
I thought ok so maybe we would take down the old wall behind LL stand, pedestrianise a sizable area (akin to front of stadium) and maybe just develop and improve parking provisions running along the area to help define its exclusivity, nope did not happen!!! and people are being asked to spend £20 + pounds for a ticket
So what about the back of the JS stand then, i have seen smother mountain bike tracks, you know the access point for elevated seating for disabled/ wheelchair etc… users. Again I seen myself thinking pedestrianise a sizable area (akin to front of stadium) and improve parking provisions running along the area to help define its exclusivity, nope did not happen.
The general feel is beautiful when accessed from front, poor when accessing from any other part of the stadium and awfully poor throughout in terms of provisions for supporters, visitors and passersby,
I don’t think anyone on our board is over committed to truly making celtic park a superb venue, its improved and i do like the banners, but they don’t address some of the more fundamental failings around our stadium
hh
Celtic only want fans with cash.ie corporate. we’re u will be wined and dined.the rest of us have to do with the Burgher Vans.
DBBIA
I knew where to click and what I hoped to find was there ☺️
IKEA csc
Neg Anon
It remains a regret that I didn’t catch up with you at the CQN 10 do a while back. Going by reports, and contrary to mainstream branding, if you weren’t positively eponymous, you were at least casually cognito.
As regards the recent history of the administration of the Game; we know so little. Trying to infer very much at all about who did what, when, why and to what end is fraught. Them that know aren’t for spilling beans anytime soon.
My understanding of Celtic’s position during the Great Fitba’ Swindle was that it was an issue for Scottish football collectively to deal with. Celtic considered that they had no place to be telling the rest of the Game what to do. We had a view on matters, expressed them clearly, and I understand the solution reached – associate SFL membership for Green’s Sevco operation – was considered about right in the circumstances.
I do know the position of senior individuals at the club on what was perhaps the greater scandal – the LNS Commission – which is that the Panel discharged their responsibilities with due regard, but that the brief and its presentation was undermined by the functionaries at both SPL and SFA.
Quite what to do about that is an altogether different matter.
Graham Spiers
@GrahamSpiers
Correct. I’ve not been a beat-reporter at Ibrox since 2012. It is an absolute non-event.
Paul – couldn’t agree more about improving facilities at the ground. I think we’ll see higher season ticket sales if we ever get out of this recession; better facilities before then wouldn’t hurt.
NegAnon2 – couldn’t disagree more (well, I could). Everything you claim Paul implies is your inferences, though what bizarre basis you have for those inferences I fail to understand. And you seem incapable of explaining them, any more than your attempt to drag ‘huns’ and bigotry into a discussion about Celtic.
The idea of having cafes and food outlets around the stadium sounds good but how does it work for the caterers when they only have customers for a couple of hours every two weeks and not at all for much of the summer?
Who could run businesses like that? The only way I can see it working is to have mobile vans like we have right now – definitely not cafes lying unused for two weeks at a time.
Cecilthelion (nice monikor!). It’s a very fine dividing line between silence and indvolvement and one would suggest a hint of the other at least.mhowever what we do know is that Celtic were involved with the 5 way agreement. So I would suggest that indicates involvement.
And despite how boring this appears to be to some it is perhaps the biggest scandal that has engulfed Celtic. Yet many are reluctant to acknowledge its existence.
Weeminger I take your point on the domestic front. I don’t really think we are underachieving at that level. Sure we should do better in the cups but they are cup tournaments and as we have seen the honest mistakes are used to make sure we don’t get too successful.
It’s in Europe we are massively underachieving. We should be doing far better for a club with our resources. I kind of see an argument that it’s hard to go from the Scottish league to Europe. However I would point out that we only build teams for Scottish success (not a high bar) as that is the limit of our ambition and that is why we underachieve.
HH
Beam me up Scotty..the blog is SO bright,I need shades.. Change is good..blog on..
Look forward to John Clark getting a big reception tomorrow,..
HH
Big work on the blog..well done to all
Weeron
The pots..
Pot 1 coef. Pot 2 coef.
———————— — —————- ———————— — —————-
FC Barcelona Esp 164.999 Real Madrid Esp 171.999
Chelsea Eng 142.078 Atlético Madrid Esp 120.999
Bayern München Ger 154.883 FC Porto Por 111.276
Juventus Ita 95.102 Arsenal Eng 110.078
Benfica Por 118.276 Manchester United *4 Eng 103.078
Paris Saint-Germain Fra 100.483 Valencia *4 Esp 99.999
Zenit St. Petersburg Rus 90.099 Bayer Leverkusen *4 Ger 87.883
PSV Eindhoven Ned 58.195 Manchester City Eng 87.078
Pot 3 coef. Pot 4 coef.
———————— — —————- ———————— — —————-
Shakhtar Donetsk *3 Ukr 86.033 AS Roma Ita 43.602
FC Basel *3 Sui 84.875 FC Salzburg *3 Aut 43.135
Sevilla Esp 80.499 Viktoria Plzen *3 Cze 41.825
Olympique Lyon Fra 72.983 Steaua Bucuresti ** Rom 40.259
Ajax *3 Ned 66.195 Celtic ** Sco 39.080
Dinamo Kiev Ukr 65.033 Borussia Mönchengladbach Ger 33.883
Olympiakos Piraeus Gre 62.380 VfL Wolfsburg Ger 31.883
Galatasaray Tur 50.020 AA Gent Bel 13.440
We’re quite a way in co-efficient terms from being a pot 3 team:((
Good Afternoon.
Thought that was a cracking read, Paul.
In other news, I see that Sevco have seemingly banned Graham Spiers from Ibrox. Lucky Mr Spiers!
And here’s today’s piece. It’s about Sevco ‘starting life’:
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/well-thats-awkward/
Enjoy the rest of the day!
Some very good points Paul. Particularly about planning ahead with the ground facilities and creating fanzones – a very good idea.
On the subject of Qarabag, I wouldn’t necessarily say we were better than them. The on two of the three stats I saw on Wednesday’s match, Qarabag had the greater possession.
I also think they used the ball more effectively and had very good positioning. We had home advantage, played well at times but we also looked tired later on in the match with some players falling out of it completely.
Over in Baku I think it will tough but don’t think we are incapable of scoring or even winning the game. We were tight at the back, solid in midfield but poor in the last third.
That comes down to choices by Ronny and the performance of those on the park. Johansen wasn’t in it, Mackay-Steven fell out of it aftera bright start as did Armstrong.
Ciftci was sluggish and depsite a toothache, this was a Griffiths’s game.
weeron
Sorry mate that didn’t quite go to plan.
Pot 3 starts at Shaktar and Pot 4 at Roma
HH
Why do people have such a downer on the catering? Under the Celtic End Block 140 we have a chippy that seems to do a decent fish supper, a Southern Fried Chicken place, some kind of upmarket pie stall.
What is it people are looking for?
THEBATTEREDBUNNET
My limited knowledge of the event is that Celtic didn’t want to push the agenda as it could be seen as kicking a man when he is down,and to your own personal benefit.
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They wisely left it to others to apply the tourniquet.
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Of course,most of us would have applied the rules more strictly,but thems the breaks.
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Rangers would have wallowed in the glory of being our ruination in 1994.
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And been lauded for it to this day.
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Had we taken our chance in 2012 we would instead have been crucified.
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Yes,I would love to have seen the huns consigned to the rubbish bin of a history they no longer have,but it must be done in-house. With clean hands on our side.
Starry Plough….
Very unfair. Using facts to undermine my argument…..:)
So many Top CQNers on http://www.Celticquicknews.co…. right now.
Happiness is a state of Mind – I’m sure there is a Techno/Dance track that would encapsulate how I feel about that.
All that is needed is philvis and a 3-1 scoreline next week in Celtics favour.
And I think that will transpire.
England are shuffling along to a resounding victory after a resounding defeat.