Back in 2011 a campaign was launched by Craig Whyte (subsequently adopted by others) to convince Scottish Premier League clubs that Rangers were necessary for their survival, and in the event of a liquidation event, the league should invite a phoenix club into the top flight.
The people at Celtic became aware of this and after the initial revulsion that a team, who at that stage were three-in-a-row champions, could liquidate, then phoenix with the same players and income streams, but without the debts associated with building the playing squad, they ran the numbers. They asked themselves the question, could we survive without Rangers?
The answer was straightforward, if we can’t survive without Rangers we’re as well not surviving at all. We needed a strategy which would cope with the drop in income, the lack of domestic competition, but still deliver Champions League competition. Easy, right?
Not easy but by no means impossible.
Celtic were running at an operational loss without selling players or getting into the Champions League group stage. That season (2011-12), in reaching the Europa League group stage, we made a £7m loss (mitigated by a later player sale). The subsequent drop in season ticket sales in a league without Rangers (it happened), drop in associated commercial and match-day ticket sales cost around £5m. Dropping the price of season tickets by £100 this season arrested the decline in sales, but brought in £4m less than last season.
To balance this, we qualified for the Champions League group stage last season and this, sold £20m worth of talent this summer (and have spent £6m so far on new arrivals).
We have something practically unique in football, a sustainable strategy which is also successful.
Is it without its risks? No.
Will it tax the team and manager, even against teams like Elfsborg and Shakhter? Yes.
Is it as good a strategy as we could have? That is a matter of opinion but results on the park are the only place that matters.
We’ve made lots of decisions so far this summer. Selling Hooper, Wanyama and Wilson, while bringing in van Dijk, Derk Boerrigter, Balde and Mouyokolo, before getting to this stage. Would Norwich and Southampton have waited or signed alternatives, leaving us with rapidly depreciating assets?
I’ve no idea, but these are the kind of factors which contribute to each decision.
You can play your hand cautiously, hold the players, risking buyers leave the market, or sign more players early, on the basis that they are available and you are prepared to pay the asking price, irrespective of your valuation. You can certainly give yourself an easier ride by taking decisions against strategy based on pressure.
This would not guarantee success (nothing does) but it would further mitigate the risk of failure, however, it would potentially leave fewer resources to build a team which can reach further still.
We played a more ambitious hand. Strategy was adhered to, which looked a folly, to some, a week ago.
For the first time in 40 years we have a sustainable, successful, team development strategy, which is only just beginning to bear fruit. It is too tempting to take those fruits and blow them on the same strategy most of our UK-based peers do in an attempt to guarantee entry to the promised land.
Faith in the squad, manager and scouts was rewarded. Whether you like it or not, we have one of the best development strategies in football. Well done, Celtic.
Neil Lennon is an ambitious man but if he thinks he can stem the “disgusting” “hysterical” reaction to a Celtic defeat he is overreaching. Some will learn but others will have rationalised their reaction within a second of the manager’s comments being made. ‘Tis the nature of the beast.
Well done to everyone who attended last night. The place wasn’t full but there is something about a Celtic Park crowd of around that size which seems more effective than when we’re crammed in.
Enjoy being a Celtic supporter.
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iPaddy McCourt Supports Wee Oscar
Samaras looked injured to me in the first leg. Resting the players at the weekend clearly helped. Samaras was out for blood last night. Love the big man in that form. Coolest man on the pitch to put his goal away.
Hope he signs on for another few years. He does it in Europe and very rarely lets us down. Always tries his heart out.
LB
Auldheid, I like your joke.
Wacthed the game with my neighbour who is a big Tim and but didn;t go to the match last night as he was off on his holidays today.
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Livibhoy
There are millions of Tims around the world who get up at the crack of dawn to watch matches then sometimes go to work – I hope none of them read that!
HH
Actually, if I’m understanding the system, the deadline for signing players is the last day of the month unless it falls on a weekend, at which time the national association can apply for an extention to the Monday at midnight.
That’s my understanding of how it works. Surely the SFA would allow us the extra 2 days? Ally is going to need them anyway haha.
Luxcelt-a wee bit strong mate,we are only posting opinions.HH
thehoopedduke
14:24 on
29 August, 2013
Auldheid
I’m a fan of the idea of summer football, my worry was that it is for the ‘lesser leagues’ however teams from those leagues (Elfsborg, Malmo) are very sharp in the first and second qualifying games. We look a lot sharper now but summer football would negate the risk in those 2 rounds (which we will be in for the forseeable)
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Remember the holders automatically qualify for the group stages.
evertheoptimistcsc
DLB
corkcelt
I read somewhere that Juventus made more cash from UCL than anyone else including Bayern Munich because of their TV revenues. May have been wrong of course.
Juve had the big matches against us of course with a world wide interest!
LB
On potential signings, Phil Collins’ wee brother (Finonchenko) anyone?
James Forrest is praying for The Unconquerable Oscar Knox 15:15 on 29 August, 2013
Deadline is Monday night.
Kayal33
I know about Biton.
The sfa have really ballsed this up for us, we should finish the same time as the english, I reckon most business done there will be done sun and mon.
Huns and their cheating, still affecting us.
HH
Thought last night was another wonderful European night for us Celts, another one to add to a long list of memories. I’m also delighted that we’ve taken advantage of the champions route once again. If there are many more play offs like Milan v PSV I can’t see the so called big clubs letting this route exist for much longer and we could be back to facing teams like Arsenal again. Roll on 4 o’clock!
traditionalist88
It was his choice mate. He was going to the airport at 5am this morning.
I was working in India when we were in EL and had stayed up to 2am or thereabouts to watch a match I think it was Udinese and they changed the broadcast to another game at the last minute. I was raging! I appreciate any Celts fan who gets up at all hours to watch a game.
My mate flew in from California to watch the game if that balances things up. Took his Bhoy and had a night to remember. That will keep him ticking over to Christmas when he is next back over.
LB
Analysis of the play last night, we can say yes we were great and it was a magical night all we want but we need to look for conitnual improvement and that means praising what is good and highlighting what is not:
Forster
Had a very shaky performance, not inspiring confidence at all. Poor command of his box and generally flapping at crossed balls and free kicks. Needs to up his ideas – ironic that he’s back in the England squad on recent performances.
Lustig
Marshalled things in the middle like he has played there for years. Good player.
Ambrose
Was superb and composed (there can be a fine line at the back between composure and lax/bombscare – he landed on the right side of that line). Great outlet from the back pushing the team forward.
Mulgrew
Effective for the most part and kept them in check on the left. Allowed play to progress down the left often.
Matthews
Lung-busting performance, really like him as a player and will only get better.
Brown
Drive and determination. That’s what you get from Broonie and that’s what was needed last night and he delivered in spades. Not the best footballer but that drive can be so important. Fought for victory.
Ledley
Thought he was quite quiet actually, I’ve stuck up for him and he does provide shape to the team but thought he wasn’t bad but wasn’t great.
Forrest
I’m sorry but he is getting frustrating, it’s not fair on the lad if he’s carrying a bad injury but he does run into players and go down alleyways far too often. He also hides from games at times, he kept coming in from the left which is fair enough when you’re used to the right and it allows for the overlap but that doesn’t mean you should be hiding behind opposition players so you can’t get the pass. The whole team are guilty of it but off the ball movement needs to improve. He did contribute a lot to the game but I think that’s where the frustration stems from, he is so capable. He looked knackered after an hour and I think most were rightly calling for him to be taken off – then of course he pops up to score the winner – what can you say? Vital contribution but frustrating as hell (maybe it’s a winger thing). If he had been taken off, who knows? We might not have got that goal, or we might have scored 2.
Commons
What can you say, the guy is a talent! Not a natural athlete, he knows it, we know it but bhoy he can play. One of the few in the team who can receive the ball under pressure and do something with it. That goal changed the outcome of the tie, of that I have no doubt! He also put in a shift and won the ball back on numerous occasions. Great player.
Samaras
That was a GHOD LIKE performance. I’ve never seen a player glide past so many players so often, if we had a real striker on the pitch there would have been a few cut-backs put away after some great play by the Greek. Surely know Lennon will realise where to play Sammi and won’t venture from this. He caused them all sorts of problems, took his goal well and I don’t think you can underestimate how important him taking fouls and getting them booked was. Game-changer.
Stokes
Was quiet for spells and again I don’t think it’s fair to judge him when he’s more isolated up front, he is a really good player with someone besides him in a traditional front 2. I just don’t know how often we’ll play that way this season. Great play for the 3rd and he always offers a bit of invention and quick feet.
Lennon
Got his first 11 and tactics spot on. I think it’s highly naive to re-write history and say he wasn’t largely to blame for the first leg but he got this one right. That might irk him but he’s a big boy and has to take criticism. We didn’t perform badly over there, that’s the whole point, we were out-done by their organisation and by their manager, we were beaten by tactics not play on the pitch (although you can’t ignore the poor defending but again this is a tactical and coaching issue as the defenders are better quality than their opponents). He clearly finds qualification stressful (and no wonder the importance it is to the club and his and his players season) and that shows in his demeanour and how he is in interviews before and immediately after these games. Thought he could have used subs earlier as we were toiling (possibly worse than them) towards the end of the game but he was probably thinking of possible extra time.
Celticbhoy 14:39
I think it was pretty obvious that the hoops were broken to tie in with Magners’ logo – something which I think a lot of people aren’t happy about. I certainly hope we made a lot more money out of it as a result. Dressing it up as 7 hoops is marketing tactics to justify it in my opinion.
Luxcelt
You appear to be the expert on champions league draws, Well done sir.
Don’t post much, but just wanted to say a huge congratulations to Neil and the whole team for a brilliant achievement. It’s not easy to build a team that can compete with and beat the likes of Barcelona, while at the same time needing to play against the ‘smaller’ teams in the SPL.
Some people point out the likes of Porto etc, but they have some advantages, like better weather and more/easier access to some South American players. It simply is quite difficult to attract the high quality of player needed to compete in Europe, but who will also live in Scotland, and play and do well in the SPL.
The result is we will have a high turnover of players at times, and they will tend to be our best players. For some players, we will be the best club, and the highest level, they will play at, but for others, we will be a stepping stone for a chance at a ‘bigger’ club. For these reasons we have lost 3 of our best players, so my expectations for this season are lower. It’s all very well saying they need to be replaced, and we ‘should’ have been looking for replacements, but I’m sure players bought for 1M and sold for 12M don’t come around too often!
Replacing Hooper is hard too. Bought for 2.5, sold for 5/6M. We can’t spend the whole figure on a new striker, but what do you really get for 2M these days? So do you spend 3/4 on an experienced established striker, (who would of course not be as good as Hooper), or do you spend that on a younge striker, who might or might not improve? Tough decisions, but I trust the people we have in place to make these decisions more than I do our support, who will of course use their hearts instead of their heads……..
I fear this could be Neil’s last season, I hope not. But the constant negativity about our team, and their performances could and probably would get too much for anyone. I am also extremely angry that we are in pot 4. Seems to me, the only way for this to improve, is to drop into the europa cup and go on a run winning a few games there. Chelsea and Benfica both seemed to get a lot of points for doing this last season. A final is of course not guaranteed, but would be really interested to know how many co-eficiente points we get for going through 2nd and getting beat, or going through 3rd, (on the same points), and winning a couple of games.
Until we are guaranteed european football, by only having one qualifier, where if we lose we go into the europa cup, getting players in early, will always be hit and miss. Need to spend some money to freshen up the squad for the qualifers, but you can’t get a champions league quality player, till you are in the champions league……..
I hope we do well in the Champions League, but due to losing our best players, the difficulties in getting new ones, the glass ceiling that UEFA puts on the progress of teams like us, I can’t help feeling like my expectations are much lower than last season.
All in all, very happy to be there, but a bit down about the future of european football for us.
BigChipsUK – There are only two SPL teams in Glasgow… Celtic and Partick Thistle
15:16
I knew he looked familiar!!
The deadline is 11pm on the 31st for scotland.
This was done cos of the ban on the huns registering players.
According to STV:
‘Celtic UEFA Champions League financial breakdown
Play-off participation £1,800,000
Projected TV market pool £6,930,000
Group stage participation £7,330,000
Per win £852,000
Per draw £426,000
Last 16 qualification bonus £3,000,000
Quarter-final qualification bonus £3,320,000
Semi-final qualification bonus £4,170,000
Runners-up bonus £5,540,000
Winners’ bonus £8,940,000
Guaranteed group stage revenue £16,060,000
Maximum group stage revenue £21,172,000
Celtic’s maximum competition revenue £40,602,000′
Livibhoy
Nice one buddy
HH
setting free the bears
15:05 on
29 August, 2013
..Kris Commons looks just as chunky in a hooped jersey as he did when he was being pilloried after games where we dropped points…
__
I don’t think the aspect ratios of the big TVs we all have these days help this at all, particularly those players small in stature.
THE EXILED TIM:
Hold the bus. You’re telling me we, and every other club in this country, is racing against the clock ….
…. because of that lot? Are you KIDDING me?
They haven’t even bothered to follow the signing ban! That’s just ridiculous.
On the players performance last night. Everyone who has ever played any physical team game knows you need a hard nut on your team. Not everyone is physically equipped to stand up to bullies. Last night Broonie kicked them back, if any of them kicked one of our guys Broonie let them know he was around. Was probably a bit lucky once when the ref didn’t see him leave his boot on one lads stomach. Every team needs a Broonie, I’m glad he plays for us.
Auldheid
Thanks for the feedback.
I agree with all the sentiments and hope that the victory last night gives the club some breathing room to start on some of the work that needs to be done.
HH
Kojo
Glad to see you have a hangover from your partying and celebrating. I’m telling everybody that I’ve been suddenly stricken with Man Flu to explain why I’m still wearing my jammies at 3:20pm. The fact that copious amounts of strong alcohol were imbibed has nothing to do with it.
I’m going to disagree with you ( in a gentlemanly manner of course due to your delicate condition today). Both you and I have made criticisms of Neil and other aspects of the Good Ship Celtica recently but today is a day for celebration. You have made some valid points about Neil and certain players. But I think today is a day for celebration and excitement as we await the Group Stages Draw. I think we should hold off on criticism for a wee while.
Your Oul pal SadiesBhoy
traditionalist88
I just wish I could make more games myself but commitments are a bit complicated for now. I will be there when I can and me and the Bhoy will have a season ticket soon.
LB
James Forrest
Their ban was until the end of august, hence the sfa closing the window on the 31st at 11pm.
And yes we and the rest are suffering the consequences.
Bada Bing
Tweets tonight from Lampard, Rio, Fowler, Xavi Alonso, Roberts, Snodgrass, Collymore, Owen all praising Celtic.
None from @ScottishFA
Posted last night from Bada Bing
Any word on an update… A tweet, phone call flowers…
SFTB-Was in the prawn sandwich section and KC got MOTM,not a pick on him ,looked much younger than 29,really good guy who got us as soon as he walked in the door.Priceless goals in Europe last couple of years,new deal soon hopefully.
Bom dia.
Missed the game yesterday due to work committments, but I believe all the Rio bhoys n ghirls just about brought the pub to a standstill with all the celebrations and general merriment. Just that wee issue of the draw noo, so’s the annual trip plans can be made/re-made/argued over.
Elsewhere, dunno if it made the news at home, but Deco (or as he was more usually known …………thon cheatin, diving, kiniving wee Bassa) officially retired from fitba this week. Have to say that since I found out he pumps a lot of money into grass roots fitba here, my attitude has softened to the wee guy – a bit.
Roll on the draw (Arsenal – Schalke – anybody)
Sneddoni
If that is you in happy mode not looking forward to your posts when you are on a downer!
tommytwiststommyturns supporting wee oscar
12:53 on 29 August, 2013
Starts on SSN at 4pm also….
Yorkbhoy-maybe Broadfoot is on holiday?…..or lying under his bed with a packet of biscuits.HH
Did SPL Clubs not share £1 mil last season for us getting to Group Stage,or was that last 16 ?
Celtic Mac 15.31 L.O.L.
Livibhoy
Wasn’t judging you, apologies if it came across that way!
HH
What a night, of what a night
Neil has provided his fair share of memories now.
Can anyone explain to me what’s the situation with the Scottish window?
Forgot to record the game yesterday, in my rush to get to paradise……..tried On Demand catch up today …got it ….YYYYEEEEESSSSSSS….
Malone Bhoy
I just have >}
HH