It is a measure of the impact someone has made that even after they have moved on, superstitions about them endure. For some, there’s an almost religious believe that a huge figure cannot be diminished by retirement, loss of status or even death (there’s a special 1970s category for Elvis and Bruce Lee).
Prepare yourself: Peter Lawwell is not Elvis Presley. He can’t sing like Elvis, he seldom dresses like him and under no circumstances should you confuse the supernatural powers attributed to ‘The King’ in the late 70s to our former chief executive.
Peter retired on appointing Ange Postecoglou in the summer of 2021, when Dominic McKay started his summer placement in charge. By September, Michael Nicholson, previously company secretary and in-house lawyer, was temporarily then permanently given the top job.
18 months after he left, Lawwell agreed to replace Ian Bankier as chairman. As Celtic’s representative, Peter was on the board of the European Club Association (currently vice chair) and was working with Uefa on the new Financial Sustainability Regulations. It suited the club and our interests that Peter take the role, allowing him to extend Celtic’s influence at Uefa.
Back when Elvis’ died, football club chairmen carried executive roles. They often opened the doors in the morning, did the accounts, sorted the banking and were always responsible for player contracts and budgeting. The role has changed. Lots.
In a modern PLC, a chairman is a non-executive, “unconnected with the day-to-day management of a business and which is instead concerned with effective management of the board”. That means they are unconnected to player contracts, signing strategies or – and I cannot be clearer on this one – managerial appointments.
Such matters are reserved for the executive team and any major shareholders they are answerable to. At Celtic, this is Michael Nicholson and Dermot Desmond.
Peter Lawwell was a huge influence in Scottish football and a significant figure in Europe. Without him at the helm in 2012, Newco Rangers would have been voted into the SPL, debt free and ready to go again. Back then I got some credit for starting a campaign on this issue, but take my word for it, all credit was due to Peter. He fought and won the most intense battle Scottish football has ever seen, and like Keyser Soze, he left everyone searching in the shadows.
We scarcely got to see Dom McKay and Michael Nicholson has had two and a half years of low-profile management, a benefit of inheriting a club on the up. As a consequence, when people think ‘Celtic board’ they assume Elvis lives. In every meaningful way, Elvis has left the building. He doesn’t sing the songs or choose the band. If you think otherwise, you’re howling at the (blue) moon, and ironically, applying absolutely no pressure to the wound.
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and which manager ?
Handball last night
That’s a penalty against every team bar the huns
https://twitter.com/i/status/1754994942450044991
An Run,
Not Beaton.It was Don Robertson .There were 3 penalties in a mad 20 seconds of panic by the Mob.Goldsons initial arm ball,arm away from side.Goldson arm ball as he went down near the line.The most blatant of all was Butland wiping out Duke from behind,on the goal line.
Now with so many players around the incidents,cant really say if Robertson witnessed any,but that is the reason VAR is there.Shocking.Has to be around 5 or 6 times Gold son has blatantly handled in the box.Nothing.
Add in the two incidents against Hearts and Dons,collapsing to get them 5 points,via 2 penalties,he has been a star for them.Beyond belief with VAR in operation.The same VAR that thought the Dujon assault,Red Card,was harsh,by the way.
BADA BING What was Crocker saying ,if he is praising Sevco,I’m not surprised.
Darwin
Virtue signalling?
I think that description applies more to the lead blog than my response.
Imagine virtue being used as a reason to defend misleading supporters who value being treated as adults.
CLUNKS on 7TH FEBRUARY 2024 9:21 AM
Both are penalties, first by all the rules of the game. The second one Goldson clearly looks behind him and throws his body to the ground. All rules about supporting arm are out the window because of his deliberate action.
Boyd like Miller needs to be removed they are far too biased, the only reason Sky have them is for controversy.
Burnley 78
https://youtu.be/9FnO3igOkOk?si=uCeK-rhFkW0YkZof
Perhaps the fact that integrity is missing from the game PL was the right man in the right place at the right time.
I can understand that but not at the expense of smoke being blown up my rear end.
T163- ecstatic at FT,Sevco TV stuff
DARWIN-JHB- CLOUD9/GRIFTER GALLOWAY PHONEIN SOPERSTAR TOMMY
Is that the view of all your monikers?
Big empty paragraphs of what your various monikers have gleaned over the years about res12 and the 5way agreement,tho Cloud9 did have the penchant for child abuse
As relevant as those anti- supporters who are Celtic supporters called the Green Brigade you say,not that you attend Celtic Park,much preferring to laud Boris as leading the UK well,or to support your racist friends chasing refugee boats on Brexit,get your friends to start a song God save the queen may not go down well at Celtic Park much better with your fellow racist hillbillys at ibrox.
Do read Brendan Sweeneys trilogy to find out bout the calibre of irishmen who founded Celtic,all irish nationalists and again a cheap unionist slur by you,in the 70s you would have gotten a bottle/can of pash thrown at you to go with the shoite your throwing today
Res 12,5 way agreement are attempts by shareholders to get a response to the way unionism does business-corruption fraud and criminality on a colossal scale by Sir Hunner of Pence,voted down by the majority of shareholders thats democracy alas but does not mean they could pursue the 92.1% of unregistered/unlawfully registered players and the trophies the cheating unionist and charity stealers won,Those titles should have been stripped.
Re Dominic McKay did one of your monikers not say it was due to the CBC ongoings being to much for him,made up rancid pash then as you snake around this site,so much for your oval ball analogy,you should go back to phoning your grifter friend George”Tommy” or take your sychophantic poison elsewhere.
Troll
Brother Aitken tried to get the red card rescinded, and turned a blind eye to another Goldson handball, next time he’s listed for a Celtic game, we should register our doubts about him
And the rambling cac bó continues. …
We need VAR for any posts over 50 words.
PRESTONPANS BHOYS on 7TH FEBRUARY 2024 9:54 AM
I think the ref blew for a foul before the second hand ball so only the first one is really up for debate.
Ive certainly seen ones like the first handball given.
Burnley 78
Goin to try get thro and see OT67 at some point today aa he has been moved,will see if j can get thro to game tonight,(may be ticket hunting) after visiting Falkirk.will update later on him B78.if things go well may even see you there.
Hail Hail
Auldheid @ 1:13am – Terrific post.
Question?
“Was PL under pressure from Infantino to keep the lid on the feared consequences of Rangers being granted UEFA licenses during all of the time they used ebts unlawfully?”
Just trying to understand the lie of the land here.
Grateful if you could educate (deliberate verb) me.
Why would Infantino be excessively concerned about the consequences?
Based on my limited understanding he has a solid defence along the lines of ….
“UEFA licences are granted based on information provided by clubs and validated by national associations.
If a club lies and the SFA let them … hardly our responsibility”.
If we drop points tonight I don’t see this soft Celtic team coming back.
Been saying since the summer our Board’s strategy has been to replace seasoned pros with a team of wee boys they hope will command higher resale prices in future years.
Fine – so long as there is a balance. Instead there has been systematic downgrading of quality in every part of the team and it manifests in the increased goals conceded, huge reduction in goals scored and points gained.
Scales is inferior to Starfelt, AJ to Juranovic, Bernardo to Mooy, Palma to Jota, Oh to Giakoumakis.
These boys might have higher ceilings in time, but they aren’t at the same levels of the guys they replaced now and it’s showing in our results.
Even if they do prove to higher ceilings we won’t get the benefit on the pitch because we’ll sell them. Meaning we ourselves are consistently lowering our performance ceiling as a matter of strategy. This is the fatal flaw in P67’s rationalisation of ‘the model’.
The huns are probably worse than they were last season, so we’re in a title race because we’ve chosen to level down. I struggle to believe our timid CEO doesn’t continue to be influenced by his overbearIng predecessor, once removed.
Corporate negligence Stephen McGowan called it. Yet their bonuses are tied to money in the bank rather than performances on the pitch. Talk about perverse incentives.
See someone has learned a new word.
DAVID66 on 7TH FEBRUARY 2024 6:26 AM
Where is that BRRB character?
And Big Jimmy hope you are well.
………………
I am reasonably okay DAVID BHOY, thanks.
I had a few Beers at…. and after my DA’s Funeral last Saturday.
There is a Big Gap in my life just now, cos I really miss my DA. I also miss his love of Celtic.
HH Mate.
PETERLATCHFORDSBELLY
Yet their bonuses are tied to money in the bank rather than performances on the pitch.
…….
Is this a verifiable fact ? Or just ‘common knowledge’ started from a bloke in a taxi?
Genuinequestioncfc
GOD BLESS…
OLDTIM67 and AULDHEID.
I hope that OLDTIM67 is feeling much better asap !
HH Bhoys.
From the off tonight GET IITO THEM.
Three points required… so go and do it CELTIC.
PS…. BIG JIMMY.
Hope your’e well kiddo.
Hibs v Celtic…
MAYBE Celtic will play with TWO Strikers from the start….ADAM IDAH and KYOGO ?
God knows wee Kyogo is badly needing help.
Fingers crossed,
HH.
BHOYJOEBELFAST on 7TH FEBRUARY 2024 10:44 AM
PS…. BIG JIMMY.
Hope your’e well kiddo.
……………..
Im doing okay Mate…THANK YOU for asking.
HH
African Cup of Nations TODAY.
NIGERIA v SOUTH AFRICA….on BBC2.
Kick Aff …….( thats Africana I believe ? ) is at 5pm.
Might be worth a wee watch before the BIG Celtic game Tonight.
HH.
After watching Goldson shank a couple out of play , I’m not surprised he uses his hands so much ……he’s much better with his hands than with his feet .
Good morning Hot Smoked read your post from last night and stand by my opinion that yesterday’s leader was embarrassing. It is of course an opinion and Paul is entitled to his.CQN used to be a respected source of all things Celtic but it now gives the impression that it is in fact a mouthpiece for the board and Peter Lawwell in particular. Most sane people realise that in terms of running Celtic as a business he has done a great job but returning to the club has helped only to create the toxic atmosphere, rightly or wrong ly,which grips the club at the moment. The 2 rece t transfer will does have been shambolic and did nothing to address the positions that needed strengthening in the team/squad.
BIG JIMMY ,I hope Jimmy that you are feeling better after the loss of your DA,take care God Bless ,Jimmy 3 points at Easter Road tonight .
Auldheid 01.13am
Magnificent
67ECW
new article posted.
For what it’s worth IMHO
I believe DD and Nicholson sold Brendan the story Paul 67 has just posted
The reality is Peter cannot get over his disdain for BR and sitting on his hands in not Peter’s style
Nicholson Lawwell the younger and one or two others of influence can feel PLs breath on their neck
It leaves BR in an difficult place
If Brendan fails Peter was right.
And Peter is always right
Even at Celtic expense
Shame
67ECW
Just read Auldheid’s post and I am happy to confirm what he’s said in there.
I played a very modest role in the Resolution 12 campaign, simply drawing attention to various elements of it, but I did attend that meeting on the day in question and I’m happy to verify that. I’ve always respected Lawwell as an administrator and as a finance guy, but he should have been nowhere near the football department about which he knows exactly nothing … and he is, I’m afraid, fatally compromised by his long-standing view, as borne out in statements both public and private that we “need” the Ibrox club.
And I’m starting to think it’s this board’s considered opinion that we need an Ibrox club which at least appears to be able to challenge us. I don’t subscribe entirely to the theory of self-sabotage, but it’s hard to deny that we could be streets ahead of them and we’ve chosen – very deliberately chosen – not to be. That bothers me enough on its own, but that this policy badly hampers our ability to make any forward progress in Europe is damaging to our reputation and our standing and sooner or later (sooner, I think) that will have consequences. Pretty big ones.
For me and a lot of others we’ve reached the end of the line with this board. I don’t trust these people, and Lawwell in particular knowing what Auldheid and the others did and knowing how they were treated. I don’t trust that the policy serves the club any longer. Whether it’s Desmond inflating the bank balance to facilitate a sale or if it’s the aforementioned “one step ahead but no more than one” agenda, it’s no longer important to me why we choose to have tens of millions in the bank whilst the team rots.
Fresh thinking would have done this board good. It doesn’t want that. Because fresh eyes might see things that would horrify even those of us who are already pretty horrified. We have three Strachan’s on the books. Three Lawwell’s. Two Desmonds. This is not healthy. It is, in fact, profoundly corrupt. Our whole club, from top to bottom, is filled with friends and family members of those who sit on the board … this club is run for their benefit, not ours, and that’s why so much of the operation is third rate.
Yeah, I don’t just think the fans have been lied to, and that the shareholders were lied to, I know they were. And if Paul67 or anyone else wants to slag the guys who put in so much time and effort and blood, sweat and tears in the lonely task of holding people to account, well they did more than the club did. They did a lot more than some of those who’ve sniped from the sidelines.
Auldheid and I have fell out a couple of times down through the years, but what kept us talking, always, was our mutual love for this club and our determination not to see it cheated or screwed over. That guy is one my heroes. He never wavered. He doesn’t to this time. I wish we had more like him.
Back to Basics.
Fair question.
PL wrote to Regan cc Infantino in May 2012. If you read the letter at link, which is spot on, it makes the link to possible breaches of FFP by using ebts with side letters. Nothing to do with Res 12.
So Infantino who was responsible for creation of FFP launched in 2010 should have looked at the rules and if doing his job checked Rangers accounts to see if EBTs/side letters were mentioned in a way that was a “Fair presentation” of Rangers business dealings.
There was a mention of the total spent on EBTs which might have been OK.
However when UEFA investigated Giannina FC in 2013, ironically on the issue of overdue tax in 2011, they found 5 private agreements with players that were not identified in the accounts Giannina submitted to get a licence.
UEFA deemed the failure to disclose private agreements in their accounts as a breach of FFP Article 47.
When this came out in 2016 there was an immediate equivalence made by requisitioners between side letters and private agreements, but as CAS did not delve further and upheld UEFAs decision that Giannina had overdue tax which justified licence refusal, there was nothing to get traction on at that point.
What was not known until 2017 was that PL had properly contacted UEFA about Rangers use of ebts.
That information had it been known at any point in the Res12 journey by requisitioners up to 2016 would have been reassuring that PL was on the case when doubts existed but would have led to the question that still remains which is “what was Infantino’s reply”?
The line oft repeated privately by PL and specifically at 2019 AGM was that UEFA were not interested in pursuing the matter which gives rise to wondering why?
Res12 was only looking at a breach in 2011, not up to 10 breaches from 2001.
Think of the cost of addressing that to UEFA/SFA to satisfy clubs losing out to a club who should not have been in the competition.
Not something the hand that feeds you would want to happen.
Going back to Res12, UEFA questioned the Rangers monitoring submission of 30 June in Sept 2011. A discussion took place between SFA and UEFA, the result was verbal acceptance of a submission that continued the to treat the money owed to HMRC as a potential liability and not an overdue payable, a consequence of which Rangers, 5 months from administration, did not have to provide Future Financial Forecasts to SFA/UEFA.
There are no details of that SFA/UEFA conversation but the message to Rangers telling them of the result began with ” Good news”. It is documented at http://www.res12.uk 19 Sept 2011.
At the end of the day it is not known for a fact that UEFA put PL between a rock and a hard place because Infantino’s reply has never been revealed, but evidence including the Traverso reply points to UEFA not wanting to investigate anything regarding SFA/ Ra gers pre 2012. (UEFA never even saw the 5WA for potential breach of FFP with respect to protecting the integrity of UEFA competitions)
For the hard of thinking all the foregoing could be seen as a defence of PL.
However it is just an attempt to bring truthful balance to the debate and thanks for giving me the opportunity to make that point.
We need more Auldheids and less self important spoofers.
Darwin
The barrack-room lawyers, albeit starting out with good intention, made not one iota of difference to the outcome of the Ibrox club’s demise and its subsequent re-emergence with a new company number – Sevco Scotland trading as The Rangers.
=====
You ignore the Traverso reply to Celtic shareholders that described Sevco as a NEW club/company which they were post 2012.
The sematic somersaults by supporters of the same club myth trying to interpret NEW as same were a joy to read.
Without that Celtic supporters would have had no comeback.
It might not have made any difference to you but it did to Celtic supporters looking to call out the myth.
You may not have noticed but prime aim of Res12 was SFA reform and what Res12 uncovered helped get that issue on the Scottish Government agenda on 31st Jan with good support from MSPs which resulted in SG recognising further Round Table talks with all parties including supporter reps will take place to decide what is necessary to bring transparency and accountability at Hampden and improve the say of supporters in the clubs they support.
Celtic were involved in development of FSR and again evidence supplied to UEFA by Celtic shareholders helped the creation of clearer rules regarding overdue tax payables and an additional monitoring point to keep an eye on things during the licensing cycle.
Your opinion on nothing coming from Res12 appears to be an uninformed one but nothing unusual about that in blogland.