Where would we be without Peter Lawell

* off you *. The thread wasn't written to praise the board, I was asking a genuine question about how much influence someone sitting on the uefa board has on helping our own club

 

I took it as a question rather than a statement.

"On a side note, I've noticed there are posters on here that reply to well constructed Thread openings with disparaging remarks. Baws"

 

We'd probably still have a good atmosphere at home games.

 

Lawwell has done a terrific job. European success without going the way of the huns.

 

Possibly in a better place?

He's got a nice drive tho

 

Probably the fans would not be viewed as nothing more than a resource than must be tolerated.
Or as a bunch of idiots if they don't toe the establishment line and embrace mainstream British politics that 'are cricket'.

Probably we wouldn't lose all of our best players without a fight, and watch as million after million disappears into into the coffers, never to be seen again.

Probably (this is hopeful thinking I admit) the fans wouldn't be in such a neutered state, that celebrate our best players disappearing to be mostly replaced with dogshit, by calling it "good business"...what? For the fatcats running the club, maybe. Maybe not though as we've now regressed so quickly we may not even have the quality to beat a 3rd rate team such as Maribor, in order to go on and get humiliated against teams we were competitive against not so long ago

Being really optimistic, maybe the fans wouldn't be so gullible to be scared into accepting all this bullshit due to the boogeyman story of sevco, a club that has nothing to do with us and whose spending - to this day -is such a million miles away from biscuit tin Celtic's that is laughable to even comapre the two. But perpetuating this stupid analogy allows Lawell to criminally under invest in our club year after year.

I would love to feel like I could spend money on Celtic again, but will not spend a penny until I feel like I'm not being short changed and ripped off every time.

 

Youre not being short changed ,we spent 11.6 million last year ..

 

We'd have the Green Brigade at Celtic park for one...

 

I though they where allowed back in total disgrace how they have been treated I don't mind anybody who doesn't care about the political side of things and don't want to sing rebels but the people who try and stop it aren't real celtic fans in my view

 

Technically they are 'allowed in', just as individuals, not as a group. The section and season ticket section hasn't been sorted yet, despite repeated assurances from the club.

 

indeed...

Politics aint allowed unless its the politics the board agree with... No place for folk that have other views, how democratic!

Sad aint it...

 

Managers players boards owners politicians come and go but the fans who are the most important part of celtic will always be here

 

Unless fans have been forced out

 

OK, Lawwell is sometimes used by us fans as a symbol of the corporate side of the club, but let's get real here: the structure of a PLC means necessarily that control of the club is in the hands of the directors (among them Lawwell) appointed by the shareholders (in practice by the major shareholders such as DD) to make them money (whether in the form of dividends or, more likely IMO, by growing the business).

This means you have to ask one initial question, with each answer leading to one or more follow up questions, which is this: are you happy with us as a PLC?

If your answer is yes (and many of those who remember the "aristocratic" regime of the Kellys will be able to make a good argument for that position), then it necessarily follows that fans will be looked on as customers, the name as a brand and the club purely as a business. This is not Lawwell, Lawwell is only doing his job. If you are happy with Celtic as a PLC then you cannot criticise this and be consistent.
The only question is then whether Lawwell and the rest of the board are competent or not. I think the consensus at the moment, even among Lawwell's enemies, is that the board in general and Lawwell in particular are extremely competent.

I don't think guys like DD are interested in overseeing a downsizing of our club for the sake of short-term profit: the kind of money they get from Celtic in dividends is absolute chickenfeed to guys like that. They will want to see Celtic grow just as much as we do (for different reasons, of course). Doing this with his businesses is how DD made his fortune!

On the other hand if, like me, you want to see an end to Celtic as a PLC, the question is then what do you want instead (only a fool would want to go back to the Kelly era) and how you propose to get there? Personally I'd like to see an open, democratic Celtic (one ST, one vote) with the business answering to the fans. I haven't a clue how we could get there. This probably isn't really the thread for that discussion.

I don't think Lawwell is a problem, he's very good at what he does; the problem is the way all other aspects of the club (social, football, charitable, political) are subordinated to the business side, which comes with the PLC structure.

 

H67 thinks he is clever quoting the Daily Record . Always the sign of a Celt . Over the years too many of our fans have been very fond of trying to make the Strathclyde Police welcome at Celtic Park the result is that the polis have felt confident in smashing the Celtic support starting with the Green Brigade .

 

A real club.

 

I think he runs the club well and we'd be worse off without him. He does well in handling the pressure he gets from the fans. I know folk get frustrated with him (myself included), but every football fan feels that way about their chairman/CEO, apart from when they are billionaire playboy owners maybe.

 

Wouldn't know i don't read that *, how what does it say

 

We'd have the freedom to sing Mountbatten is * dead as much as we want.