For the "Sack The Board" Brigade

Now can you see the light???

WE'VE SHELLED OUT £4M ON NEW PLAYERS BUT IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH
Jul 25 2005


By Mark Guidi

PETER LAWWELL reckons everyone connected with Celtic has been on a downer since the high of reaching the UEFA Cup Final two years ago.


The Parkhead chief executive has been blasted by supporters for not building on the glory run to Seville by splashing out on top-quality players.

The Hoops hierarchy have again been accused of having a 'biscuit tin' mentality but Lawwell reckons the criticism is unfair.

Celts have spent around £4.5million in the past month to bring in Maciej Zurawski, Adam Virgo, Jeremie Aliadiere, Paul Telfer, Artur Boruc and Mo Camara.

Meanwhile, Rangers have been signing Bosman bargains and Lawwell can't believe he's the one getting stick for being tight-fisted.

He said: 'We're the only team that's spent money on transfers.

'Last year we used it on wages with Juninho and Henri Camara. This time it's in transfers but we're also picking up the salaries.

'Since Seville there has been a genuine frustration about the place - shared by the fans, management, team and board.

'We haven't taken off for whatever reason and I understand the anger.

'But we have a responsibility to invest the fans' money wisely. That's why the transfer dealings have taken a little longer. 'The easiest thing to do is relent to media pressure but you have to resist and get deals done properly.

'We're in good financial condition and the sponsorship deals with Nike and Carling have been fantastic Rangers' decreasing wage bill over the past three years means Celtic now pay the sixth-highest salaries in British football.

Only Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool spent more on wages last year and Lawwell claims the club can't afford to sustain that level.

He said: 'We have lost 10 players to get the figures down but if you go through the list not many were active first-team players last term.

'We've brought in six new guys and hopefully the quality is there. We are looking to get another one or two and young boys will continue to come through the ranks.

'It's all about rebuilding with a tight budget.'

​

 

lawson is a muppet

 

whos lawson, eh????

 

i think he met lawwell

 

i was in sarcastic mode, nice to know he doesnt know the name of our chief executive despite the fact his names in the paper, teletext with every signing.

 

lol

 

Are Celtic having bother with there board then? Sorry to intrude, just seems this thread is abit split regarding that article.

 

some fans accuse the board of having a biscuit-tin mentality. we've spent £6-7m this close-season which is the most we have done in about 3/4 years. the fact is, despite the fact we are a huge club with support around the globe, nike sponsorship, 60,000 capacity etc etc, we are still losing money because we play in scotland. it is quite a problem mate.

 

I think most Celtic fans are over the moon that we are spending money, but there are still a lot of issues with the board. We might spend up to £ 10M this summer, but we haven't spent any money for the past 3 seasons apart from £200,000 on Pearson, and for a club of Celtic's stature that is not good enough.
We have constantly raised cash through share issues under false pretenses, the first one being when Tommy Burns was manager with the promise of a youth academy that a full eight years have now passed and still no academy. The training facilities are another long running saga, and although now we have acquired the land why has it taken so long? The last share issue the board promised money would be made available to MON for transfers, this never happened, I think the fans have every right to feel aggrieved, they constantly put their money into the club with little reward apart from the Quiet Man DD finally finding his voice to slag off the fans and suggest that they put more money into the club. We had to spend money this year, most of us know that money should have been spent after Seville, and it is the boards general conduct that has turned a great deal of fans against them. When do they tell us anything? Quinn and Desmond treat the fans with disdain, and the embarassing affair with Quinn and the wrong mobile number sums up the general incompitence of the board.
Thankfully things are moving in a more positive direction, the new kit deal, and the sponsorship with Carling are all positives, but if the board had any forsight, these deals should have been done some time ago. Any corporate company witnessing what happened in Seville can't fail to have been impressed, Celtic are a global brand and deserve to be up with the Man Uniteds of this world, it's about time the board got the finger out and started acting like a global company.

 

Spend, Spend, Spend cannot be done anymore in this day an age mate. Times of forking out 18 million for Rio Ferdinand etc is just not done anymore. Most clubs now are cash-strapped. You can take one look at my club, and i bet you wouldn't be wanting to Lawwell spending money you simply don't have?

SPL isn't a money turner really though is it? Setanta Sport pay for live coverage of the Celtic games and Rangers, but doubt they are paying the amount Sky do? Sky fork out for your cup matches but once again cups are hardly money spinners, this is why i believe the SPL is in dire straits. Cup money keeps the lower teams like Inverness or Falkirk going but for clubs of yours and Rangers stature, its just doesn't work.

Would Celtic fans be willing to move to the Premiership? I know it seems like travelling at lot further, but everytime you play friendly's in England, you travel in your droves, remember 2002, Gary Kelly's testimonial?

Sorry if im way off the mark here, just my perspective on football boards etc. Doug Ellis at Aston Villa for example, Villa fans never stop complaining about him not spending enough money, but Villa along with Manure are the only club that makes a profit in the premiership.

 

the board are a pack of liars, cant be trusted.

* THE BOARD

 

I agree with LUFC - football generally just doesn't have the same kind of money that it did, and playing in the scottish league means that we have even less. Leeds are actually a good example - when I read about some of the transfer dealings that led to their financial plight I was shocked. The Leeds board at the time seemed to be wanting to 'appear' as a big club by offering big transfer fee's, and huge wages in particular. Rangers went down the same road and are only doing ok financially because they were bailed out by murray.

Neither I, or anyone else here, really know the in's and out's of the finances at Celtic, but the fact is that they are a company and have to balance the books and have a financial plan, just like any other company. What I want to see more than anything is Celtic Football Club in existence for generations to come, and if that means that we have to tolerate the financial realities of playing in Scotland at the cost of 'big name' signings, then thats what we have to do. We are not immune to going out of business and we have to accept that the 'business' of celtic has to be conducted sensibly.

I concede that money should have been spent before this season, and that greater care should have been taken to keep certain players, but when I judge this summers transfer dealing on their own merit, and taking into account the number of players we had to try and replace, I think it is both naive and unfair to accuse the board of being cheap.

And more than anything, lets try and be a bit more positive and get behind the team. After all, when was the last time we saw 7 players arrive in a summer....before the end of July!!

HAIL HAIL!

 

no, your 100% correct LUFC, just some people have the opinion that the board have no right to take money from a club that it put money into. Dermot Desmond isnt a charity case, hes a businessman and celtic are a PLC, so why shouldnt he? we cant spend big bucks, your club are the prime example of what can go wrong in football. still maintain leeds would still be a EPL team if ridsdale hadnt of used oleary as a scapegoat and sack him.

id welcome a move to the premiership. What are your opinions on it LUFC?

 

all i ask is for people to be upfront with me, i have no respect for anyone that tries to insult me with stupid lies.

 

Blame always has to be put somewhere, but Im happy were spending and im happy were not in severe debt like Rangers. Celtic are in it for the long haul !

 

blame always starts at the top.

 

Jaz and Dubs, you're right, blame should always start at the top, but what specifically are you blaming anyone for this season (we all know there is plenty of blame to be dished out in the past)?

 

So maybe we will spend upwards of £7m this summer, but can anyone say that the team has been improved with the signings this term??. Would any of the new recruits have ousted any of the team that played in Seville?. IMO we are still in decline. I've watched the recent friendlies and although the team has still to gel I can't see any improvement or anything to get excited about. Getting rid of high earning run of the mill players and replacing them with low earning run of the mill players is not the answer to our prayers, it's only a way of putting off the inevitable until a later day.

 

I'd love to see your great club in the premiership to be quite honest. I agree with the lying bit though DubsBhoy etc. Ridsdale was a lier of the highest order and so were the rest of his board, some extremely filthy scum on the board including Alan Leighton, cheif excecutive of Royal Mail. O'Leary would make no difference mate, Leeds were * with or without O'Leary and although he himself trys to shift the blame away from him, Elland Rd knows he played his part in the downfall of Leeds.

I aren't wishing to become embroiled in Celtic affairs,just i myself know that spend, spend, spend doesn't always help. Newcastle anyone?

All i say is keep the faith! You will regain your title without a doubt.

Anyways we got Ken Bates

 

were do you start ? i'm in work now and i ain't got time for a full scale rant but off the top of my head....

were's the nike money ?

over 50,000 season books sold the last few years were's the money ?

Freddie shepard said celtic never contacted him once about CB, peter lawell said he was doing everything in his power to get the player and that he'd spoke to NUFC.

We have let a lot of players go this season actually since jininhio went we must of saved a fortune in wages - were's that money ?

End of last season peter lawell said we'd have 15 mill to spend were's that?

Were never gonna play in the EPL why do the board persist on telling us thats when we will start spending.

the way players contracts are handled at CP are a joke.(so was quinns ph. call about MON)

Do you know how many celtic shirts/merchandise is sold a season ? No ? me niether why not ?

carling - 9 million for 4 years ? i think we can do better than that.

Thats off the top of my head i'll try think up a few more for later on.