Michael Nicholson

Any pictures I see of Nicholson, he looks absolutely terrified of the enormity of the CEO job. He can't even communicate properly with the Celtic fans.

Is Nicholson not some distant relative or lickspittle of Lawell ?

 

I think he’s just a bit like a pet tbh … like a specky Labrador that does what he’s told and if he manages sign a player for under 2 million he gets a biscuit and a clap.

 

Well he's not really. He has 35% of the shares so he needs another 16% effectively to push through any decision. It all depends on whether he has that extra 16% of shareholders who are the same page as him which obviously he currently has. Were an interested party to come in and purchase a significant stakeholding in Celtic it could certainly make things interesting.

Breakdown of our shareholders here.

https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-shareholders/

 

He does have the 16% on his side.

David Low broke it down on the Celtic Exchange Podcast a year or so ago. He has complete control without having to purchase the additional shares.

 

Yes, we proxy our votes to the Celtic Trust, but it's a movement that seems to have lost momentum and sway.. to have any real power the Trust would be need one of the bigger shareholders to essentially cede shares to them, which is unlikely to ever happen.

As it stands just now the Trust owns less than 1% with Lawwell himself actually having more (albeit less than 1%) .. think total fan shareholders only amount to 1% including the Trust.

Chris Trainer isn't on the board a 'silent partner' owns about 11% there was some speculation he would be open to modernisation and more fan involvement.

So the best the Trust can do is gain fan votes to try and influence and lobby.. but actual fan ownership isn't ever likely to happen

Desmond and Tom Allison control the board, with Lawwell implementing their 'Conservative' thinking.

Best we can hope for is some sort of fan advisory group.

Depressing really, but it will take Huns to be on top before we see any changes or DD and PL to leave the club..

 

Yeah but he, PL and Tom Allison ensure his power is absolute.

 

I don't dispute that at all. I said as much in the post above.

But he is reliant on other shareholdings being on the same page as him. If there are changes in the landscape of those shareholdings then it means his level of control is diminished and could mean board room change and strategy change. For me Desmond is an absentee owner, I think the strategy and way we do things is 100% Lawwell and board led. Desmond is happy enough to let them do their thing as long as the club remain profitable and he doesn't have to put his hand in his pocket, as are the 16% or more of the shareholdings that support the board along with Desmond. He's effectively a retiree billionaire who lives abroad and plays golf every day. He's not the guy imposing this strategy but he's happy to go along with it.

For me Desmond bought a major shareholding in Celtic as he thought we would be joining the EPL in the near future and saw it as an investment he could make a packet off if that eventuality ever occurred. There was a lot of talk about this prospect in the 90s and early 00s.

 

I wouldn't neccessarily agree with that. It's all speculation but I feel Lawwell implements his own conservative thinking. Desmond cares very little about Celtic. He bought us an investment hoping we'd get admitted to the EPL and sell off. He's an absentee owner, I don't think he'd clamp down on a modernisation of Celtic as such but he's happy enough to leave the board in the "safe hands" of Lawwell who is a bean counter and believes austerity is the order of the day.

 

Not sure about that..

Rodgers has spoken several times about contacting DD directly.. Rodgers mentions DD and Nicholson regularly, but never PL..

Its speculation on the true dynamics of our boardroom.

In any case its a board that lacks dynamic leadership and we badly need reorganising and modernisation.

Not to mention transparency with no thoughts ever towards us the fans

 

If this was the case, why was Dom McKay shown the door when it was clear he was trying to bring in a Sporting Director/Director of Football and modernise the club. Tognozzi, the Juventus Chief Scout came out in the Italian media and said he had held talks with McKay with regards to the role. So, who made the decision to bin McKay, who made the decision to appoint Nicholson, a Lawwell disciple. Who brought Lawwell back to the club? Who has scrapped the Sporting Director role? All roads point to Desmond.

Rodgers also talks about Desmonds involvement. So, you can say you can disagree with it all you want but it's not just speculation. There is piles of evidence that Desmond is involved. Does he do things through Lawwell or through Nicholson? Of course he does. All major decisions at this club are ran by Desmond.

 

He essentially is our owner though with how the rest of the shares are divvied up. I think Desmond is wanting us as profitable as possible with a massive cash surplus to sell us for a hefty price.

I agree Celtic isn’t a major concern is but profits and good business is his main concern. Only way I see things changing is if his son assumes control of his shares.

It’s an old boys network full of Desmonds & PL’s guys, look how quickly McKay was rid of. I think we can all agree to modernise the club we need a fan owned percentage sitting at the table and give us a direct line to the board.

 

Shouldn't be shouting abuse at them at the games though. This could be why they act so stubborn in the long run, taking it personal instead of doing right by the club which I wouldn't put past them. We seemed to get Engels over the line that way. Only thing I can possibly think of in their defence is that the right transfers are not available this time round, the worst case scenario would be grossly over paying for duds reactionarily, but to the Huns activity in comparison is a clear indicator to everyone that we are being let down.

Let the huns get stronger, this is in our interest. But we must stay ahead of the game and that means making decisions that move us forward. All well and good having an aura of positivity and growth but when it hits the fan the indicators are clear that we are * lazy.

 

Think the McKay appointment shows how inept their thinking is.. get a CEO in who has absolutely zero experience working in football.

 

Desmond is the guy who flies the manager out on a private jet when he wants him to sign. Th

Tell me this, what is Desmond's game here? He's a billionaire, he is 76, he lives abroad, he rarely is at Celtic Park, he plays golf all day, He gets £40k for sitting on the board, he might get about 200k dividends a year. We're not growing as a club, our share price is not accelerating, we are stagnant. So what is his game?

That all points to Desmond just not giving a * about us, we are an afterthought. If he was the micromanager people claim he was then he would be far more hands on than he is, he would surely want his investment earning him far more than 250k a year - he's a billionaire FFS. We are just part of his portfolio. The problem with Desmond is not micromanaging, it's pure apathy. The running of the club and strategic growth has been fully divested to Lawwell and our board who are utter dinosaurs. If Desmond cared about his investment surely he'd have a board there who would grow and progress the club but he's a 76 year old retiree who spends his day golfing - he doesn't give a toss.

 

This ginger bawed * is stealing a wage.

 

It took rioting during the Covid season to enact change, albeit short lived. The huns getting stronger is not in our interest one bit, it directly threatens the most lucrative revenue stream open to us.

 

The right transfers not being available isn't a excuse mate, ffs..

Its total shambles we've not got at least another winger in the door.. its a disgrace. Pure * hour.

 

I agree in the short term, but I think that over a long period having good competition is healthy. That's how football works in any league. Its a separate argument, but ideally we pull our finger out now because if we don't then that's unacceptable.

 

Not making excuses, just giving possible counter arguments and then countering them myself. Don't get me wrong I am not on the fence here. I'm angry as anyone, with the money we have generated through all avenues of revenue we should show more ambition and this window so far has got everyone rightfully concerned.