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‘He has cost Celtic Millions’ ‘holding the club back’ ‘He has got very rich’ Celtic fans eye up Lawwell over transfer frustrations

Lawwell & Nicholson 7 hours ago
3Comments

With another unsatisfactory transfer window unfolding suspicious eyes among the Celtic support are being focused on Peter Lawwell.

Now carrying the title of non-executive Chairman, the 66-year-old spent 17 years as Chief Executive, stood down for 18 months then returned as Chairman in January 2023, in-between times his son Mark was appointed as Head of Recruitment with Michael Nicholson stepping is an CEO following Dom McKay’s progressive 72 days succeeding Lawwell.

With McKay involved Celtic had an incredible transfer window in the summer of 2021. Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, Carl Starfelt, Josip Juranovic, Joe Hart and James McCarthy were signed up, on Deadline Day they were joined by Giorgos Giakoumakis, Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

In one transfer window a novice to football helped establish the backbone of a team that went on to win four successive titles, claiming nine of the 12 domestic honours up for grabs.

The reasons for McKay’s sudden departure are open to speculation, of those signings only McCarthy failed to make any meaningful contribution, the others provided success on the pitch with Abada, Kyogo, Starfelt, Juranovic, Jota and Giakoumakis all sold for profit. The entire spend was covered by the sales of Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer.

The January 2022 window that followed was exceptional bringing in Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Matt O’Riley, unfortunately Yosuke Ideguchi was booted out of Scottish football.

Since the summer 2022 Transfer window recruitment at Celtic has been a shambles

There has been a feeling of Deja Vu over Celtic’s transfer activities in recent years, great efficiency in selling players followed by a slow, laboured expensive process in bringing players in, many of whom are nowhere near the standard required.

Jota’s sale in 2023 is a classic example with £25m raised, Marco Tilio arrived injured followed by Yang Hyun-jun from the K-League, when neither of them looked like working Luis Palma was brought in. £25m raised with £6m spent/squandered.

Palma did hit a run of form but it appeared to be aimed at his showreel rather than the team, he has endured a horrific 18 months with little going right although a contract running until May 2028 provides plenty of comfort.

Peter Lawwell and his current role at Celtic

The club and their favoured messengers are at pains to point out that the non-executive Chairman has no hands on roll in the running of the club.

Some might suggest that having been directly involved in every senior appointment at the club other than the football team manager he has his men and women in place throughout the organisation.

Apparently the Celtic Chairman is a big hitter inside Europe but with six EPL clubs involved in next season’s Champions League and Celtic facing a Play Off it is hard to see where his influence shows. From season 26/27 Celtic will face three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage if they win the SPFL Premiership, if the title goes to Ibrox their higher co-efficient will almost certainly see them go straight into the Champions League group stage.

Lawwell joined Celtic as CEO in October 2003 on a salary of £250,000, turnover during 2003/04 was £69m. By the 2018/19 season his salary had soared to £3,549,026 while turnover had risen to £83.4m, a rise of £14m over a period of 15 years.

Once a CEO has been in place beyond eight years they are perceived as more than an employee, more than a hired hand to make the big decisions with the company increasingly dependent on that individual.

There are very few people employed by Celtic that weren’t appointed by Lawwell.

Football wise there were no domestic trebles prior to Dermot Desmond installing Brendan Rodgers as manager in May 2016, instantly the bar was raised with five trebles delivered since then.

European football has been horrific during the Lawwell years, for season 25/26 Celtic have just edged into the seeded side of the Play Off draw with a co-efficient inferior to Bodo Glimt, FC Copenhagen, Ferencvaros and Red Star Belgrade.

Celtic’s co-efficient of 38 is half a point better off than Maccabi Tel Aviv over the last five seasons. Another Scottish club has a co-efficient of 71.5.

During Lawwell’s time at Celtic the club has lost Champions League Play Off ties to Maribor, Malmo, AEK Athens, Cluj and Ferencvaros, Don McKay had been in the door a fortnight when Midtjylland visited Celtic Park on their way to a Play Off victory.

In 2014 Celtic gave up home advantage in two Champions League Play Off matches to hand their ground over for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, a celebration of the British Empire.

Three years later a play off tie had the date changed to accommodate the 12th of July in Belfast.

Throughout Lawwell’s time Celtic used and promoted the transport firm of an Ibrox Chairman.

Back in the summer of 2018 Lawwell failed to conclude a deal to sign John McGinn, instead of the young Scottish midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu was signed as a free agent after a season at Kilmarnock.

In January 2019 Oli Burke, Tim Weah, Vakoun Bayo and Marian Shved were signed. Manny Perez and Andrew Gutman signed contracts despite being unable to be employed in Scotland.

No one knows these issues better than the current manager, in five weeks time he will face a Champions League Play Off with a squad that is almost certainly weaker than the one that faced YB Bern on January 22.

Lawwell

Lawwell

There is always some Happy Clappers to jump to the defence of the corporate hero.

But he was quickly informed of some awkward home truths.

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3 Comments

  • by Frank
    Posted July 16, 2025 11:31 am 0Likes

    He has his eyes fixed on the 100 million plus in the bank , he will get a large percent come time for share holders dividend, this club will spend zilch just wait when we get knocked out of the champions league and then sell Maeda

    Reply
  • by GFD
    Posted July 16, 2025 1:48 pm 0Likes

    It isn’t just Lawwell. The whole board are just stale, comfortable middle ages and old men. Lawyers and accountants that are just happy to pat each other on the back whilst they participate in a process of managed decline. We have a football club funding a PLC whilst the board members have a collective circle jerk over spreadsheets.

    Reply
    • by Legend07
      Posted July 16, 2025 5:40 pm 0Likes

      I think the fans really have to wake up to this board before it’s too late.
      They are definitely up to something whether it’s sell up to some dodgy consortium or some dodgy buyer.
      Why else run up all that money and not properly reinvest it in the squad.
      And before all the liewell happy clappers say shite like we don’t want to end up like the dead huns NO ONE is saying go and spend all the money stop talking shite!
      We have already brought in about 20m and spent 2m and being linked with bottom of the barrel 1m to 3m players.
      Morton Rasmussen cost 2.5M FFS.
      And on the subject of the happy clappers why don’t you ask Liewell why he blatantly LIED to shareholders as CEO AND CHAIRMAN about the 5(6)WA which at a shareholders agm is against all rules and should have resigned as CEO and never return.

      Reply

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