Four Celtic managers covering five spells in charge have all made similar comments when questioned on the back of failure in Champions League qualifiers.
On Tuesday night away to Kairat Almaty there was a feeling of AEK Athens about Celtic’s exit, back then John McGinn and Youssuf Mulumbu were the big stories, this time it was signings in general. Brendan Rodgers never saw the season out.
Managers change but the script remains familiar just like the pale, stale suits in the boardroom, hiding behind spreadsheets and self acclaim.
Over the next three weeks Celtic will publish their accounts for the year to 30 June 2025 with turnover in or around £150m on the back of five Champions League matches bolstered by selling Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi, the fee for Nicolas Kuhn is on the 25/26 ledger.
It is highly unlikely that there will be any confessions contained in the 2025 Annual Report, disappointment at failing to reach the Champions League will be acknowledged alongside hopes of an exciting run deep into the Europa League.
It is not a view shared by many fans, the happy-clappers have taken a back seat after the warnings and predictions over failing to prepare came home to roost in Kazakhstan.
Kairat Almaty join Maribor, Malmo, AEK Athens, Cluj, Ferencvaros and Mitjylland in trashing the claim that Celtic are the best run and most admired club in Europe.
True they are more successful than their city rivals but staying just ahead of a club founded by Charles Green in 2012 is no great benchmark.
Non-executive directors Tom Allison, Brian Wilson and Dermot Desmond have watched the cycle of failure up close and raised no objections, they all seem quite happy losing out repeatedly to lower ranked opponents with an ill-prepared squad.
They were so happy with the 2018 defeat to AEK Athens that the club CEO was paid £3.5m on a turnover of £83m.
That CEO is now club Chairman, according to Michael Nicholson there is no substitute for experience, Nicholson’s 2025 pay is expected to be around the £1m mark.
Five successive Celtic managers, all openly criticising the club’s laborious process of signing players
That’s not normal. Managers don’t do that at other clubs
Something is fundamentally flawed with Celtic’s recruitment
— Albherto (@thecelticalberto.bsky.social) 26 August 2025 at 23:04
In January Rodgers expected a striker to replace Kyogo Furuhashi but Nicholson opted not to bother, that position still hasn’t been filled. Nicholson doubled down by selling Nicolas Kuhn at the start of July, after seven pre-season friendlies and five competitive matches Rodgers has James Forrest and Yang Hyun-jun as his right wing options.
Ange Postecoglu:
“Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, I don’t know. I think I’ve been pretty consistent in saying we need more players in. Obviously I haven’t done a good enough job convincing people we need to bring people in. I’m not going to shy away from it. I’ve tried to be as forceful as I can”
— Albherto (@thecelticalberto.bsky.social) 26 August 2025 at 23:01
Away to Midtjylland following a 1-1 home draw Ange had no option other than to pair Stephen Welsh and Dane Murray together in central defence, both played well. Ange had already discarded the handover signings gifted by Lawwell of Liam Shaw and Osaze Urgohide. Liel Abada was the only new signing involved in the aggregate defeat to the second best side in Denmark.
Neil Lennon:
“There was a lot we wanted to do in the summer, but the financial reality and club strategy meant you can’t always act as quickly as you’d like. Sometimes it feels like the process is just too slow.”
— Albherto (@thecelticalberto.bsky.social) 26 August 2025 at 23:01
After taking over as caretaker from Brendan Rodgers Lennon was appointed on a permanent basis in the Hampden showers. During the close season Boli Bolingoli was signed to replace Kieran Tierney, Lennon picked Callum McGregor to play left-back at home to Cluj. After drawing 1-1 away Celtic lost 4-3 at home, soon afterwards Fraser Foster and oi Elyounoussi were signed.
Brendan Rodgers (1):
“We have a recruitment model here. I can only work within that. We identify the players we want, but there’s often a delay in negotiations. By the time a deal goes through, the market has moved on. That’s always frustrating.”
— Albherto (@thecelticalberto.bsky.social) 26 August 2025 at 23:01
John McGinn overshadowed the build up and defeat to AEK Athens but there were other issues. Lawwell’s refusal to sign a central defender resulted in Dedryck Boyata missing out on a £9m move to Fulham, he left 12 months later for free, he refused to travel to Athens. Following the defeat Moussa Dembele was sold with Emilio Izagurre signed with Filip Benkovic brought in on loan from Leicester City.
Ronny Deila:
“We had players we wanted to bring in, but things take too long. Negotiations drag, and by the time we get them, the market has moved on. It makes it difficult to get the squad together quickly. That’s frustrating because it slows down preparation for the season.”
— Albherto (@thecelticalberto.bsky.social) 26 August 2025 at 23:01
Deila lost out to Maribor and Malmo. Ironically Jo Inge Berget was signed on loan the day before the 4-1 defeat away to Legia Warsaw in 2014, a year later he was in the Malmo side that knocked Celtic out 4-3 on aggregate.
In 2014 no permanent signings were made as Celtic lost out to Maribor, following the defeat to Malmo in 2015 Virgil van Dijk was sold to Southampton with Tyler Blackett brought in on loan to replace the Dutchman. Nadir Ciftci was a summer signing despite being hit with a domestic suspension for biting an opponent.
Chris Sutton has watched each of the above movies unfold, week by week he has chronicled the events of the current close season, the defeat to Kairat wasn’t the greatest surprise of his life.
As ever with Celtic there is no comment, open-ness or accountability.
Club Brugge have similar handicaps to success in Europe, operating from a stadium with half the capacity of Celtic Park, last night they cruised into the Champions League, a competition that they’ve been in seven times in the last eight seasons.
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3 Comments
by Bhoy4life
If there is any truth to the fact that the suits salaries are linked to the financial performance of the club, then that is the first thing that needs addressing.
It’s human nature to behave in a manner that benefits yourself no matter the level you work at.
Unfortunately it also compromises your decision making.
PL being paid 3.5m a few seasons back as CEO, and as stated above Nicholson on around 1m this season, seems a bit of an anomaly.
I’m no accountant, of course we all know who is, but it would be interesting to know what impact the timing of players sold and the lack of money out has on what the expected salary would be for the suits that year.
Are they calculating their next paycheck?
Is that factored in to all business dealings?
As I say, its human nature.
by Editor
Salaried employees like Nicholson and McKay rightly have an element of bonus in their contracts.
How it is achieved is the issue, no one should get a bonus in a season that Celtic fail to qualify for the Champions League, it looks obvious that Nicholson and McKay are keen to generate a massive transfer profit to mask their failings on the pitch, in Champions League qualifiers.
The Remuneration Committee consists of Lawwell, Allison and Wilson with 70 years on board the gravy train, Allison and Wilson decided on Lawwell’s 2018/19 bonus payment.
Allison is a former Clydeport colleague of Chairman Pete.
by Che
Stop giving rich parasites your money,start to defend the club that we built and they are giving it a right good going over