Daily Record duping Celtic fans

Michael Nicholson and Peter Lawwell will NOT be breaking their silence later this month to explain the shambles at Celtic during the summer transfer window. Others might describe it as a managed decline that got out of control.

Celtic will publish their annual report for the year to 30 June 2025 at some point this month, probably on a matchday or Friday evening which will contain a few patronising paragraphs from the Chairman and his charmless clone the CEO. It isn’t news, it isn’t breaking even if the Daily Record is desperately chasing clicks with print sales during August dipping below 40,000 a day.

The Annual Report is nothing new, silence won’t be broken it is a statutory obligation, the Chairman won’t be contacting his favourite reporter to give Keith a scoop although the off the record instructions will of course continue.

So far this year the preferred deflection has been to blame Adam Idah, Arne Engels and Auston Trusty for all of the ills in the world, over the next week the transfer failings will be entirely due to uncertainty over the future of Brendan Rodgers.

That could of course have been resolved during the summer by appointing his successor but that would have involved leadership and decisiveness which are alien concepts inside the Celtic boardroom.

The Daily Record opens their report with:

Celtic fans and shareholders will get a rare public address from their under-fire board later this month.

Hoops supporters are reeling after a shambolic transfer window ended with Brendan Rodgers still scrambling for a new striker.

Blah, blah blah.

Those headlines might grab clicks, the ‘content’ trashes even further any credibility that the Record has, a dangerous path to take when there is a great variety of free content available elsewhere for Celtic fans to take it. And return to.

After scrolling through repetitive paragraphs the duped reader discovers that the Annual Report for 2025 will be published in September with a few bland paragraphs covering turnover of around £150m and a paragraph expressing disappointment about failing to reach this season’s Champions League.

Everyone will of course be hurting and doing their upmost to make amends in the season ahead and excited by the challenge of the Europa League. They’ll see how excited the fans are when they face SC Braga on October 2 with a 5.45 kick-off after two nights of the Champions League involving Kairat Almaty, Qarabag, Pafos and FC Copenhagen.

After three season’s of direct entry to the Champions League Celtic as a football team are no further forward, the squad that won the 2021/22 SPFL Premiership title is miles stronger than the one that failed to score in three matches against Kairat and the Ibrox Tribute Act.

Fans want some accountability for a transfer window where the squad was deliberately weakened, having sold Kyogo Furuhashi in January Nicholson pushed ahead with getting rid of Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah without bringing in replacements.

The sale of Idah could be the most contentious of all, as recently as Friday Rodgers said that the former Norwich striker couldn’t be sold until a replacement was in the door.

Idah was recalled from Swansea where he had even taken part in the social media posts, Nicholson lost out on Kasper Dolberg to the surprise of no-one then proceeded to sell Idah in defiance of the football team manager.

Absolutely no-one is fooled into thinking that Kelechi Iheanacho is a replacement or upgrade on Idah, the only conclusion seems to be that Nicholson pushed through the Idah/Iheanacho switch as a direct snub for the manager.

Rodgers will face the media next Friday to preview the match away to Kilmarnock, Nicholson will be lurking in the shadows preparing for the November AGM where his greatest contribution has been the ‘penalty to Rangers’ gag to his mates when he was questioned on John Beaton’s decision making.

Oh how they laughed…