Keith Jackson has stepped up his Celtic cheer-leading activities this week.
The veteran Daily Record reporter is absolutely no fan of Scotland’s most successful club but he knows where his bread is buttered.
One by one the big earners at the Daily Record have been eased out of the picture and off the payroll.
Not so long ago Hugh Keevins, James Traynor, Mark Guidi and Gordon Waddell were all competing for the generous expenses from the Record and Sunday Mail.
These days the two titles have virtually merged. Barely selling 30,000 copies a day.
Jackson used to be a jet-setter, involved wherever the big stories were breaking. Getting the pick of the trips.
These days he barely gets out of the office. The Record has younger, cheaper pups covering the action at Celtic Park and Ibrox. Picking up the Europa League jollies.
Jackson’s contact book has barely expanded in the last decade. It is doubtful if he has a phone number for any first teamer at a major Glasgow club. But he still retains some uses.
He still retains some uses.
Some of the dinosaurs around Celtic think that Jackson and the Record are influencers. They are but not in the way that they imagine.
At the turn of the century getting favourable press from the record would go a long way. It would keep those pesky internet bampots at bay.
Now the bampots have their own social media. Ryan 118 and ACSOM have far more reach than Jackson and the Record.
JACKSON THE ON CALL CELTIC MESSENGER
Despite that someone decided to get Jackson to put out some friendly content on behalf of Peter Lawwell.
Jackson and Lawwell have a dependency agreement. Both are past their sell-by dates but can help each other out.
One clapped out former CEO can be assured of compliant copy while the analogue reporter can look forward to a fewexclusive crumbs falling his way.
On Tuesday Jackson shared his affection for big Peter:
As a matter of fact, behind closed doors, former chairman Peter Lawwell expressed some deeply held concerns over that decision to cash in on the Japanese international without having a ready-made replacement lined up.
At the time, Lawwell was worried about the impact Kyogo’s loss might have had on what was left of last season’s top flight campaign.
But, while ultimately his worst fears were proven to be misplaced when Brendan Rodgers secured the title with plenty to spare, Kyogo’s sale can now be ringed in red pen as the start of something much more catastrophic.
Such a pity that the CEO that pushed through the sale of Kyogo was groomed for the job by Lawwell.
Not only did Michael Nicholson sell Kyogo but he pushed ahead with selling Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah to rid Brendan Rodgers of scorers.
To balance that up Paul Tisdale discovered Shin Yamada.
Nicholson’s only qualification for being Celtic CEO was the nomination of Lawwell.
He knows the paperwork from July 2012 and is a massive supporter of the O** F***.
So much so that 2,500 right wing extremists will be spouting their poison inside Celtic Park on May 10. The only ‘achievement’ on Nicholson’s puny CV.
LAWWELL- 17 YEARS OF COMPLETE CONTROL OVER CELTIC
Yet Jackson is trying to push the claim that Lawwell was concerned about Celtic’s transfer policy!
The former CEO set the template with everyone inside the club either appointed or promoted by Lawwell or through his proxy in Nicholson.
On the back of the Lawwell love-in Jackson turned to Scott Brown to attack fans that think Celtic could do better than be also-rans in Europe.
Fans that think a modern ambitious club with a 60,000 seater stadium and global support could match Club Brugge, Bodo Glimt or even Sporting Lisbon.
It wouldn’t be costly. It is self financing. The Champions League offers more money than ever and a more level playing field than ever before.
Celtic have failed to qualify in seven of their last nine attempts at progress.
Million have been lost.
Matching the wastage on Albian Ajeti, Maik Nawrocki, Vasilas Barkas, Boli Bolingoli, Ismaila Soro, Patryk Klimala, Vakoun Bayo, Marian Shved, Luis Palma, Kwon Hyeok-kyu and at least a dozen more.
Taking a phone call from Jackson, Brown repeated a familiar, tired and lazy reaction, saying:
If they go and win this league after all the pressure and all of the criticism of the board, the players and managers coming in and leaving, it will be the best league win ever.
There are a lot of vultures out there on social media and podcasts who think they know how to run the club better. It’s as if people think Celtic can just go out and spend £20m on a player because the money is in the bank.
But if you do that and then you don’t make the Champions League then what happens? The club starts going into the red.
Barely any Celtic fans want to see £20m spent on players. They want a competent, well run club. Not an old boys club where key appointments are made by mysterious internal recommendations. Think Tisdale and Wilfried Nancy.
They do want people appointed on ability. Not surnames such as Lawwell or Strachan.
Or a distant elderly golfer making the major decisions on a club that he can barely be bothered watching.
Jackson can push whatever causes and theories that he likes.
CELTIC FANS- COLLECTIVE STRENGTH
The creation of the Celtic Fans Collective and the plunging retail sales tell you the mood of fans.
Eight SPFL defeats in 33 matches plus cup final defeats to St Mirren and Aberdeen confirms how flimsy Celtic’s domestic domination is.
Some serious and damaging questions are heading towards the Celtic executives shaped by big Peter.
It will take more than calling in a few favours to dupe Celtic fans into believing that their club is close to competence.
Never mind the excellence preached by Lawwell and echoed by his army of grateful messengers.
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2 Comments
by Stevie Bhoy
Not every player signed will be a success but when you look at the amount spent on failed signings and on top of that the failure to reach Champions League proper due to these signings and the timing of the signings it’s rolling i to hundreds of millions.
This could have been avoided and been so much cheaper to replace quality with quality and have good replacements lined up in advance like a proper club. And Desmond likes to think of himself as an astute business?
by Valentine's day massacre
Inaction looks like he is on a ‘ bender ‘even at his work ! We know for sure that he and his pal wee Scotty like their lagers while working but the giveaway for Inaction is the ruddy complexion ..looking like Beetroot Bob after a serious session .
Do you think wee Scotty would ever be so kind about any Celtic matter ? Not that he would touch such a story with a fresh Geranium ? A proper dyed in the wool Mr theRangers in all of the SMSM …..