“As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure,” Michael Nicholson

Michael Nicholson  then has his own ‘statement’ within Celtic’s cash-rich accounts.  After making the women’s team update sound much less of a shambles than it actually was the Celtic CEO turns his attention to the recent Champions League play-off debacle against Kairat, the lowest rated team (by a long way) in the play-offs, with the standout sentence being this:

“As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective  and commit to improving going forward,” Michael Nicholson 

‘Our objective each year is to compete in the Champions League. Unfortunately this season, we suffered a loss on penalties in the tie against Kairat Almaty, which resulted in Europa League entry instead. As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward. We now look ahead to our Europa League fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.’

The Celtic CEO continues by noting the Board’s ‘core objectives’ are ‘competing in the Champions League and ‘a successful player trading model’.  Nicholson admits ‘This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our objectives in the transfer window,’ but doesn’t acknowledge his own responsibility for the Champions League failings.

‘Aligned to our core objective of competing in the Champions League is successful player trading. Last year, we invested record sums between transfer fees and first team player wages. This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our objectives in the transfer window. We share and understand our supporters’ disappointment and frustration, and we will continue to seek to review and improve our strategy and execution as the market continues to evolve.’

The CEO then talks about the improvements to Lennoxtown the new training facility for the women’s team and youth players at Barrowfield which ‘coincidentally’ officially opened yesterday. After talking about various commercial deals and things like the new app for supporters Michael Nicholson rounds off with a message to the Celtic supporters.

‘Reflecting on an incredibly busy year, I would like to thank all of my colleagues who work tirelessly for the best for Celtic. As we look to the season ahead together with optimism, we have started off the domestic season well. We must and will strive not only for success, but also to continuously improve our Club both on and off the pitch.

‘I will close by thanking our supporters for their continued and relentless support of Celtic. It is never taken for granted. Supporters underpin everything we do and seek to achieve at Celtic.’

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