Both John Hartson and Chris Sutton have been confirming their previously stated views that there needs to be a managerial change at Celtic. Yesterday’s hardly surprising news that Peter Lawwell is to stand down as the Celtic CEO after 17 years in the job has been one of the worst kept secrets in this season when the tenth title could have been won.
That hardly looks likely so Lawwell won’t leave on the planned high of securing the Ten but he can still go having made a significant contribution to Celtic over his tenure in the top seat at Celtic Park.
Yesterday both the Celtic captain Scott Brown and the current manager Neil Lennon spoke at the Mainstream Media Conference – the fans media was once again completed excluded – and both men spoke with great affection and high regard for Peter Lawwell. They have been on the inside and have good reason to appreciate the retiring CEO at Celtic – Lawwell leaves on 30 June 2021 to be replaced by Dominic McKay from Scottish Rugby.
McKay won’t fancy himself as a de facto director of football – he’s from a Communications and Marketing background – so yo would imagine that there is going to be a change in structure at the way the football department is going to operate and of course a change in personnel.
Both Lennon and Brown may also decide it’s time to consider their own positions. Brown has to decide whether to hang up his boots and perhaps take a coaching role at the club while Lennon has to accept that in what is after all a results business he has come nowhere near the acceptable level this season and has to go.
Under the previous structure Lawwell appointed Lennon, hand-picked his coaching team and generally got involved in the football department to such as extent that many potential replacements for Lennon – such as the former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe – were unlikely to be willing to work under such a structure.
With McKay likely to appoint a Director of Football – and yesterday on The Celtic Star Niall J put forward a strong case for considering John Collins for that role – manager’s of a certain calibre are now much more likely to consider the Parkhead job.
Hartson, speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast, was clear in his views as he reviewed the Celtic season from hell and outlined the changes that he feels are now necessary after Lawwell’s decision to announce his retirement and he is advocating a significant clear-out.
“It’s not good enough in a season that started where they were expected to create history; unprecedented in terms of the success that they’ve had, 12 trophies in a row, the Quadruple Treble, which is incredible.
“How can this happen?” Hartson asked. “Somebody’s got to take accountability for this. And it’s not just the manager. That’s why I say I think it needs a clear-out because it’s just not been good enough, the standard’s not being good enough.
“The goalkeeper, you know, they paid £5million for Vasilis Barkas. That is a huge fee for a goalkeeper in Scottish football and to then realise that he’s not up to speed and he’s not at the standard. Of course, yes, it can happen. And it HAS happened.
“But in terms of getting the recruitment spot on, you can go on about the goalkeeper – but it’s happened all across the board, right the way up to the forwards this season.”
Other players too have to share the blame according to Big Bad John. “I’m thinking of Olivier Ntcham. I’m not sure about Kristoffer Ajer, I’m thinking about Shane Duffy going back (to Brighton).
“I’m thinking about Odsonne Edouard and maybe they have to try to offload Albian Ajeti because how many goals has he got? He’s not somebody that the fans are excited to see coming back into the team. And there are probably two or three more.
“I think Edouard was desperate to go. Last summer, I think they sold him the dream in terms of trying to stay for Ten-in-a-Row. That hasn’t quite worked out.
“At the start of the season, you’re probably looking at £25-30million for him. I don’t think that would have dropped too much. All the teams now in England have got money. West Ham have got £30million to pay for a striker. Southampton have got it. West Brom have got it; not just the top four or five clubs now.
“Your Arsenals, Liverpools, Citys, Uniteds, Chelseas. They are not the only ones with money now because of the TV money and everything else. So I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the lower-end teams goes and pays £25-30million for him.”
Meanwhile Chris Sutton, another former teammate of the current Celtic manager, writing in his newspaper column in Daily Record today is equally as forthright in his opinions on what is required now at his old club.
“There had been plenty of talk about Peter Lawwell calling it a day this summer, even before the wheels came off this season. But the events of the past few months shouldn’t detract from the overall job he’s done at Celtic,” Sutton argued.
“The reaction from a section of the support has been ridiculous. This season has clouded all opinions, but Lawwell has earned the right to leave with his head held high. He also has to clean up some of the mess on the way out, though,” Sutton stated.
“Listen, it’s no secret I’ve not always seen eye to eye with Lawwell. I was less than pleased with the way things ended for me at Celtic and there’s certainly been no love lost over the years I have been doing this column.
“I certainly can’t be accused of being some Lawwell cheerleader, that’s for sure,” Sutton pointed out, meanings that there’s no sharp suited man crush comments from the former Celtic goalscorer. “That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what he has done for Celtic over his 17 years at the helm.
“The statistics speak for themselves. Celtic have won 29 trophies in his period as chief executive. They have dominated Scottish football more than any other side in history. There’s been successes in Europe, even if maybe not enough of them.
“Lawwell steered the club through the collapse of Setanta and the credit crunch while rivals Rangers went down the tubes across the city. The Ibrox crisis could have had a more serious knock-on effect at Parkhead as we all know how much the two clubs rely and feed off the rivalry financially.
“Lawwell led the club through that period and, through clever planning and scouting, managed to post profits while putting winning teams on the pitch.”
“He hasn’t got it right all of the time. Even before this season I have constantly voiced concerns about the lack of forward planning in the January and summer transfer windows. Too often Celtic have gone in to Champions League qualifying campaigns missing key additions who have either arrived too late or not at all.
“It’s not just me who said it, either. It drove Brendan Rodgers crazy, as well.
“There was the Ronny Delia experiment, the failing to capitalise fully on the Champions League in the last nine years and that’s before we even get to the mess of this current campaign. This year has been allowed to drift out of control. The signings made in the summer came too late and were not good enough.
“A review of the management team was promised when Celtic were 13 points behind (the)Rangers in the title race with games in hand back in December and now the gap is even wider, we are still none the wiser about what is being done about it.
“All we know is the long-term plan no longer will concern Lawwell. And that’s what I mean by tidying up the mess on his way out. He has to deal with the managerial situation. Dominic McKay can’t come in and the first thing he has to do is make a call on Neil Lennon.
“I’m sure Lawwell would have fancied finishing at the end of this season regardless, but in his head he would have pictured signing off after the massive high of winning Ten-in-a-Row. He won’t get his fairytale ending, but in time Lawwell’s legacy should remain intact.”
