I mentioned briefly in my last article about the video most of us will have seen by now where Peter Lawwell was confronted by a group of fans outside The SMISA Stadium, either before or after yesterday’s 3-0 win against St Mirren. Since then there has been plenty of discussion amongst Celtic supporters regarding whether the abuse he received was warranted, with many fans believing it was, while others found the whole episode embarrassing.
I have to say when I watched it the first thing I did was cringe. I thought it was hugely embarrassing and shouldn’t be celebrated or laughed at by any Celtic fans.
Now I know many will disagree with me but I’ll tell you why I reacted like that. The first thing I thought when I saw it was that this reminds me of something you would see happening at theRangers.
Confronting the chairman of our club in public and calling him a rude insult is honestly like something we would add to our ‘banter years’ collection if it was happening across the city. You only have to quickly check any of their forums to see the glee that they have got out of that video. Their club is in the absolute doldrums yet a simple video like this has left them giddy at the thought of conflict between our fans and the men who run our club.
Now firstly I want to put out there that I’m no supporter of Peter Lawwell. In fact I actually don’t have a clear opinion on the man as I don’t know him. Most base their opinion on him on the fact that over the years he’s been the man with his hand on the tiller at Celtic Park and most of us fans have been frustrated that during that time Celtic have failed to speculate to accumulate.
“Calm Doon” 😂
Lawwell under pressure… pic.twitter.com/VNzsOdGyVK
— 🍔 Gastro Celtic 🍀 (@Gastro_Celtic) August 25, 2024
We have been the dominant club in Scotland but never really pushed the boat out to get to that next level and of course this has led to some bitterness between our fan base and the man we all believe is responsible for hoarding our money.
I have spoke in my previous articles about the fact that I think we are in a difficult position with regards to recruitment in the fact that we are a huge club with massive appeal but we are stuck in an unattractive league, whether we like it or not. Yes we have money to spend (and I still believe that we will) but we will never go gung-ho in pursuit of reaching that next level.
I believe the reason why is because although everything is unbelievably positive at the minute with regard to our finances, things can change quickly, especially due to the league we play in. We are no longer guaranteed direct entry after this season to the Champions League so that huge bounty every season isn’t guaranteed.
Then we have that basket case of a club across the city who seemingly bounce from one financial crisis to the next. I genuinely believe our club looks at them and feels like they could implode once again at any moment. Where then does that leave us? No matter what we think of them, most interest in our league revolves around the now extinct ‘Old Firm’ idea.
The rivalry between the two clubs is what brings eyes to our game outwith Scotland, and as we know from the last time, if they die once again it also hits us in the pocket, as hard as it is for us to admit.
Peter Lawwell, like him or loathe him, has been at the club for over twenty years and during that time we have absolutely dominated Scottish football. We have never had a period of success like it and for all we can moan about being miserly, we have done enough to continually hoover up an incredible amount of silverware over the years under his stewardship.
That video I saw yesterday just didn’t coincide with the reality of where our club is currently at. Again I will say it, yes we are all frustrated we haven’t done more business this summer but now isn’t the time to be unravelling over this. If this time next week we still haven’t brought anyone in I’ll be fuming myself but give the club time to do it’s business. We all know most of the action takes place in the last week.
As I touched on earlier, I feel like the reaction from those handful of fans yesterday just didn’t match where we are at the moment. It’s like something you would have seen had we lost our first three matches of the season. Instead we have won our first three league games convincingly and also progressed in the league cup. Our team looks to have come on leaps and bounds compared to how we looked this time last season. We have a Champions League draw to look forward to later this week. Why are we letting this transfer stuff bring a negative vibe around the club?
As I said, judge them come the weekend when the transfer window is slammed shut. Until then Keep The Faith and remember things could be a lot worse. Just look across the city for a prime example.
Conall McGinty
Totally agree with you on the h*n-like behaviour or some fans calling him an ar#ehole (even though he may well be one). However, imo the level of feeling is related to the lack of communication and engagement with fans. Had the club chosen to be the type of organisation that engages and communicates with the fans (as ‘a club like no other’ might) rather than as some big brother type organisation who see fans as a cash cow then perhaps fans would feel less of a need to seize any moment to confront the board.
Agreed
totally agree and its DD who controls the purse strings
Liked the way the big mouth suddenly shut up with a simple Calm Doon from the Alpha….
We don’t spend anything near what we can afford, come on get real, comparison with them is nonsense.
Agree. The faux outrage at own fans is laughable. Majority of fans are too mealy mouthed, always left to the hard core to do the talking for them. ‘Celts for Change’ group were perfect example.Same one’s who were against them, now shouting for statue for Fergus. They be waiting for GB to do the talking for them.
It’s not the way to do things although I understand fans anger at Lawwell – he could have been asked to explain and easily taken apart with a reasoned & reasonable response.
We know Lawwell is a control freak and his fingerprints are over everything that happens at the club. He undermined Brendan last time around; lost us good players (McGinn, Toney etc); and brought in last minute dross (Ajeti, Barkas etc) with his tightfisted antics.
It’s telling that when Lawwell was out of the picture during Ange’s time & Dominic McKay’s short tenure, we brought in quality players early & have continued to benefit from that period.
Things changed drastically for the worse when Lawwell’s son was ‘given’ the recruitment job. Now, Lawwell’s puppets, Nicholson & Chris McKay, followed by Lawwell himself, are in the positions of power & have done absolutely nothing so far.
Brendan has been banging on regularly about the need to strengthen the team & wants to do better in European competition, yet what have Lawwell & Co done to help him? Boasting about how much money is in the bank & selling off our top player certainly isn’t backing Brendan.
However, the last few days of the transfer window will certainly tell us whether Brendan is being backed or undermined yet again.
“hardcore” or what most people cal idiots.. Short memory . Fergus got dogs abuse from nearly all fans including “Celts for change”.because Celts for change was almost everyone..it wasn’t this select few like you want to remember it like.. Green brigade are bunch of young idiots with a few older that haven’t grown up yet.
History will show this board is not as daft as many think. Largest %, that complain about the board struggle to save up for one summer holiday a year, yet they are trying to tell “professionals” how to run a “business”. If there are good young prospects to buy, they will ( if it makes footballing & financial sense). We have a max transfer limit at moment of £25m .. few years ago, max transfer we could hope for was £10-12m. That’s not because we sold better players !! It’s because we have a more solid business model with money in the bank. The more we can raise the selling price the better quality youngsters we can try to attract. We can’t buy at £15m if max we in Scotland can sell for is £20m. That’s not how you run a business.
Absolutely spot on .. what a breath of fresh air reading this than all the largely ignorant and naive anti-Board ranting and abuse from some Celtic fans.The idea expressed from one here that Celtic are only now signing players because of the vile abuse Lawwell received yesterday only displays the aforementioned ignorance and naivety. The club, like any other well-run business, will have been well aware of what is needed to improve, and will choose the right time to act. Only the other week Rodgers congratulated the Board for managing to get Idah over the line after Norwich insisting for months that they didn’t want to sell! Fair criticism is fine but abuse of any person in our great club, high level or low, should never be tolerated and rightly condemned.
Even kris boyd not a great Celtic admirer of Celtic but he was right you spend £15 000,000 on one player his wages would ruin the camaraderie in the Celtic family so that’s a no go we are in the champions league and where spl coefficients we have pot four it’s be great for Celtic to even make third spot but to progress to the next round is nearly impossible we can compete with these teams till subs are brought in and like spl managers say Celtic are dar superior same as reams we are drawn against best in Europe where one player cost more than your squad spl teams get the sympathy but Celtic in champions league have to go out against incredible odds so some Celtic supporters need to get real and to start abusing our chairman you should be ashamed yourself we don’t need you plenty standing in the wings to take your season book I’ve seen people like you moaning at Celtic players from the kick off I hope you realise you were out of order abusing a pensioner well done to lawell for standing listening to supporters while the rest were getting out of the rain they were right you can’t reason with these people lawell been through so much is house attack by arson police never got who was responsible for that surprise
Cant blame a man for calling a spade a spade this is a man whos son who ran a golf shop ends up head of recruitment him and his like have been suckling on the tit of celtic far to long when he wasnt at the club the transfers went through quickly does anybody dissagree with that i think not there is more of that coming his way and rightly so
As a Celtic fan since the glory days of the 1960s I took an disgusted by the behaviour of these moronic so,-called fans and I thought exactly the same as you .. this is the typical behaviour of them across the city and surely we are different from them? I do part company with the term ‘didnt deserve’ the abuse from the idiots. No man or woman should have to put up with such abuse and therefore no person ‘deserves’ it or not. Frankly I think ‘supporters’ like those in the Green Brigade who constantly abuse and insult anybody who is part of the club and ignore it’s rules laid down by the Board should have been kicked out of Celtic Park and away games years ago.
Lawell has overseen our worst tranfers windows in the past 10 years. When he was out of the picture, Ange had our business done early and our squad settled. Lawell is back in the frame and our business is panic buying like before to appease the fans. 10million on Ajeti and Barkas leaves a big sour taste in my mouth when we could have signed McGinn and Toney for the same money. F*ck Peter Lawell
Maybe if we actually had a board that was transparent and had actual dialogue with the support, fans wouldn’t have to vent their frustration at PL. Lose the game next weekend and the board will see fan fury on a different level.
Lose one game against Rangers so early in the season and we will see “…fury on a different level”? JohnBhoy, just breathe. Honestly, there would be absolutely no need for that kind of emotion. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Doff your cap to the high head yins if want mate and he will keep swallowing up your cash.When
MON was in charge the board went totally back to square one after the Porto final.The board are visionaries when it comes to money but cowards when where football investment is required. By all mean watch celtic being the whipping buoys in Europe not for me as Fergus said they need a reality check.
If Lawwell is going to walk past the fans, the law of averages means it’s possible someone will pull him up. Personally, I wouldn’t have, for some of the reasons you outlined, but also because I wouldn’t want him to have an excuse to go back to the boardroom and say “We need to keep our distance from the fans now, for personal safety” etc. The situation happened; I would agree that the time for anger is when the window shuts. Equally, the disgruntlement, as some have mentioned is a microcosm of lack of fan engagement. Of course clubs don’t come out and confirm every rumour during the window but even a statement saying along the lines of – we know the problem areas and rest assured they are all being addressed – would at least give some assurance things are happening, rather than going into the final week with clearly even the manager saying we need to be better at getting players in sooner.
It does seem as if we are now getting cover at LB and adding to the midfield and possibly defence. We have a few days, here’s hoping we have a squad to take us that little bit further in the CL
Utter nonsense, of course he deserved it. Boasting of £100m (£125m now!) in the bank and yet again we are rushing about in the last week of the window and inevitably will not sign the required players as per usual. Funny how, when that slimy bas wasn’t around during Ange’s first windows, we got our business done in a quick manner that gave the new players time to bed in with the rest of the squad in time for the season starting, yet the moment Lawwell walked back in the door we were back to dragging our heels. We were told he would have no real power as the Chairman is a more symbolic role but that’s clearly a load of old baws. His behaviour is far more toxic than some pissed-off fan having a very deserved go at him. He needs to be called out publicly like this, hold his feet to the flames and maybe the heat will be too much and he’ll do one. We pray. There is absolutely zero justification for us being in this situation, he is entirely the architect of this reaction from the supporter and well, you reap what you sow. All expletives aimed in his direction are completely justified as far as I’m concerned.
You’re correct,
embarrassing and leave that kind of stuffed to the Orcs,I’m sure they’d be delighted in our position
But, one day later & we’re getting business done .. or at least hearing of more business/ action.
Sometimes the end justifies the means.
And this period of success is down to theRangers’ decline as much as it is our superiority.
Aye that’s right. Somebody has a pop at the Chairman before kick off and by 8pm that night a left back is flying in from Barcelona….give your head a wobble.
Peter Lawell knocked back Arsenal years ago and Gordon Strachan said it was because he was Celtic daft He could probably have earned more himself than Celtic have in the bank
For him to be treated in this way is terrible.
Peter Lawell has taken more money out of Celtic than anyone in the Club’s history, he was on £65,000 a week, 4 years ago, not bad for someone with no prior knowledge or experience of running a Football Club, and mostly up against a broken main rival. Celtic Football Club has been very good for Peter. Himself and Dermot control everything, the rest of the board are just nodding minions.
Maybe the so called , Fans who abused Peter Lawwell yesterday , would like us to be like the crowd down Govan way :—-Spending beyond our means , no Cash Reserves , having to sell before being able to buy , unable to afford to repair safety issues in their Stadium , having to dole-out cash to HIRE a stadium which is expenditure lost and never to be recovered .
Maybe these dissenters should talk to some Sevco fans who would give their ” Right arms ” to be in the position Celtic are in at the moment . Celtic have just been proclaimed as ” The best -run football club in Britain ,” and Celtic ‘s Share value has doubled in the last Financial Year ; so Peter Lawwell and his lieutenants must be doing something right . What do these , so called , Fans want ? Negotiations concerning players being bought or sold should rightfully be done within the Boardrooms of clubs or within the confines of legal offices .NOT on the internet nor the back pages of tabloids such as :- the Sun , Daily Record , Daily Express OR Daily Mail etc. whose “Hacks” make-up stories , at will , for the ” Brainless “to digest and believe to be the Gospel Truth .
A club like Celtic is a massive business where the performance of the team is of prime importance for the ongoing success of the business . That does not mean , however , that the Board should , to satisfy the opinion of certain fans , go out an buy players they cannot afford . Nor break the Wage Structure within the Club , causing disruption and dissent with the existing playing staff . Because if that is what these fans want ; that is exactly what Sevco have been doing for decades . Peter Lawwell and the rest of the Board , are Celtic fans exactly the same as the fans , who stood in the rain to verse their criticism of the Board members in Paisley , yesterday . The critical fans should also realise , that as well as being supporters , these Board members are major Shareholders who stand to lose more than their ” Season Tickets ” , should Celtic fail .
Also , these supporters should remember that Celtic and Irish Catholics have not had to search far for CRITCS , MORONS and BIGOTS who would take delight seeing Celtic supporters fighting among themselves . For these very reasons maybe the clowns who called Peter Lawwell & co. ” Ar**-H***s should look in the mirror to find one !!!!
Can’t believe the amount of board apologists/ lawell lovers on here. These guys are charlatans and parasites, all they do is take our hard earned money and bank it or give themselves huge bonuses for doing nothing but hold us back. We are keeping in front of the chasing pack here just enough to keep it interesting, and at the same time will become the whipping boys of whatever champions league group we end up in. . The fans are crying out for quality players and not more projects ( as is the manager ) to take us on in champions league or whatever European competition we end up competing in . Millions in the bank and won’t pay the money that quality players cost. All they want to do is rummage around the bargain bins of football and hope for a potential money maker for the big fat bank account. Quality on the pitch will push us on in Europe, anyone with a brain can see that, so that tells us all that they are not interested in competing in Europe and are happy to be top dog in this bigot run league were we are loathed by the powers that be . Any one calling our fans “hun like “ because they had the audacity to call him an a/hole obviously don’t want progress in Europe and are quite happy to watch some of the dross that have been put upon us . If only more fans would let him and his cronies know how the vast MAJORITY of fans are sick fed up of bean counters and accountants calling the shots at our club. We heard it last season when hearts beat us at Celtic Park, we need more of the same and not just when we are losing. The sooner the better the old men in grey suits are gone the better. COYBIG
Very polarising figure in some ways.
One one hand, you habe the squad investment side of things. I for one have commented on numerous occasions on the frustration felt about the glacial speed of enhancing the playing squad, and the reluctance to part with cash to do so, in the face of having significant cash reserves (prior to the Idah signing – let’s see if any rabbits out of hats appear this week). I think that perception is broadly felt across the majority of the fan base.
On the other hand, there’s the business aspect. The club are consistently shown to be on a strong footing with the annual financial results continually indicating that we are being managed in exemplary fashion, and shareholder confidence must be very high indeed.
The second of those points is great, and for a club our size it has to be said the bare minimum of expectations is for strong financial health given the financial backing, team success and od course fan investment. But as fans, we expect investment on the field, not least to take a step forward in Europe, and for that to happen, then the first point has to happen, and failure to act in those interests must bring fair criticism against the board and PL – I don’t think that’s unreasonable in the slightest. Verbally abusing the guy in the street doesn’t come across well, but maybe PL needa to reflect that this single act symbolises how far the gap has widened in the relationship between the club hierarchy and the fans.
He may not previously have cared if that were the case, but at least he now knows.
Maybe if we went totally revolutionary and had some fan input to the Board these scenes wouldn’t be necessary. The Celtic Board just have this reputation of having a huge gulf between them and ordinary fans who have supported the club for decades.
Peter Lawell has taken more money out of Celtic than anyone in the Club’s history, he was on £65,000 a week, 4 years ago, not bad for someone with no prior knowledge or experience of running a Football Club, and mostly up against a broken main rival. Celtic Football Club has been very good for Peter. Himself and Dermot control everything, the rest of the board are just nodding minions.