It is not fashionable for Celtic fans to show any sort of liking for Peter Lawwell these days, but I have always felt that a more balanced and compassionate assessment of this man’s contribution to the club over the past 17 years well show just how much Celtic are indebted to him.
On the asset side, since 2004 (and not including 2004 itself) by my reckoning, there have been 11 Scottish League titles out of 17, 8 Scottish Cups and 7 Scottish League Cups. It would be difficult to find in Celtic history such a period of sustained success over such a long time. The club is financially in a good position. Unlike other institutions in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Celtic did not go bust at any point, the ground has been well maintained and our inability to go there in recent months is a subject of much nostalgia and pain.
Great services have been rendered, in the tradition of the club, to many deserving charitable institutions, and it has been a pleasure and an honour to be a Celtic supporter. There have been great players and great performances. A quadruple treble must surely excite some admiration from even the most depressed and grudging of supporters. It certainly excites admiration and even jealousy elsewhere.
The two debits are the repeated inability to make any impact on Europe, and the recent debacle over Dubai which just seems to sum up this horrible season. To his credit, Peter Lawwell has admitted that Dubai was a mistake, but it has happened, we suffered for it, and we have now to move on. We all know that the Scottish League has long gone for this year, but there remains the Scottish Cup. It would be nice to win it five years in a row and twice in the one season! It would be a fine departing present for Mr Lawwell.
He has always been polite and gracious, not afraid to face supporters and he is clearly one of us. The sad events of this year will have affected him just as much as they have affected us, but I think he can look back on his years with the club with a great deal more happiness than angst.
In the meantime let’s all get behind the club and the players and win that Scottish Cup. Summer will change things, we all know that, although in what direction we can only guess. I want to see 5 Scottish Cups in a row, so, for the rest of the season, I am backing Lawwell and Lennon. Are you?
David Potter
COMMENT:
Dear friends in Celtic,
David writes with his usual measured tones & thoughtful analysis. I agree wholeheartedly with his sentiments expressed.
For most of my 70+ years I’ve been anti-capitalist & will be so till death. Doubtless PL believes in the capitalist system as did Fergus.
The realpolitik in me would rather have these two on board (no pun!) than certain other specimens we could name.
Hail! Hail!
Auld Chris
Are you just a Lawwell puppet? How can you possibly say that he met with supporters. No he didn’t and in fact treated us with contempt and disdain as have all his Tory pals on the board. You are most definitely in a deluded minority. I just wish both Lawwell and Lennon were leaving today. I will leave you to go back to your parallel world where everything is always good. I will continue to live in reality where Celtic are currently a laughing stock thanks to your 2 heroes