By now, many Celtic fans will have read or heard the softly-planted suggestion from a board-friendly outlet that the club’s manager is at fault for any perceived overpayment for a certain signing last summer…
Celtic Park. 17 May 2025.. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
The implication is that he left his decision late, thereby weakening Celtic’s bargaining position.
The real question we should be asking isn’t why the manager waited – if he did at all – but
why Celtic continue to operate with a football model that places such a critical negotiation burden on him in the first place.
Let’s rewind.
If a player is finally signed after weeks of deliberation, it’s rarely a reflection of indecisiveness. More often, it’s a reflection of substandard alternatives being pushed by the recruitment department.
Perhaps the manager waited because every name that came across his desk simply wasn’t good enough. And in that context, the question is not about delay, but about the quality of scouting and decision-making that preceded the final choice.
Callum McGregor and Brendan Rodgers celebrate the league win. Celtic v St Mirren, Scottish Premiership, 17 May 2025 Photo Robert Perry/Shutterstock
A modern football club shouldn’t be depending on a manager to act as the final decision-maker on every transfer. The best models in football empower the manager, yes, but they don’t
burden him.
Celtic’s continued reliance on an outdated, opaque system of deal-making leaves little room for modern efficiency or accountability. And when things go wrong, the instinct is to look for someone to blame — anyone but the dealmakers.
So let’s be very clear: the responsibility for transfer fees, timing, and structuring of deals lies not with the manager, but with the club’s executive apparatus — the Director of Football (oops, don’t have one), the Head of Recruitment (does a Head of Football
Operations on a consultancy basis count?) and ultimately, the CEO and the board (Sigh).
These are the people tasked with having clear targets, structured negotiations, and contingency plans (what have I told you about giggling at the back?).
Celtic v Kilmarnock – Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell and CEO Michael Nicholson during the cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park on Saturday February 17, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan
If a deal drags on or gets inflated in cost, it’s their model that has failed — not the manager’s judgment.
And Celtic fans know this. They can see when a story is planted.
When a piece like this appears online, subtly suggesting it’s all down to the gaffer, the response is usually scepticism – and rightly so.
It reeks of deflection, of narrative control.
Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay watch on during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final match between Celtic and Hibernian at Celtic Park on March 09, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
But no amount of spin can disguise the reality that Celtic’s issues in the transfer market stem not from the dugout, but from the boardroom.
And if the same pattern is emerging this summer — if the implication is once again that the manager is delaying the signing of suitable players — then it’s time to modernise your football and hierarchical structures.
Football has moved on. Celtic must too.
Niall J
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Can you point us to where those comments are, would much appreciate it thanks.
Heard it talked about in several places today…
Follow the link Frank https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/perfect-knowledge-merchants-in-the-transfer-window/
Isn’t this the same shit he pulled before ,then did a moonlight down south ,strange that Ange came in and got all his players on time one after another ,yet this elite arsehole hasn’t ,,,,maybe as usual in his 2nd season he’s getting found out again and wants to bail
The weans are leaving in droves ,,,so much for elite manager hasn’t in all these years brought any youths through the ranks , has never bought a player and sold him on for a huge profit ,never improved a single player in the team ,,,,and yet we still get this in brendan we trust pish from the happy clappers ,,,,,aye the boards are cunts but this waster isn’t far behind for fkn off and fkn things up , would love to know who he’s actually identified as a player to improve us ,,,,who are his picks ,,,, cos so fgar his only confirmed pick was sclupp ,,,, says it all really
As we can see from green hun Kelly, anyone who thinks all Celtic fans have intelligence then the above clown confirms its not the case.
The comments came from Lord Haw Haw himself, Paul Brennan. For anyone who has been unfortunate to meet the wanker, he is as much a weirdo in real life as he is on his daily blog.
That all you’ve got ,,,insults
yeah says a lot about you
dribblewit
I think you’re being sucked right in like a fly into a brand new Dyson!
If it’s Idah we are talking about, we should have put an option to but for 3m in his loan deal. Then Norwich demanded more for the player and Celtic tried to lowball and got royally shafted. That is again the fault of the board. Not the manager.
The board haven’t any ambition above counting all the lovely money nothing else , Brendan is an inconvenience he is ambitious and talented and will be off soon that’s very clear, they will be happy about that but it makes winning the league more difficult than it should have been and that’s their fault
There must be some agreement between the Manager, Recruitment Team, and Board. When any part of that fails and you could end up over paying or worse buying a player that the manager knows nothing about like Schved when Brendan was here the first time.
We’ve had these issues for years since Lennon was manager the first time, Daihla, Brendan first time, Lennon again, Ange, and Brendan the second time. That’s SIX managers that have experienced the same problems, so were they all to blame while the Board were forced to wait. Personally, I tend to look for the common denominator.: the managers and recruitment department have changed yet the Board remains the same.
We make signing players look like splitting the atom.
The majority of us know well that Lawwell has always fed the press with stories to suit himself – remember when he appointed his son as Head of Recruitment and the mugs never checked the ridiculous claim that he’d held the same position within the City Group of which Man City, amongst others, were part.
Lawwell lost us McGinn and Toney, etc with his arrogant meddling and dithering – his interference in everything was, in large part, to blame for Rodgers jumping ship last time. He can’t help himself and it’s looking very like he’s still at it … only really interested in the bank balance and his bonuses which are now, of course, hidden within the term ‘Compensation’.
So by implication the board are publicly dinging BR under the bus then??
This whole ‘the board like counting money’ crap makes no sense, it’s not like they take any monies left over for themselves m, they’ll have financial KOI’s sure but success and growth are the priorities I’d assume!
Our transfer policy has worked and been fruitful over the years but it is very frustarting, rough with the smooth I suppose🙄
Couple of marquee signings and the vast majority will be happy and I include myself in that!
You have to face facts bhoys. Idah could not get into the Norwich team. Rodgers wants the Irish job in the future. It looks good for him to want Idah. Idah is not good enough for a top team in Europe that Celtic want to be. Face up to it, this new bhoy Shin is a much better player than Idah who Rodgers sanctioned 9 million for. He is worth maybe one and a half. The board got this one rightand Rodgers got it wrong. He is not the top manager many people say he is. Very average to be honest. He cocked up big time he last left and will cock up big time here if we let him. Best if he went his arrogant way and did not come back.
Sack the Board . They’ve been in position for far too long. They’ve got stale and the results of their inability to move with the times we’re evident in that second half thrashing from Ajax.
I’ve got a horrible feeling about the St Mirren game on Sunday. Robinson knows how to set his big physical side up to cause us problems. Hope I’m wrong.
HH