Sunday 30 October 2011

Is commitment,passion & organisation too much to ask for?

Bad performances from good teams do happen in football. Games which you can easily recognise as being one off events! Celtic’s bad performances though, are now more of the norm, rather than being of the one-off variety. St Johnstone, Rangers, Hearts, Kilmarnock were big lights going off in our heads, with Europe getting in the way of the main event, that big prize, the SPLtitle. Win that and we grow from there.

But when a collective squad rotated through some baffling team selections & injuries continue to throw up some very disorganized, disjointed, inept & heartless performances, then it is clear be are going backwards from last season. If we won every single game from now until the end of the season, then our points total would not be far off what we collected last season. That won’t happen of course!

Despite the above point dropping exercises, with renewed fight we lived in hope that somehow we could claw it back and make a fight of it. Unfortunately reality tells you it's not there. Too many disappointments which are now of a recurring theme! If we wish to be entirely realistic, it’s not there even from a standing start. We are now embarrassingly trailing 12 points behind a Rangers outfit held together by next to nothing, then, we have Motherwell who we cannot get beyond going into November!

Collectively, whatever team takes the pitch, the real failing is that when it matters, this squad have neither the character, leadership, or crucially important, a sense of what winning the game for Celtic is all about. Some are very much misfits, some have big attitudes way beyond their capabilities & others don't deserve to be at a Club like Celtic in the first place.

From the major (missing) shareholder - his lack of contact, leadership and interest is appalling. For years now he’s not interested in facing up to the fans at a once-a-year AGM. To a bonus driven Chief Executive, to our management team & to our players, you have let the support down massively. If every one of the above can look themselves in the mirror and think that what they are doing at the Club is taking Celtic in the right direction, then they are simply kidding themselves on.

I have never wanted a manager in my life to succeed at Celtic more than Neil Lennon. His life has been massively disrupted simply because he is the Celtic manager. I have no clue as to who in football would cope or put up with what he has experienced. Celtic though, are our bigger picture here and I don’t know where Neil goes from here with the current Celtic squad!

Then we have Celtic PLC, who seem so obsessed with balance sheets & bonuses, deferred or otherwise. Where is the investment, where is their plan, and when are the people who run this culture, (because that’s what we are) going to do something about matching the unbelievable commitment the support have shown? Well, right now, they are not, and they are failing us! Forget Rangers, the running of our Club & team is in a shambolic state, nobody is buying excuses anymore. As a support, together we are stronger & we deserve better respect. HH

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Lennon has exposed the Brown situation & we don't need the player's attitude!

After 4 months of negotiation with Scott Brown’s contract, Neil Lennon has sounds somewhat frustrated being diplomatic when stating. “Until they (Scott & his agent) adapt a different approach it’s stalemate.” Are we missing something here? Because being made clear that Celtic are expected to pick up the agents fee? So Scott doesn’t pay his agent for getting him a new deal? But Celtic have to sign another cheque, and until we do then he isn’t for signing the new deal! Are we some kind of soft touch here? It’s ludicrous to say the least. Neil added... “I haven’t had the chance to speak to Scott because he’s been in London”. Okay, I suppose when you’re being paid £21,000 per week (over 5 years works out at £5.040m, with transfer fee at £4.25m = Celtic outlay now £9.29m)  but are out injured then your Club Captain can go to London for whatever, pick up your wages while the fight goes on up here to claw back League points, and dictate to Celtic that before you will sign a new contract, then you’ll need to square up my agent first! Really? What part of get-a-life does Scott and his agent not understand? Celtic are sounding more like a charity organisation by the day instead of demanding & expecting more commitment & desire from their player & captain. What an example! What is going on in that building? Move on Celtic, this affair is leaving a very bad taste in many supporters’ mouths with regards to a Captain who hasn’t convinced a great deal over 4 years,  who bought some time & favour with his gesture to Diouf last year. Celtic first at all times. Selfish demands from non-convincing invalids are not on!

Saturday 22 October 2011

That’s the last AGM I’ll be attending!

Going along to our recent AGM I asked myself, why, as a Celtic shareholder I hadn’t attended one for about 7 years? The answer came back to me in a flash, because no matter what the attendees say or do, nothing ever changes and after it you realise you are taking a day of your work for your point to be swatted away as if we were some kind of pesky troublesome flies.
I attended AGM’s in the early 90’s when the old board were in charge, on the proxy vote of people who were then labelled as ‘Rebels’. The average Celtic fan prior to 1994 had no opportunity to buy shares, unless, and I kid you not, the Kelly or the White’s gave you some for your Christmas, yes that did happen!  A ‘Rebel’ was simply a Celtic fan who was prepared to stand up and seriously question the old board’s financial scavenging & mismanagement of Celtic.
The old board ran Celtic into a financial mess with no means of paying off the debt, with astonishingly none of the directors having any personal liability to that debt. Inturn leaving Celtic FC wide open to anyone, friend or foe, coming in and doing what they wished, good or bad!  People either love or hate Fergus McCann but he was the guy that saved Celtic Football Club of that there is no doubt. There was lots of talk, but he was the doer! The cheque needed signed, and when others coughed and looked around the room, he stepped forward with his pen! Thousands of fans also played their part, as did some Celtic businessmen, but he produced the dosh!
On one occasion at the AGM’s of the early 90’s, Celtic’s head honcho of security, one George Douglas asked me to leave the AGM before it had even started either that or the Police would be called. The board viewed me as a ‘Rebel’ upstart and clearly didn’t want me to attend. I left the room, the meeting was held up, and I scurried around in the inner sanctum of Celtic Park looking for the ‘Rebel’ who originally gave me permission to use his proxy. I needed his clarification as to my legal attendance. As I thought, Celtic’s Chief of Security had no clue to the right & wrongs of my attendance & I was re-admitted to the AGM.
In those days the AGM’s were bun fight, lots of energy, lots of passion, lots of emotion. Celtic emotion! Today they are sanitised affairs with carefully asked questions produced to the audience on a non-live video link affair. Questions thought up from within the Club on what they think fans concerns are and put to John Reid in the cosiest friendly environment possible.
Votes are cast on every motion the AGM has laid out and they flew through with over 99% on a yes pass. At the most recent one myself and @pmacgiollabhain were sat in the front row when the re-election of Peter Lawwell came up. It came to a vote in the room and Phil & I raised our hands against his re-election. I looked backwards towards the 1,000 or so attending and in my immediate vicinity didn’t see a single hand raised on the no vote. We were at the very front, but not having sight of the entire room, I’ve been told there were other hands raised nearer the back. Point being that vote was carried easily on a 99% yes category.
In voting against Peter it was nothing personal at all. I don’t even know the man on that level. It was simply for the reasons that I didn’t think his day to day running of the Club was correct. In the manner in which transfers were being conducted, the level of player being brought to Celtic, my information in the undermining of the football department in the way certain players were being brought into Celtic, along with the fact Mr Lawwell received huge bonuses when the trophy room didn’t have a single domestic trophy in it. The Scottish Cup is there yes, but if it wasn’t then huge bonuses were still being paid out.
Dermot Desmond couldn’t be bothered to turn up. And yes the Club’s major shareholder has also been absent in recent years as well. Was it too much of an irrelevant scene for him to attend? A guy unknown to the Celtic support at large was sent in his absence. Now we’re talking irrelevant. If he uttered a syllable I didn’t hear it. John Reid though did gaffe at least twice when he described Dermot as the ‘owner’ (obviously that’s ingrained in his mind) only to very quickly say “Er, er, I mean major shareholder” Unfortunately after JR corrected himself he called Dermot the ‘owner’ again!
Cringingly and not having to sanctify himself, because like or dislike Reid he is a Celtic fan. He said “I use to walk to Celtic Park from Carntyne” Cringy bit coming up here, adding “If Sam McGuinness is in the room today then he is my witness” That was very unnecessary and delivered in embarrassing fashion!
Question time arrived with around 15 minutes of time being allowed for questions. I made it to the mike in time before they said, that’s enough people, and put my question to Peter Lawwell sat directly in front of the front microphone. I got 2 questions in and my 2nd was that I had knowledge of Dermot Desmond standing an overdraft guarantee of around £20m in 2000, which allowed Celtic to borrow at the bank, (when we had just lost the league the season previous by 21 points to Rangers), which enabled the appointment of Martin O’Neill, the signing of Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Neil Lennon & Alan Thompson & others. Continuing, I said that Dermot was paid back via the share issue of 2005, I asked why with Dermot being the major shareholder with a personal fortune of £1.4b, why we couldn’t perhaps arrange a ‘soft’ loan with him in order to help the manager buy in a few better quality players.
The meaning of a ‘soft’ loan is when the interest on the amount borrowed is very low and the terms of repayment is of a considerable time. I stated that if that information was incorrect then say now in front of all in the room. John Reid said something along the lines that he would speak to Peter about that and get back on my question. Still waiting 9 days later & really do not expect any kind of answer at all. A very neat body swerve from JR!
There are 29,000 individual shareholders in Celtic PLC but less than 2000 from the 29,000 cast their vote! The PLC board will be very happy that attendances at AGM’s only amount to around 1,000 from the 29,000 attending, because it makes this one day of the year less excruciating for them!     
Apathy in attendance is what they want. My view from now on is they can have it. Present day AGM’s are so insulting stage managed I’m not for being force-fed their no answer agenda any longer. The rather strange thing though is if apathy ruled in total, then the entire board suited up & looking very crisply shirted would infact be sitting there staring at no one! That way we would be insulting them back by not bothering to attend to listen to them push everything through they want on their command at plus 99%. Not going then? Fine, I’ll just be taking a lead from the majority shareholder!                
    


Saturday 15 October 2011

This 3-3 draw was a sticking plaster over a seeping wound!


While the 3-3 draw was better than nothing, I feel it only temporary covers a much bigger problem which is obviously within the dressing room between Neil & his players. There is no togetherness, there is no desire, there are plenty of attitudes (the wrong ones) & despite that fightback today, we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought that team had the desired fight required.
Forgetting any board influences or lack of it for the minute, several Celtic teams put out this season are frankly a disgrace. St Johnstone, Rangers, Hearts & now Kilmarnock are not flukes, they are trends! Although you hear bits and pieces of what is going on behind the scenes, nobody for sure knows what is going on in that dressing room/ training ground. Clearly there is a problem!
After every bad result this season we have the usual huffing & puffing about how the next game will be different, the players know what they have to address, players wanting to play elesewhere in the Champions League (aye but are they up to it?)others not signing much improved contracts put in front of them, plus Neil in his own words, saying he'll have to consider his position if this continues. As for the player chat it's becoming tiresome, infact it is tiresome!
When Stokes missed the sitter early on today, a shivering thought ran through my head, that if this goes against us today, that miss could have been the nail that finishes Neil off. Infact the very same player pulled it out the fire for his gaffer!
Despite this late draw, today was a shambolic embarrassment and I doubt whatever way the parting would have been dressed up, Neil wouldn’t have survived a 3-0 defeat to a cobbled bunch of free transfer players.
Attitudes on the park are now showing up. Kayal has looked like Celtic’s Tevez, now he's signed a new improved contract after 4 months of stalling! I feel a clause has been inserted in that one allowing him to leave if a certain fee is offered as he eyes his future elewhere 
Ki said recently he might fancy a move soon, fine, as the battle if here in a Celtic shirt, so what’s keeping you? Ki can be invisible not only in big games, but also on many occasions in games like today. When the chips are down where is his presence? Bangura looks like an increasingly dodgy signing. Wanyama might make it given time & Forster is a bag of nerves and not a Celtic keeper, Majstorovic is eh, 6 feet plus of uncertainty! El Kaddouri is a poor stop gap & there are many others! Joe Ledley has to consider standing up more and stop vanishing. Scott Brown is free to sign for anyone in 10 weeks and has been talking about a new contract for 3 months now. So clearly a problem there! For me he is a hazard and how many people have you heard say, “If only we had Scott fit......” Not many. With or without him we are rudderless on the pitch. Brown’s absence makes no difference either way!
Neil looks like a man carrying a huge load & perhaps all the horrors he put up with last season are now taking their toll on him. Throw in all the politics and the undermining of him behind the scenes, then you have to wonder if it has all caught up with him and is all too much now! A Club Legend he will always be no matter how this all turns out, hopefully in Neil's favour! 
In an overall sense his players do not seem to be playing for him and therein lays a serious problem which is continually fermenting! Unity is strength, and this season from more or less the same side as last year, we don’t have that. The other half of that saying is, divide & conquer! And that’s what seems to be going on. 11 points dropped in 10 games. Work out the maths if this carries on for much longer!


  


Sunday 2 October 2011

Some reasons why I think Neil could possibly come to a mutual agreement with Celtic!

Today’s defeat at Tynecastle wasn’t just another defeat because of poor form or because we had 10 men. Our problems are much deeper. Is it the manager? Is it Peter Lawwell? Or is it the board’s fault? Let’s go back a little to have a closer look. The main reason Martin O’Neill left Celtic was due to his wife’s serious illness. He was also told about the massive cut in spending and believe me or choose not to, if you have more info as to what went on, but Martin O’Neill will never return to Celtic while Peter Lawwell is in charge.  Peter Lawwell survived!
Gordon Strachan came in and took the job on a much reduced budget and did remarkably well winning three titles in a row, the last sixteen in Europe twice. Didn’t get backed in his last transfer window, lost the league and left by ‘mutual consent’ in his last year. Took his pay-off and a ‘no talk about what when on’ clause and never said a bad word about the Club since! Peter Lawwell survived!
Tony Mowbray came in after relegating West Brom, and also after Owen Coyle knocked the job back specifically when he was told the budget he was on. We also paid a £2.4m buy-out clause to get him and half of that amount to get rid of him! Who appointed him? Peter Lawwell survived!
In came Neil after a trial period, and after much Lawwell/Desmond deliberation Lenny got the job. The rest of the board do what they’re told after PL & DD make up their mind. Fact! I know Lawwell sat Graham Speirs down for his opinion on the possible appointment & he also phoned John Hartson on the same and did so with other football professionals. Word leaked on what Speirs had said to Lawwell & an angry exchange followed between Speirs and Lennon.  Giving Neil the job was a huge risk, BUT, if this sticking plaster approach to the problem did come off then Neil had saved much ineptness caused previously by his masters from above! Neil signed some players last season & John Park, the overseas chief scout, recommended some others! This season the only player for sure that Neil definitely wanted was Kelvin Wilson (yes I know, but let’s not lose track for the minute) He wanted a better goalkeeper and didn’t get him! He wanted a better right back and didn’t get him! He wanted another centre forward and didn’t get him. He wanted another centre half and didn’t get him. He got and signed what he could with the money made available to him. Some are not Celtic class and Lennon knows this.

Lennon has made some crucial mistakes and he knows it. He will never get the team he wants or the fans deserve under Peter Lawwell, and in my opinion, if Neil feels he is being made the fall guy because of their lack of ambition, then at some point he will come to an arrangement most likely dressed up as being of 'mutual consent' when his tipping point finally tips. He looks haunted, and doesn't seem to have the verve he had last season. Is this because he has become disillusioned with lack of ambition at board level? The very same reason Steve McLaren parted company recently with Nottingham Forest? I also believe he thinks this financially fiscal situation will be never ending for such a big Club. Importantly, he doesn't deserve to be slaughtered by fans and he will NOT take being booed. He is a Club Legend and must remain so! Question is, whether it’s Neil doing the job or anyone else under such conditions - who will take the job and do the job WE require with the budget on offer? And before anyone says it, the Celtic teams who took the pitch against St Johnstone, Rangers & Hearts should have been good enough to have beaten them. The sticking plaster is not working.  Neil, it's your call to do what is best for yourself here if you feel you aren't being backed. If so and Peter Lawwell survives a fourth manager what will he come up with now as a fourth remedy? The mess is the same but the balance sheet looks pretty! Hail Hail!