SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

My article on Monday morning was aimed at being neither negative nor unduly optimistic. As has most of my correspondence under the new regime at managerial and CEO level. They retain my full support,and my fervent wish is for a clearing of the stables in the boardroom at the next AGM.

I would be delighted of course if we also cleared up the residue of Res 12,admitted our own culpability and promised a more open approach to governance in future. Personally,I think that is inevitable-but is still a long way down the line.

What really piqued my interest though was a comment from GER57,who,like me would have been called a malcontent in days of yore,but is a very genuine guy with his heart on his sleeve. And not just as regards Celtic,as some of us have been lucky enough to discover by meeting him on occasion.

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It’s been a weird close season. The Euros, golf and the TdF have all been a great watch, esp with lockdown etc.

Celtic, however, is my main sporting and cultural interest, and I gotta say, I have no expectation of success this season. I’m not too worried about the friendly results, or even the style of play because it’s all about fitness and game time in the players’ legs just now. 

We have no idea what our top eleven will look like in a month’s time, and we’ll be lucky to see 2nd tier European football after then. I can’t get that we are fully expecting to lose to the 2nd or 3rd team in DENMARK.

Have the team’s prospects been any worse in living memory? Thanks, Peter. Your’s is a terrible legacy.

If my passion was golf, I’d pay my subs and play, meet the pals, and enjoy the craic. I wouldn’t be worried about industrial scale cheating, or the governing body being in the pocket of one player.

Fitba’ is a cesspit of venality and corruption, aided in Scotland by the governing bodies whose decision making processes belong in the 19th century, with attitudes formed in the 17th.

Fans are regarded as suckers. Customers who will pay more than the going rate because they have an emotional tie, yet they are not trusted to even be consulted regarding club affairs. Geez yer dosh. We’re special. We have a bond between club and fans. But don’t dare ask any awkward questions. A new breed of supporter, entitled, unreasonable etc etc.

The PLC structure makes the board behave as it does. They deem it essential to be part of the Old Firm for business reasons. Had we played hardball in 2011/12, and forced them under, we would have had wider competition and less bitterness in our game. But our bean counter only had eyes for £10m pa.

Whither now? I’m still a Celtic fan, and I’ll be going to games asap. I want to see changes, but I see no way of forcing the current board to make them. It needs someone who shares my views to win the Euromillions in order to buy out the major shareholders. Not happening.

We can really only hope that Ange is able to mould a decent team capable of challenging for the league. What really hurts is that the Huns are no great shakes at all. They are organised and hard to beat but we should be able to deploy our superior resources to overtake them. 

In Ange we trust.

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It’s a hard-hitting critique of where we are,and why. From a fan of sixty years standing-or sitting,as the case may be. That we can no longer trust our board to represent us,or even to achieve our ambitions on the pitch.

Yes,enough will pony up the dosh for the season tickets,the superstores and affiliates will do a roaring trade,we might even sell the pies-though not to me,that’s for sure. But if we have a genuine worldwide diaspora in the region of 10m,if we have a Scottish base of roughly a million,should we really be happy about selling out the season tickets every year?

Well,how else would you measure demand? Success is success,a full house is just that. We cannot improve on it.

My thoughts are that the club is to be congratulated on the sales,as are the fans. As you all know,I would buy a ticket if I still lived back home. But my concern is that little is done to find out why people decline to renew-and I very much doubt that everyone who has declined to renew posts on here!

Ballpark guess would be around 15% or 7k refusals. Celtic FC and Celtic Plc cannot continue to have such a bleed,they need to investigate and recognise the reasons,and they need to act on them. GER57 referenced a few,and I added a couple into the mix myself.

The club cannot hide behind some numbers while ignoring others which are at least as important.

It is the equivalent of a risk assessment in the workplace. Just because there hasn’t been a disaster is no reason to ignore the obvious hazard,it needs to be dealt with.

GER57 trusts in AP,as do I. We both have faith in Dom.

It’s the other basterts that petrify us.

Above article by BMCUWP