Solutions
FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
We supporters see Celtic as a football club not a balance sheet, and all we want is the club to hire the best available at that time in all departments.
Going forward your first remit should be a Director of Football, who will have full control over what happens on the football side, they should have vision and always be prepared for change, and open to innovation in the modern football world.
Secondly remit will be for the DOF to recruit a first team manager who has the quality and experience of O’Neill, Strachan and Rodgers, no more projects to save money are acceptable for a club the size of ours.
Equally important is the support network, this is inclusive of youth system, scouting, analytics, medical facilities, fitness and diet. This has to be a separate internal department, therefore it will not be affected by managers coming and going. That will mean it will be able to maintain a constant professional standard, and in the first instance a option could be a partnership with some of the Scottish University departments that specialise in these fields to help build up the knowledge base.
FOOTBALL GOVERNANCE
The club has to pursue all of the failings listed above, and make public statements about the secret agreement, rule breaking, tax evasion, tainted titles and new club status. This will encourage a greater take up of Season Tickets than would otherwise be the case if the club remain silent.
The club, to keep its undertaking to shareholders under Resolution 11 at last AGM, to engage with the relevant authorities and pursue and be seen to be doing so.
If this is not done it will haunt your tenure as CEO, and the sport will continue to be rigged, and what appeal will that have for anyone who has played the game, or wants to pay to watch the game.
VAR and FFP must be introduced, and its implementation monitored.
Please don’t forget the hero’s of the club that have fought the SFA,SPFL, during our history, Bob Kelly the right to fly the flag of Eire in 1952, Fergus McCann proving cheating by Jim Farry the SFA CEO over the registration of Jorge Cadete in 1996, and don’t forget the lying referee’s with Dougie-gate in 2010.
CLUB PERSONA, IDENTITY
Being a Celtic supporter means that you are likely to face resentment, discrimination, bigotry and racism in your everyday life, this in turn inspires strong and passionate commitment to this club; some even bleed green and white.
It also means that you join an estimated 9 million fellow fans worldwide, so we know that we never walk alone, and are part of something bigger; we have a communal identity and a common cause. Every time Celtic wins a game our suffering is eased a little and we can look on the bright side of life at that moment in time.
The club needs to understand that it is the only powerful champion of that community, and a focal point of their everyday life. The public statements from the club therefore have to reflect that, and stand up for them and the club itself, and call out any wrong doing, misconduct, and discrimination against it, because a lot of our community has no other outlet to do this in certain countries.
The review and cancellation, of all contracts with companies, who mock and despise our club and its fan base.
Our chairman Ian Bankier position is now totally toxic with the support and will remain so until he is gone, the other members of the board, some being there for a great numbers of years, are as complicit in the failings by their silence, and not holding each other to account.
There must be a reconnection with the fan base all season long and not just during season ticket renewal time.
The fans have invested £750 million since the club became a PLC and have post Fergus McCann’s era, had a growing lack of connection with the club, this has to be reversed and can be done so by doing the following,
Actively start updating current shareholder records to find nonvoting shareholders.
In addition, season ticket holders can be offered the chance to add say £50 to their annual renewal each year this will be combined and converted into shares and given to the Celtic Trust, this in time will lead to a reconnection with the club, which was always part of Fergus McCann’s original vision.
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If you can achieve all of this you will remove all the barriers, that are reducing the fan base, and you can maximise the clubs potential with 100% support from all fan groups.
With all this achieved, it will also give all the fans a vision to buy into and believe in. The revenue will increase, the share price will increase, which will lead on to some of the projects that have been shelved during the downsizing to be realised, a 80,000 seated Celtic Park, the Hotel, the indoor training centre at Barrowfield, and the shopping centre.
This will in turn sustain and define the club for our Children and Grandchildren and many generations to come thereafter.
If you are unable or are not allowed to fix all of the above, it means that the game in Scotland will remain rigged, and there will be no way to achieve maximum support from us and many other supporter groups going forward, and this would be a heartbreaking waste of our clubs future potential.
Best wishes
Celts for Change 2021