FootBiz newsletter #130: Lawwell resigns as Celtic join Scottish football chaos

All is not well north of the border, unless of course you are a Heart of Midlothian fan revelling in what you believe may be the new world order.

For so long, the Old Firm of Rangers and Celtic have not just dominated Scottish football but completely run it as well. Two clubs, divided like the Montagues and Capulets but with more power than all of Verona. The SPL cowed to their big brutes, incapable of getting them to share or contribute or listen and resigned to the fact that their two-handed grip on the league would never loosen.

So did they just get complacent? Or has the mere baseline of some sporting competence at another Scottish Premiership club been enough to expose the pretty mediocre management in Glasgow?

Rangers’ struggles have been lain pretty squarely at the feet of the new ownership. 49ers Enterprises swanned in with new executive staff and new ideas, interviewing a raft of high-profile candidates like Steven Gerrard and Davide Ancelotti before deciding on Russell Martin as the guy. As you likely know by now, Russell Martin was definitively — culturally and holistically — not the guy for Rangers. Incomings have been bad, outgoings have been bad and the direction from above has been similar, though the Gers have shown signs of turning a corner despite still being 10 points off the top.

Celtic kind of skirted criticism at the beginning of the campaign as Rangers unravelled so publicly and so comically, but fans of the Parkhead club have been simmering for a while over a board that they deem to be complacent and happy to simply pocket UEFA revenues every year.

Infamously, this came to a head with the AGM that was abandoned midway through. Off the back of Brendan Rodgers’ unexpected resignation, and the AGM where heckling fans were then hectored by management, the atmosphere around Celtic has been toxic for some time.

Then on Wednesday, chairman Peter Lawwell resigned, citing “intolerable” treatment from fans as the reason for his sudden departure after 21 years at the club.

Chief executive Michael Nicholson had claimed earlier this week that three Celtic staff were “assaulted” by supporters following Sunday's Scottish League Cup final defeat by St Mirren, the latest setback in a disappointing season that has seen the club knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying rounds by Kairat Almaty, engage in a public conflict with the Green Brigade fans group and employ three different managers.

Rodgers' permanent replacement in the dugout, Wilfried Nancy, has now lost three successive matches but the data suggests the Frenchman — who made his name in MLS with Columbus Crew — is not a bad coach. Performances should turn around but the general atmosphere and now Lawwell's departure add to the sense of crisis surrounding the club.

“I believe that my 18 years as chief executive and three years as chairman at the club have shown my ability to meet and overcome challenges on many fronts,” Lawwell said. “But abuse and threats from some sources have increased and are now intolerable. 

“They have dismayed and alarmed my family. At this stage in my life, I don’t need this. I cannot accept this and so I leave the club I have loved all my life. The motivations and aims of these detractors can be investigated by others. I prefer to look back on my career at Celtic with deep gratitude and satisfaction.” 

Hearts, meanwhile, must be grinning ear to ear. Six points clear of Celtic, albeit having played a game more, they have a very real opportunity to become the first team to win the Scottish title from outside the Old Firm since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen did so in 1985.

Table of Contents

• FIFA reduce prices on 1% of tickets

• New FIFA video game for Netflix

• Man City 130 charges review “still in process”

• Mexico to play extra friendlies in WC prep

• Real Madrid finances

• Valencia announce Mestalla partners

• Chelsea told to bid on Earl’s Court site

• PSG to pay Mbappe £50m

• Spurs hire CFG’s Moersen to run football ops

• Saudi 2034 stadiums face delays

• Man United’s injury bug 

A bit of housekeeping: no FootBiz during Christmas week but we’ll be back in the New Year.

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