12-09-2015, 13:39
2 things of long term significance to us have come out in recent days. The first is that Dave King's interview reveals we're still reliant on funding from him and the Three Bears. While that's understandable given the division we're in and we can expect revenues next season to pick up if we're promoted, the 2nd thing should give us some pause for thought. Despite Peter Lawwell's claims that Celtic's business model is not dependent on Champions League money, and repeated assertions that they don't need to sell players, their financial statements have again demonstrated both of these to be a lie. They've posted a £4m loss for last season which would have been £10.5 but for their gain on player sales (note that's profit on the sale, not just the act of selling someone to bring in cash), and last season would have had a loss of £6m but for player sales, and that was with Champions League money. They had extra income relating to the Commonwealth games in last year's numbers too, so it could have been even worse.
In short, it's more clear than ever that it's not sustainable to spend at even the level Celtic do without depending on circumstances that are far from guaranteed. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past and rely on extra funding to cover shortfalls, so realistically, even if we up our level in terms of transfers, I think we'll still have to get used to well judged loans, moderate spending on players on both fees (probably capped around £1m I would think) and, more importantly, player salaries. Next year could see a few more expensive additions, but long term my feeling is that we'll have to endure lean years at times, and what's going to be incredibly important is bringing in managers like Warburton capable of developing a young team and not dependent on a chequebook. I think King's approach is right in terms of trusting the manager to identify players to bring in and then giving them the funds, but like Warburton they'll have to earn a degree of trust to do that first.
In short, it's more clear than ever that it's not sustainable to spend at even the level Celtic do without depending on circumstances that are far from guaranteed. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past and rely on extra funding to cover shortfalls, so realistically, even if we up our level in terms of transfers, I think we'll still have to get used to well judged loans, moderate spending on players on both fees (probably capped around £1m I would think) and, more importantly, player salaries. Next year could see a few more expensive additions, but long term my feeling is that we'll have to endure lean years at times, and what's going to be incredibly important is bringing in managers like Warburton capable of developing a young team and not dependent on a chequebook. I think King's approach is right in terms of trusting the manager to identify players to bring in and then giving them the funds, but like Warburton they'll have to earn a degree of trust to do that first.
