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Lawwell staying put; article in The Herald
Topic Started: Sep 16 2008, 11:44 PM (113 Views)
desachi
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After news of Arsenal coming in for Lawwell...


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Lawwell staying put
HUGH MacDONALD, Chief Sportswriter September 17 2008

Peter Lawwell has walked away from a £1m-a-year offer from Arsenal.

The Celtic chief executive was reported yesterday to be on a short list of two for a similar position at the London club. However, sources in the English capital last night insisted Lawwell had been offered the job after a meeting in the city on Friday. Lawwell, who took over from Ian McLeod at Celtic in 2003, turned the offer down.

Dr John Reid, the Celtic chairman, issued a statement last night assuring fans that the successful chief executive would be staying at the club. "Peter is a valuable and highly valued part of Celtic Football Club and remains so. Peter will continue to work with everyone at Celtic to ensure that the club enjoys even more success and maintains its pre-eminent position within Scottish football," the statement said.

After three years of unprecedented success at a football club, many business observers believed that this was an ideal time for Lawwell to accept a new challenge. But a source at Celtic said last night that the chief executive felt he had "unfinished business" at Parkhead. "This is nothing to do with a lack of ambition," the source said. "Peter believes his ambitions can be satisfied here. He is a big supporter with big plans."

Lawwell, 49, was courted by Arsenal after he "squared the circle" in the business of football. A source close to Arsenal said last night: "Celtic have had success on the playing field while driving down costs and increasing profit. This would make Lawwell a target for any big club."

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, was part of the process in identifying a successor to Keith Edelman, who left the club in April. The job at the Emirates Stadium is being carried out on a temporary basis by Ken Friar, but he has worked for the club for more than 50 years and the board is anxious to move the club forward quickly.

Lawwell appealed to Arsenal beyond the evidence of the Celtic balance sheet. His business experience gives him a knowledge of property development and property selling. As an accountant, he is also a hard-headed negotiator on football contracts.

The London source said: "Arsenal are trying to dispose of a huge property portfolio in what could be described as not the most auspicious of times. Lawwell would have been invaluable in that."

Arsenal have £450m of property at the redeveloped Highbury Stadium and £100m on the nearby Queenstown Road. The club carries a huge debt and wants to reduce it quickly. A brisk disposition of these assets would obviously benefit the club.

Wenger, too, needs help with the acquisition of players. The London source said: "Let's be clear here, there is only one man who matters at Arsenal and it is Wenger. A chief executive would not identify targets far less bring in players without the manager's knowledge. But Lawwell would have taken all the contract negotiations on board, perhaps even drawing up budgets for years to come."

Lawwell claimed last month that Celtic "had never been in a better position on or off the field" as he announced a second consecutive profitable year for the club. A pre-tax profit of £4.44m followed the 2007 figure of £15.04m. When asked then if he planned to move on, he said: "I have no such plans. The club has a huge emotional hold on me and that helps me on the longer days."

Arsenal, meanwhile, last night said that the club could not comment on speculation but that there was "an ongoing process" to identify a chief executive. The club's board meets tomorrow and the way now seems clear for it to appoint Paul Donovan, who recently announced his departure from his post as Vodafone's chief executive for Central Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Arsenal are keen to develop markets in the Middle East and Asia and Donovan will be a key player in that strategy.

He will join a club that is at the centre of takeover speculation with Stan Kroenke, the US billionaire, and Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbekistan magnate, believed to be jostling to make a bid.


Herald link

"Unfinished business"? Suggests to me that there are bigger things in the strategic plan then anyone is letting on at the moment. I honestly think there could be some big changes in the ownership of the club in the next few years.

Turning down a £1m salary would suggest to me that there is more in the offing from a takeover. :shrug:

Time will tell.

On the plus side of things, aside from the atrocious handling of PR (blame for which will no doubt be shared with the board), he seems to be good at getting the commercial stuff right, as the numbers look good year on year.

Shame football is played on the park then eh? :rolleyes:
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Doc67
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woo hoo :blink:




Good to be back!
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Henke
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The longer this guy is at Celtic, it becomes clearer that is he is a bit of a prick. A lying one at that. And boy does he love his newspeak. "Bluechip signings", "Three point plans", "Fiscal handicap"!!!!!

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Does he honestly think we still buy this pish. In fact most of us never bought it in the first place. Burnt too many times.

And as for his comments regarding Charlie Nicholas???? :blink: :unsure: :wtf?: :nuts:

Yer a wanker Lawwell and your staged recent mutual admiration society between you and your fellow board members and Strachan is vomit inducing.

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GORDON STRACHAN will be given money to spend in the transfer window.

Celtic supporters have criticised what they see as a lack of investment in the team in the wake of the Champions League exit to Aalborg.

But the Scottish Champions have come out fighting.

Chief executive Peter Lawwell revealed a three-point plan in his club’s endeavours to keep up with the billionaires of European football, despite lacking their financial clout.

1. Funds are available for the manager to strengthen the squad in January.
2. Shunsuke Nakamura is expected to remain until the end of the season.
3. And the board is confident Strachan can overcome fiscal handicap with organisational skills.

Lawwell revealed, “We are doing all we can to support the manager financially.

Objective

“We will enter the January transfer window with the objective of coming out of it in a stronger position.

“I wouldn’t like to put a figure on what we have to spend but there is money.

“Obviously we cannot compete with clubs from Europe’s top-five countries. The gap is becoming bigger and bigger, almost by the day.

“However, we can never give up trying to take Celtic as far as possible in Europe. That’s why we will do all we can in January to help the manager sign the targets he’s identified.”

Further good news for Hoops fans is that Nakamura is likely to remain for the rest of the campaign.

“I’m confident he’ll remain to the end of the season,” added Lawwell. “I’ve had no indication he’ll leave in January. If he does it will be a total surprise.

“Now we are out of Europe, we must ensure we retain the title and give ourselves a chance to qualify for the Champions League next season.

“We can’t afford any doom or gloom following the defeat in Denmark. We must move on, remain optimistic and stop moaning about the huge gap in television money.”

Main reason

Lawwell identified Strachan as the main reason Celtic can continue to punch above their weight.

He said, “As long as we can employ the best coach, we know we still have a chance to hang in there with the best, despite the obvious financial handicaps.

“We are delighted with Gordon. He is a joy to work with in every aspect.

“It would be nice to enjoy the same breaks as other clubs in the EU. At present we can’t even compete with Dutch and Portuguese clubs because of Britain’s immigration rules.

“Clubs from these countries can employ players from Africa and South America. But we are working hard behind the scenes with the SFA and government to obtain flexibility.”

Lawwell also addressed severe criticism from Charlie Nicholas in the wake of losing in Aalborg.

“Charlie appears to be a serial Celtic critic but he doesn’t know how the club is run.

“He is obviously bitter and paranoid.”
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