Celtic Football Club might just be for sale…

I’ve been posted missing for the last few days due to undergoing surgery that I’d been putting off and off.

It’s done now, but during the time I was in hospital, I had plenty of time to mull Celtic’s current position over in my head.

Having listened to podcasts, and read plenty, an idea formed in my head.

It isn’t as outlandish as you might think, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me.

For a long time now, it’s been pretty clear that Celtic is a club lacking strategy, or any kind of forward planning.

The only distinct strategy at Celtic seems, or seemed to be keeping the Ibrox club at bay.

Even that strategy now appears to be questionable, considering our current position on the league table.

There is no strategy to speak of when it comes to Europe.

There hasn’t been for a long time.

Had we been able to retain the services of Ange Postecoglou, then maybe, just maybe, we might have shown some ambition on the European front.

But we didn’t, and it looks like Brendan Rodgers was sold a dud when it comes to our European ambitions once again.

At the moment, it’s clear the fanbase wants answers.

It’s clear we want to know what, if any plans, the club has for the future.

But what if the club doesn’t have a plan for the future?

Now there may be two reasons for that, both make sense, but the second one is the one I’ll focus on in more detail.

The first reason, and probably the one that most fans can identify with is this, the current board has simply reached it’s ceiling.

There is no more they can do.

Or more to the point, they incapable of taking the club any further.

They are not real footballing people in that sense, they are bean counters, solicitors, tories, you name it.

And that’s probably the main reason they are so disconnected from the fanbase.

In an article a few weeks back, I pointed out how old they are.

Almost all of them are of pensionable age.

They are out of ideas, and stuck in an “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” mentality.

But the problem is, that mentality is outdated, and of no use anymore.

It simply doesn’t work.

That’s why the club finds itself in the predicament it’s in right now.

When Ange Postecoglou left, and Peter Lawwell was well and truly back in the building, they just reverted to type.

Simply because they had no other ideas.

Ange Postecoglou was the exception to the rule, and once he left, the rule returned to it’s old format.

Because the old farts in the boardroom are incapable of fresh, forward thinking, they decided that this was once again the way forward.

Except it’s done nothing but take us backward.

And it will continue to do so, until there is a radical change.

It just doesn’t work, and these old farts are either too stubborn to face that reality, or there is another reason behind their current behaviour.

Which brings me on to reason no. 2 as to why the club currently has no other plan.

And that is that they do have a plan.

Confused yet?

Well, I’ll simplify it for you.

The plan they have doesn’t revolve around taking the club forward in any meaningful way.

It revolves around fattening Celtic football club into one big juicy attractive asset.

Fattening the cow for sale, so to speak.

Think about it.

There’s a reason we have a pile of capital sitting in the bank account.

If we were skint, would we be an attractive proposition for a prospective buyer?

For what other reason would you stockpile tens of millions in cash?

I believe Celtic football club is for sale.

I’m not saying officially for sale, but for sale at the right price.

Dermot Desmond isn’t getting any younger, nor are most of the rest of the board.

It’s not beyond the realms of reason that Desmond may be looking to offload his shares, or the club as a whole, is it?

In order to fully understand this, you need to know how much Celtic football club is worth.

The balance in the bank account adds serious value to the club.

At this moment in time, Celtic as a football club is valued between £450 million to £500 million.

This takes into account all of the clubs assets.

Starting with the entire footballing operation (players and coaching teams), and then the stadium, the core of the operation.

That is followed by the rest of the club’s assets, the training facilities (Lennoxtown, and Barrowfield soon enough), club shops, and merchandising operations.

Which is then topped off with the very healthy bank balance the club has.

To any prospective buyer, Celtic Football Club is an extremely attractive proposition.

It is, after all, the 7th wealthiest club in European football.

It has a huge fanbase, and a rich and successful history.

What’s not to like about it?

Where is the risk factor in buying a club like Celtic?

There isn’t any.

The club has huge potential, potential way beyond the position the current board holds it in.

Every one of us knows that.

So, it makes sense that they have no plan for the club right now.

They plan on selling it.

It’s why they don’t care about the position we’re in.

These guys have only ever cared about lining their own pockets.

Remember that Ian Bankier, Peter Lawwell’s predecessor, was once asked what his most memorable Celtic moment was?

He was incapable of giving an answer.

He is just an example of the people who have been in power at our club.

People who believe they’ve achieved great things with Celtic.

When In reality, they’ve achieved nowhere near what this club is capable of achieving.

Maybe their greatest achievement will actually be selling this club to someone who will realise it’s true potential.

Maybe I’m completely wrong, and we’re destined for many more years of mediocrity under this board.

But I think the board knows that they’re in for a rough ride if we do not win the league this season.

These guys are all getting on in years, do they have the stomach for the abuse they’re going to get if this goes south?

Or are they going to cash in their chips, and head off into the sunset?

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think my theory makes sense.

You might just be surprised in the near future.

God knows, the club is crying out for change.

That change might be at hand sooner than we think.