Peter Lawwell to leave Celtic: Right time for chief executive to go, says Andy Walker

Peter Lawwell will leave this summer after 17 years, during which time Celtic have won 29 trophies, including 13 league titles, four domestic Trebles and participated in the last 16 of the Champions League on three occasions

Football Expert & Columnist

Friday 29 January 2021 12:49, UK

I’m slightly surprised at the timing of the announcement from Celtic that Peter Lawwell is leaving at the end of the season. He has done a lot of good things for Celtic, but I think he has probably stayed too long.

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In recent years, it was all about Celtic reaching the 10 in a row landmark and clearly that has gone wrong this season and I think in that time, Celtic should have been concentrating on being some sort of player on the European stage.

Celtic are a club set up for Champions League football and there is no reason why Celtic should not be playing at the European level.

It is important to remember we are talking about a chief executive here. He did a lot of good things, his business acumen was very well received, not just at Celtic, but across Scottish football.

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But we are talking about a chief executive, we are not talking about a manager and we are most certainly not talking about players.

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It is important to remember what Celtic are all about – Celtic are all about memories driven by managers and players and off the park, you absolutely need good governance and a well-led team.

And Peter Lawwell has led this team very well, but he has been hurt by the level of criticism that has come his way this season and this has been a very difficult season for everyone.

So in the end, it is a good time for Peter Lawwell to go and he has been a successful chief executive, of that there is no doubt.

He did a really good job for Celtic, but he probably stayed too long. He cuts a swathe through Scottish football and there may be some sort of vacuum left there. You of course need good governance off the field, and Peter Lawwell delivered that.

They had all the advantages at the start of this season, but it has all gone so tragically wrong and that is the downside for Celtic supporters.

It looks to me as if Neil Lennon is going to be in place until the end of the season, but with the announcement that Dominic McKay is replacing Lawwell, I think you will see some significant changes at Celtic – maybe slightly forced upon them by the events of this season.

And for any new chief executive coming in at Celtic, he has to identify a new manager, there will be a turnover of players, as you would always expect, and these will be the priorities.

But Celtic supporters will want to talk about a new manager, a new player and look ahead to a new season and try and improve on the park.

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A structure at big clubs

Like most people who follow the Scottish game, I was surprised when I heard earlier this week that Jeremie Frimpong was given permission by Celtic to discuss a transfer with German side Bayer Leverkusen.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon was pretty clear when he said he felt let down by the 20-year-old Dutchman’s decision to leave, but he has no reason to be upset.

With two and a half years left on his contract since signing from Manchester City in 2019 for £300,000, I think it’s a remarkable piece of business that Celtic managed to secure as much as the widely reported £5m-10m fee.

Leverkusen are regular competitors in the Champions League and you can understand the player’s desire to play in a richer, bigger and more competitive domestic league, as well as earning a huge increase in his salary.

The sale of Frimpong is undoubtedly a big success in the transfer market for Celtic and underlines the importance of player sales, as well as big-money buys.

Even allowing for the large sell-on clause that City would have insisted upon, I think it represents good business practice and his sale will generate some much-needed funds for Celtic after a few recent big-money deals just haven’t worked out.

• Frimpong secures Bayer Leverkusen move

Selling is every bit as important as buying for big clubs and it’s painful for every Celtic fan to see the best part of £15m recently spent on new players such as Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti and Patryk Klimala take their seats on the bench for the recent home game against Hamilton Accies.

Not one of them has made Celtic a better side since moving to Glasgow.

Like all Scottish clubs, Celtic operate in an entirely different market than our neighbours down south, but they can surely do much better than sticking with the current business model?

The success story at Championship side Brentford is worth highlighting. Their business structure in buying and selling in recent years has been extraordinary.

Neal Maupay, bought for £1.6m from St Etienne, sold two years later to Brighton for £20m.

Ezri Konsa, bought for £2.5m from Charlton, sold 12 months later to Aston villa for £12m.

Said Benrahma, bought for £2.7m from Nice, sold two years later to West Ham for £26m.

Ollie Watkins, bought for £1.8m from Exeter, sold three years later to Aston Villa for £30m.

For those four players, a total of £8.6m was spent with £88m brought in.

Their latest buy was a striker who was on Celtic’s radar last summer, Ivan Toney. Brentford paid a record fee of £5m for him at the start of the season to Peterborough. So far, he has 16 goals from 22 appearances. He’ll be the next to go for big money.

The structure at all big clubs has been changing for years. We’re all used to seeing goalkeeping coaches, but people laughed at Liverpool when they employed Thomas Gronnemark, a throw-in coach.

Jurgen Klopp had led his team to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League and also reached a Champions League final, but he noted they were losing the ball constantly from throw-ins.

He didn’t accept it and demanded improvement.

Retaining possession under Gronnemark went up from 45 per cent to 68 per cent. He helped the players make better decisions to retain possession and as a result, they made more chances and scored more goals. As a team, Liverpool went on to enjoy enormous success. Another small margin gained in the quest for your good being better.

Arsenal have just employed Andreas Georgson, a set-piece coach who also specialises in individual player development. Statistical analysis underpinned his good work at Brentford and he’ll improve Arsenal’s dead-ball defending and attacking.

Allan Russell, who had a spell in Scotland with Hamilton Accies, St Mirren, Airdrie and Kilmarnock, is employed by Gareth Southgate as England’s striker coach, helping them get to a World Cup semi-final.

Resistance to change is everywhere and commonplace in football. I admire the clubs who now invest in injury prevention rather than a cure. Nutrition for injured players can speed up their recovery. Another small margin in the hope for improvement.

I have no idea how Celtic will shape up for next season, on or off the park, but with the biggest budget in Scotland by quite some distance, the fans are entitled to expect significant developments.

Buying Jeremie Frimpong was a terrific move by all concerned at Celtic. I’d argue that selling him for that amount was even more impressive.

Not every signing will be successful, but the trick for Celtic is to make sure they get a much better return on who they bring in. You can only sell big when the new signings are a success on the pitch.

Scottish football is a tremendous platform for any player – or manager/coach for that matter – who need a stage to showcase their skills before moving to richer and more competitive leagues.

Remembering Edvaldsson

It was very sad to learn of the passing of Johannes Edvaldsson, the Icelander who died earlier this week at the age of 70. Like me, big “Shuggie” played for Celtic and Motherwell and he also lived a few hundred yards from me in Burnside, Glasgow. I met him a few times and he had a very down to earth approach to life. Owning a pub and then a sports shop was part of his life after his career ended, but he’ll be well remembered for his humility, as well as his career highlights.

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