An Alternative Celtic Model

@Kin of Kings: I know it's a pipe dream but maybe the fact that we have charitable roots could be in our favour, not a drawback. we could use that as a way to persuade great players to give back a bit (I know a bit of a pipe dream and probably stupidly so). But just like a fundraising testimonial they could commit to a year and actually have a chance to compete in Europe one last time.

Maybe they wouldn't be enamoured with a visit to ICT or Ross County but maybe they only have to commit to a few games? I'm not saying this is a silver bullet but I just want us as a team to get creative so we can compete, what better way than to play off of our charitable roots?

 

Right, making it work would be tough but no harder than any other option we have right now. I see this as different to Murray as we would make a charitable commitment, you come here for one last chance to show what you can do AND raise money for your charity while doing it.

I think the great thing about it is that Celtic would probably make more money under this model by giving 50% away than it does right now taking everything to the bank.

 

Some great comments on this thread - creative thinking. Interesting idea that Celtic become a kind of Harlem Globetrotters of Europe. I guess some 'branding' like that could only help matters.

I think it might be a mistake to think that fading superstars would have the hunger and application to be successful - but really like the idea of concentrating money on fewer, better quality players. Like the fan ownership idea - ultimately that's what £TV starved leagues will need to become in order to survive.

Also like the idea of a North Atlantic League. I don't know what the restrictions might be - but perhaps the disintegration of FIFA might open up an opportunity for some bold clubs. That would give us £TV and the backdrop for a cool euro branded Celtic.

So I say - North Atlantic League lobbying - as a priority.

 

the simple way to improve celtic, is to start with improving the League.
It needs to go to 16 teams.
You then need those 16 teams to be bringing in crowds of over 10K for each home match minimum. If this is done with schools initiatives or other local ways then all the better. you would need specific family stands and then a stand for the adults or ultras.
bringing back high profile scottish managers and former players that have played in scotland would be useful in attracting more media interest. Imagine if SAF came back and did a final two seasons working with Derek mcinnes at Aberdeen. or david moyes was paid by the SFA to manage dundee united or hearts or his. Recruiting mentor managers and pairing them with the best available young scottish managers and any young foreign coaches going thru the Largs coaching school, should be encouraged to work with a regional scottish club and bring in new ideas and a overseas prospective.

The OP has suggested recruiting marquee veteran players, that might have an initial interest from outside, but we need to get the scottish kids and other teams regularly competing again in Europe.
Most of the clubs are now debt free, the next stage is building their brands and outreach.

 

Posted this on another thread but has relevance to your post & by extension this thread I think.

A more attractive League will bring better sponsorship deals, better TV revenues, better players & so on. Dont know if most on here will agree, but the best way to do this is a complete commitment to summer football. For a club like ours with many internationals it would be more difficult, as we would lose players to the International competitions but Scottish football should have went down this route a long time ago. The quality of football, fan turn out, progression in European competition, TV exposure would all improve significantly if this was done. Greater incomes from all of those plus more appealing playing conditions to European players would see our game improve ten fold. Changing the habits of a nation in regard to their football would be a huge obstacle but it is a necessity imo.

 

What if we had a supporters fund for buying a star player each season and paying his wages, But we the Fans get to pick through a ballot of who the player is.

 

On the face of it this is a good idea but once you think about it its not imo. The main problem is getting sufficient fans/supporters to contribute a decent amount, as even £40k a week in wages is the equivalent of 5000 fans paying approx £400 per annum for the length of the contract and does not include signing fee nor bonuses, making it even more expensive.
Yes more fans/supporters could sign up but can you imagine trying to get even 5000 to agree on a single player. Also as you say each season as well the costs will sky rocket, then there is the who should benefit from the sale (if that happened) of the fans player etc. There would need to be very stringent parameters put in place and that would then possibly put some off from investing in the scheme.

 

The first thing we need is for our own media to stop talking down our game and to have consistency in their actions. It doesn't matter whether what they say is correct or not, seeing it in papers and online constantly undermines any values we have. No idea if that makes any sense!

 

The only way to take the club back from the board is to threaten them with cash e.g. Season tickets. Protests and not buying tickets is the only way the board will give fans what they want. If this is the way to then run the club better and progress ourselves then you need at least 50% of season ticket holders to agree.

In terms of the league, the 'restructuring' that the SFA/SPFL did was very minimal. A bigger top league would definitely improve the product on show. Playing teams 4 times a season plus cup games is ridiculous. People who have been watching the Huns or Hibs in the championship outside of Scotland will now be more familiar with some of the teams, and the league will become more unpredictable and exciting. You then need the other teams to focus on getting fans in. More fans = more money and therefore better product.

 

To be honest, I think our board, as well as the SFA, are waiting for Hibs and Sevco to come back up and milk the "Old Firm" cash cow again and hope that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen keep up with us to mix it up. Risky strategy but means try can do * all in the meantime.

 

I am very much in favour of a marquee type signing every two seasons, someone just simply better than the rest and even paid 30/40k a week.

I do not agree with having a team full of overpaid overthehill stars, the risk is far too high. Having one every few seasons limits the risk and exposure and gives the fans a player they can really adore.

At the moment we don't have a player of the calibre of even a Nakamura, someone the fans love and can create something out of nothing.

 

Has anybody mentioned a £10 ticket price - seems to be doing the trick in Germany. Is that how they are funding themselves or do they have EPL type television deals?

 

I think my main though on it was we the fans would fund the purchase and first years wages anything negotiated above that the club would take care off. any proffit from sell on would go directly to the pot for buying players.

 

One other thought is the adding £5 to ticket prices which goes directly to a players fund so even the away fans get to pay for our new players, can you imagine the backlash from the huns man I would * myself laughing knowing they contributed to our next star.

 

Were already paying way over the odds for what we watch. Its dross just now and still barely within our means.