Martin O'Neill...

WGS never had a higher wage bill, at its highest, it was £1m less than under MON. There were also 40-50 more staff members employed at Celtic under WGS.

 

It was higher when he left, by about £100k if I remember right. They are very compareable, I think Gordon's team got worse the more we removed Martin O'Neill players, first season with Maloney, Sutton, Hartson, Lennon and Stillain Petrov was fantastic.

I liked WGS and he gave us some great moments but people tend to forget just how much money he spent due to a scattergun approach in the transfer market. Just how many central midfielders did he buy?

 

1999/00 - £20,177,000 - £15,170,000 - 444 (No breakdown as i dont have that years accounts)
2000/01 - £25,918,000 - £22,260,000 - 381 (No breakdown as i dont have that years accounts)
2001/02 - £32,745,000 - £27,990,000 - 392 (Professional football+youth development-161, Other business operations-231)
2002/03 - £33,079,000 - £27,900,000 - 418 (Professional football+youth development-167, Other business operations-251)
2003/04 - £40,502,000 - £33,500,000 - 493 (Professional football+youth development-165, Other business operations-328)
2004/05 - £37,394,000 - Not listed ----- 453 (Professional football+youth development-154, Other business operations-299)
2005/06 - £32,490,000 - Not listed ----- 489 (Professional football+youth development-167, Other business operations-322)
2006/07 - £36,421,000 - Not listed ----- 496 (Professional football+youth development-168, Other business operations-328)
2007/08 - £38,981,000 - Not listed ----- 500 (No breakdown listed in accounts)

Column 1: Total salaries (Wages, bonuses, benefits, pension stuff for all employees (football staff, directors, ticket office, etc)

Column 2: Football labour costs (Wages, bonuses, benefits, pension stuff for football staff (players, coaches, backroom staff)

Edit: This poster is a shareholder.

From Kerrydale Street - they can't be far off?

 

Ah, comparable, both were higher than each others at times. I think there is a comparison to be drawn there. WGS spent a * of a lot, so did O'Neill. It's not like WGS was a pauper, he just didn't spend particularly well... while still achieving a lot of success.

 

Do you think WGS was ever allowed to spend £6m outright on a player, the way MON was? Or do you believe he, despite spending more, was restricted?

Im unsure, I mean he was allowed to pay £4.4m for Brown.

 

I think it would have been available to him if he wanted it. £4.4m for Brown was a record between Scottish clubs and he was allowed to hand out record wages - to both Gravesen and Roy Keane.

He would spend a lot of money, just like I said was a scattergun approach - Donati, Robson, Hartley, Brown, Jarosik, Gravesen, Marc Crosas - I'm sure there are more. We had an insane amount of central midfielders for the time he was in charge.

 

I think Lennon is the one who has felt the cost of our spending in the past more than Strachan ever did.
If Lennon asked for £6million for a player or told the board he was paying Wanyama 55k a week, he'd be laughed out the building.
Our last extravagance was Robbie Keane on 65k a week. And Lennon (although probably choosing to more than having to overhaul the squad) bore the brunt of a decade of keeping up with Ra Peepul.
You can almost guarantee he was told when offered the job the bottom line in regard transfers would be a big part of his job.

 

Was Roy Keane's wages not paid by DD ?

 

No, they weren't. They were given the green light by Desmon but as a PLC he can't legally fund the wages. They were paid by the club, but the signing was a Desmond one. He did get personally involved.

 

Was sure he did pay the wages but not gonna argue. Knew he was involved though somehow

 

Aye, to be fair it's all guess work. There is a certain amount he can do but it's to do with PLC rules. Lawwell has said before Roy Keane and Robbie Keane were both paid by out of club money, not Desmond's pocket.

 

Aye think it's a case of donations can be made to the club or something, either way not really matter now as you say all guesswork to a degree.

 

Always thought that the rules were stretched to permit the balance (beyond max wage we would offer) being subsidised by Dezzy. Perfectly legally, as an aside, but stretched to ensure the strict wage cap being exceeded was not a cost solely borne by the Club.

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/celti...take-robbie-keane-on-loan-from-spurs-1-788793

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/feb/01/robbie-keane-celtic-loan-tottenham

Suggested DD was certainly involved....same during Roy "yer first game's at Clyde wi Du Wei" Keane as well, from recollection.

 

Another argument about O'Neil is him and his infamous checkbook and how he never promoted from within, wasn't he the one who gave Maloney and McGeady their debut?

And of coarse he wanted to spend money on good players to improve the squad, we were competing against the Huns who had spending of quality for years prior to that. And we reeked the rewards from it in achieving (and almost achieving in some cases) what we did do. Good players playing at a club help attract other good players, as well as ambition, another thing which attracts quality players.

For a young fan as myself it was certainly the most exciting period I've seen, and to call the manager who brought us this "overrated" is not short of embarrassing.

 

Aye, there was suggestions at the time. At the Q&A at Parkhead with Lenny and Lawwell it was completely denied by Lawwell. Saying that, I don't trust a Lawwell answer either.

 

John Kennedy, McManus, Liam Miller, Ross Wallace, Stephen Crainey, Craig Beattie and many more made there debuts under O'Neill.

 

Haha, yeah agreed - at the time I read it as "PL keen to say the Club can afford to pay it fine well, plus DD wants his name kept clear of it," both of which are entirely understandable. But even for half a season, the Club solely forking out the 65k per week seemed to me unlikely. Lawwell would have needed a stent in after that had it happened!:smiley-laughing002:

 

I still remember watching McManus' debut away from home (can't mind who it was against), missed the line up just turned on TV to see who I thought was Stan Varga with a shaved head playing at left back........totally bemused I was at first :smiley-laughing002::smiley-laughing002::smiley-laughing002:

Think he only played about 25 mins of that game and got took off injured after sliding off into an advertising board?

 

Aye, O'Neill was convinced he was a left back. Which he also was about Valgaeren at one point as well. He did have his faults.

 

Did McManus not spend a great deal of his time in the youth teams playing as a centre mid too? I just cannie see him in that position whatsoever :smiley-laughing002::smiley-laughing002::smiley-laughing002:

Big Joos would have been one of the best central defenders we've ever had at Celtic if O'Neill had left him playing where he was during his first season.

Ruined him, imo.