Michael Nicholson

I'm sure at some point over the last decade that Daddy Lawwell was the highest paid CEO in British football. You can be damned sure that there was no delays in negotiating that package.

You could forgive the boards negligence in signing players if it didn't happen Every. Single. Transfer. Window.

 

Thank you, that explains it. A cod faced fat Sevconian *.

 

Buy some good players now you rocket!

 

I'll guarantee Peter and the board aren't on salaries from 20+ years ago like players salaries and transfer outlay.

 

It's a good article and sums up what most of us have being saying for a while..

The most important announcement we need, more important than any signing is how we are going to operate as a football club moving forward.. we need transparency and clarity and the changes needed are glaring as we navigate another tortured transfer window.

On Nicholson I'm happy for him not to be in the limelight as long as what he does in the background is what's needed..

We need to put football first.

 

Don’t want to beat a dead horse here in regards to criticising him … but * me can anyone really justify this man earning 15k a week?

 

15k a week... Holy *.

I'm sure he probably has a good few shares in the club tucked away too.

 

Is 15k a week to run an entire football club the size of Celtic really that exhuberant?

I'd imagine he has more responsibility that ONE player on 15k p/w...

 

I suppose it depends on what exactly his role at the club is … if his role is largely around player recruitment, dealing with other clubs etc then no he’s absolutely not worth 15k a week.

 

Exactly.

It's hard to sink a tanker at sea. The board like to stress their role in ensuring celtic don't go bust like rangers did, as if there is a difficulty in achieving that. Or that there is any likelihood at all of that happening. The benchmark for success is so low.

Besides finding a manager, and they've found a good one, what exactly is our chief executive judged on. Results on the field are owned by the manager. Financial results are driven primarily by champions league revenue which is due to the results on the field.

Replace Nicolson with any professional person on here and what would we miss? I have no idea because I have no idea how we measure the success of a CEO but if its simply winning the league then most of us can manage that as long as Rodgers is there and fans continue to buy season books.

 

gonna do something and earn yer * money???

 

Another one that needs to get ya *.. Another yes man

 

Not a fan of that phrase as I think every * is a yes man and every * answers to someone.

The blame doesn’t just lie at his door.

A major issue at board level in this club that seems no * wants to fix.

 

As a top line it's probably reasonable but in the past lawwell was on roughly the same but was receiving bonuses of over £1m a year for non football related success. Would imagine Nicholson would be on similar.


That creates a massive conflict of interests when it comes to spending money on recruitment of players, development of youth academy, getting a proper structured and correctly sized scouting department in place, and hiring a director of football.

 

Absolutely this, if a huge salary together with bonus even partially depends on avoiding spending money, guess what's going to happen?

Bonus should be paid on sporting performance and demonstrated progress v previous years only, you simply can't divorce financial and sporting outcomes - but that's how we do seem to do it.
We are a FOOTBALL club, not Amazon or Tesco.

 

Can you please share the KPI's that trigger his bonus? This is the first I've heard this being in the public domain. I'd love to read it as it would give clear insight into the clubs strategy.

 

Hes on less than the CEO's of the following clubs in the prem.

Manchester United £4.2m
Manchester City £3.5m
Tottenham Hotspur £2.9m
Chelsea £2.8m
Crystal Palace £2.6m
Newcastle United £2.2m
Liverpool £1.7m
AFC Bournemouth £1.4m
Brighton & Hove Albion £1.4m
Fulham £1.3m
Arsenal £1.2m
West Ham United £1.1m
Everton £1m
Nottingham Forest £752k
Burnley £728k

 

Do you really think the board would put in place someone that isn’t going to follow the clubs business plan and player trading model.

It’s always been Desmond that sets the plan and the CEO is there to carry it out best he can. Everyone was singing MN praise when he was getting the signings in quick under Ange. A lot has changed since in the scouting and recruitment department.

 

None of us are privvy to precise KPI's...
But board members such as Lawell, have generally received huge bonuses for making a big profits.
So, I don't think it's unreasonable at all to assume Nicholson has to make sure that the gang (inc. himself) still get their bonuses.
My point is that progress should also be clearly demonstrated on the pitch, value of the playing squad etc to trigger them - not just profit.

When we hired a CEO that appeared to have a fresh, more ambitious approach, he lasted 72 days before normal service in the members club lounge was resumed.

I'd be interested as much as anyone in our KPI's (sporting and financial) but would also value an explanation on our sporting strategy and why we appear to be hoarding and not investing whilst our product (the football team) gradually declines in quality.

 

So your guessing?

Which years did Lawwell receive huge bonuses for making huge profits? Did this coincide with success on the park?

Calling the board criminals is a bit strong, any evidence of this?

Value of the playing squad is an unknown quantity, how would you quantify this against previous seasons?

Can you clarify what you mean by a fresh, more ambitious approach when it comes to Dom McKay? What did he say or do that backs up this statement?

How do you know we are hoarding and not investing with 3 weeks to go in the transfer window? Are you privy to information the rest of us are not?