BBC Scotland journalist Brian McLauchlin has delivered an ominous summation of the financial situation at Celtic right now, speaking on Saturday’s edition of Sportsound.
McLauchlin was one of the journalists in attendance at Friday’s Neil Lennon press conference at Celtic Park, during which the manager commented on the restrictive realities at Celtic right now as a result of the ongoing public health crisis.
On the subject of wage deferrals, the manager said, as quoted by The Daily Record: “We’ve not been able to sit down and work out the budget. We’re not immune to the financial implications of all of this either.
“We’re all on a deferral and cuts until the end of this month, then we’ll probably take a view on that at the end of June.”
The BBC man would go further into the issue live on air, stating that the overheads at the champions are huge right now, based on what he’s heard from sources within the club.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound (31:34), McLauchlin said: “The main thing I took out of that yesterday is that Celtic are absolutely not immune to this. There was lots of talk going around about this war chest of cash that Celtic have accumulated over the last few years in excess of £30m.
“Celtic are leaking millions of pounds per month right now. That war chest, they may have some money in the bank, but it is diminishing at a vast rate on a monthly basis.
“Of all the clubs in Scotland Celtic have the highest overheads. So, at the moment, we heard Neil talking about deferrals, deferrals end at the end of this month.
“Wage cuts, I would not be surprised at all if Peter Lawwell and the rest of the Celtic board are now getting to the stage where really they do need to think about serious cuts here.”
Host Richard Gordon would then go on to specifically clarify with McLaughlin that he was not speculating but that his reporting on the millions of pounds per month being lost was based on information passed on from inside Celtic Park.
With season ticket sales potentially not at a normal level and no promise of regular matchday and hospitality income, Celtic really do have to be cautious over the coming months.
Further wage cuts within the playing and coaching staff would make sense even though they have returned to training. At the very least further deferrals feel likely based on this reporting.
It has to be noted that Celtic as a football club and business has been run extraordinarily well for a number of years so we have to trust the decision-makers will navigate this crisis as well as anyone in Scottish football.
We know that any action taken will be in the best interests of the club.
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