Time will tell how Ange really gets on with Lawwell

ONE line stood out in Dermot Desmond’s warm response to Peter Lawwell’s grand return to the frontline at Celtic Park at the end of the week. ‘He is perfectly placed to work with Michael Nicholson, Chris McKay and the board to ensure we continue to compete in Scottish and European football and to manage the challenges and opportunities in a European context,’ stated the major shareholder.

Only one problem there, Dermot, old fruit. Celtic don’t actually compete in European football. They take part, for sure. But they don’t compete. The use of the word continue in your address to the nation suggests there is some modicum of success to build upon at that level rather than reflecting the reality of being algae gleefully hoovered up by the likes of Maribor, Bodo/Glimt, Cluj, Ferencvaros and Sparta Prague reserves.

Celtic haven’t competed, properly, in Europe for quite some time and that remains one of the major blots on Lawwell’s record over 17 years as chief executive before retiring in a flurry of flying crush barriers and painted bedsheets as 10 in a row went for a Burton back in 2021.

Yes, it’s true to say the 62-year-old, who officially becomes chairman on January 1, is well placed to work with largely invisible chief exec Nicholson and chief financial officer McKay. He used to be their boss, effectively. And in what many new experts in business practice — and old opponents of Lawwell — are citing as a sign of bad corporate governance, it is hard to imagine he won’t be exerting his considerable personality upon them again.

Knowing the type of character Lawwell is, it is hard — nay, impossible — to see him happy with pootling along as some kind of benign figurehead, popping up to say a few words at the AGM every year in between sharing drinks with rival directors on a Saturday and going along to Ibrox at new year to sup fraternally from the Loving Cup.

He is a political animal. He put Celtic in a real position of strength in Scottish football and has given them a voice in the corridors of power abroad. He will surely demand a certain influence in shaping where Celtic go from here. It is hard to see him agreeing to become chairman if that didn’t come with the package. Chances are he’s already sneaking back into Parkhead at midnight when no one’s around to switch the disco lights on and off while stroking his white cat and cackling about how all this will be his again.

Therefore, it is not how he gets on with Nicholson and McKay that matters most. It is how he works alongside manager Ange Postecoglou that may well define how this opportunity to restore a reputation tarnished by his last few years as chief exec pans out. Lawwell played a big role in recruiting Postecoglou. The Aussie admits that himself. However, producing such a rabbit out of the hat has to be placed against the backdrop of Eddie Howe pulling the club’s pants down in public after stringing them along for weeks and Big Ange inheriting a burnt-out shambles of a footballing set-up that had to be rebuilt from scratch with the help of his agent.

Celtic were in bits when Lawwell walked away from his old job, handing it on to the late, lamented and never-to-be-mentioned-again Dom McKay. That does not reflect well on him, considering they had won nine titles and had unlimited access to Champions League money when arch-rivals Rangers were on ‘The Journey’ — and a painfully roundabout one at that — back up the divisions. They should have been out of sight. Instead, they imploded spectacularly and saw history slip down the plughole. Postecoglou worked a minor miracle to win back the Premiership crown last season as part of a domestic double. In truth, he has made it possible for Lawwell to return to a more public role after spending the intervening period representing the club on the board of the European Club Association. Punters don’t kick up such a fuss when the trophies are rolling in. And that’s just as well, considering they were a hop, skip and jump away from marching Lawwell and Co through the Gallowgate with the full tar and feathers no less than 18 months ago.

Listen, you can’t dress up the return of Lawwell to centre-stage as the kind of move you’d expect from a progressive, forwardfacing business. It just reeks of bowling club mentality.

His son Mark is now head of scouting and recruitment as well, proving it is not only Gordon Strachan and his kids who can get themselves a nice little earner at Paradise when they feel like it.

It is easy to understand why some fans feel angry. Considering the extent of the protests that took place around the loss of ‘The 10’, the board that missed an open goal in terms of securing lifelong domestic bragging rights looks a heck of a lot like the one still running the show right now.

The big difference, though, is that the manager now has a real powerbase. The unending devotion of the support for putting the club back on the map so quickly gives him an incredibly strong hand as he looks towards the next steps of his rebuild.

Postecoglou is not a Neil Lennon or a Ronny Deila or even a Strachan. He is a coach on an upward curve with a serious sense of ambition. He’s more of a Brendan Rodgers figure — arguably more brusque and no-nonsense — and we all know how it ended between the Northern Irishman and Lawwell when it came to getting the money together for a serious crack at the Champions League back in 2018.

Celtic haven’t won a knockout tie in Europe for nearly 20 years. Their recent record in that arena is a joke. A disgrace, actually.

Desmond keeps talking about how important it is to compete there, though. And Postecoglou has been clear that he wants to re-establish Celtic as a force after some encouraging displays — admittedly without results — in the Champions League this term.

That’s essential. But it is also going to take considerable investment. And if an executive being influenced and advised by Lawwell doesn’t deliver, it isn’t hard to see where problems might lie.

Postecoglou has already talked about the support from Lawwell. It’s all hearts and flowers right now. However, there is clear room for friction if the manager — already attracting attention from elsewhere — doesn’t get what he wants and deserves.