Keevins has a direct line to the Celtic chairman, and because he told him so, he has nothing to do with transfer dealings

03/23/2025 07:31 AM

Hugh Keevins has been in the journalism game for a long time now.

But surely even he must know that just because someone tells you something, doesn’t mean it’s fact?

People often contact journalists to tell them something to get the public off their scent.

If Hugh Keevins thinks Peter Lawwell is any different, then he clearly hasn’t been paying attention.

Celtic, as a club, is the richest it has ever been.

Our extended run in this season’s Champions League will have boosted the bank balance enormously.

Merchandise sales are at record levels for the club, with the demand for Adidas Celtic gear of any kind off the scale.

Off the park, the club is in rude health.

On the park, well, that’s a different story.

It seems that the footballing department is the most impoverished area of Celtic Football Club.

And if you want to argue with me on that point, just take a look at our bench last week against the Ibrox side.

Yes, people will say that we had two record signings on the park last Sunday.

But please, spare me the lecture on that subject, we know one was a record signing because we arsed around with Norwich and they played hardball with us as a result.

We gave them the advantage in that deal.

Arne Engels is a top quality signing, and in a couple of years time, he’ll net us a huge profit.

Despite breaking our transfer record to sign him, we still closed out the summer transfer window with a profit of £6 million.

We also posted a profit in the January window just gone.

We never exit a transfer window without making a profit, and that way of operating is very much the trademark of one person.

And if Hugh Keevins believes him when he says he has nothing to do with transfer dealings at the club, then he is very much the fool we take him for.

Peter Lawwell might not make the final call on these things, but there is no doubting that he advises Silent Mike on what he should and shouldn’t do when it comes to transfer dealings.

Silent Mike is, after all, his protege.

And slowly but surely, as soon as Peter Lawwell returned to the club, and took up his position as Chairman in January of 2023, with his son Mark Lawwell in situ as head of recruitment, transfer dealings once again had the mark (excuse the pun) of Peter Lawwell all over them.

Last January was one of the worst transfer windows I’ve witnessed in my time as a Celtic fan.

In our podcast, we discussed in depth how it would affect the team eventually.

Last Sunday, the fact that we had 5 players on the bench who had not made an SPFL start all season was all the evidence you need to see how criminally weakened the squad was by the inaction of last January.

And while yes, the manager must take some blame for the result against the Ibrox side, he did have one hand tied behind his back when it came to his bench.

In reality, we did not have a game changing substitute on that bench.

When we were in the ascendancy, we didn’t have that quality substitution we needed to press home our advantage.

As a result, we paid the price.

Keevins viewpoint in his Sunday morning article in that regard is something I cannot argue with.

Much and all as I hate to agree with anything he says.

But to expect us to believe that Peter Lawwell has nothing to do with transfer dealings at the club?

Just because he says so?

That’s another level of stupidity altogether.

Silent Mike is just an extension of Peter Lawwell.

If he wasn’t then our way of dealing in the transfer market would have altered radically.

It hasn’t, because it’s been the same for two decades now.

January was solid confirmation that it hasn’t.

The board cannot mess Brendan Rodgers around this summer.

In Thursday’s article, I stated that Celtic needed to tie Brendan Rodgers down on a long-term contract.

Added to that, I stated that they need to ensure summer recruitment is good enough to allow us to improve on this season’s Champions League campaign.

I said that weakening the squad further cannot, and should not be an option.

So Silent Mike, and the chairman who has nothing at all to do with the day to day running of the club, have two options here.

They can let Brendan Rodgers run down his contract and leave the club at the end of it.

Or they can tie him down.

And they recruit the players he needs for the campaign ahead next season.

Or they weaken the squad further, thus pissing off the manager to the extent that he’ll leave at the end of his contract anyway.

To our detriment as fans, all of that is in their hands.

And that does not fill me with one bit of confidence.

Not one.

So, Hugh Keevins can believe all he wants that Peter Lawwell has nothing to do with transfer dealings at Celtic.

But I sure as hell won’t be as naive as he is.

We’ll know just how much he influence he does or doesn’t have this summer.

Of that, you can be sure.

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