Celtic begin discussions with players over deferrals
CELTIC have started talks with players and management over possible wage deferrals as the club seeks to mitigate against the financial impact of the pandemic. Without match-day income for three weeks since all football was suspended and with no resumption in sight, Sportsmail understands discussions are now under way between some of the Parkhead club’s biggest earners and the hierarchy. Although no specific percentages or time scales have been discussed, there is broad agreement that relying on the club’s considerable cash reserves to fund the wage bill in the coming months is simply unrealistic. Earlier this week, Celtic revealed that an unspecified number of non-playing staff would be furloughed into the government’s job retention scheme. While the Treasury will pay 80 per cent of their wages up to £2,500 per month during the period in which they are unable to work, the club have pledged to make up the shortfall. Having dealt with non-playing staff, including some youth academy coaches, the club have now turned their attention to the first team and management — with talks set to gather pace next week. Celtic’s accounts for the financial year ending last June 30 showed £28.6million cash net of bank borrowings — by far the healthiest position of any Scottish club. But with a wage bill in excess of £50m, the potential for a quick cash burn is obvious. And with no guarantee that football will resume any time soon, players are aware that sacrifices will now have to be made across the board. The development came on the day English Premier League clubs agreed to ask players to take a 30-per-cent pay cut in order to protect jobs, with £125m being advanced to the Football League and National League and £20m handed to the NHS. Speaking on radio last Monday, Celtic manager Neil Lennon (below) acknowledged that the Parkhead club were looking at the situation and said there was every chance they would follow Hearts’ lead by reducing outgoings in the short term. ‘Yes. We’ll probably have a look at things at the end of April in terms of the club as a whole,’ he said. ‘Peter (Lawwell) and the board will review it then. ‘We’re financially robust but are still feeling the hit. ‘We’ve been told by the chief medical officer here it’s going to be 12 to 13 weeks in this situation, so it’s really difficult to plan for the future. But you have to prepare yourself as best you can for whatever the outcome is going to be. ‘For Scottish clubs, this is the time of the year when they are putting out season tickets but obviously the general public are very wary and reluctant to part with their money as they don’t know what they are paying for yet — and we still haven’t finished this season. ‘We don’t know whether that’s going to happen or not. There has to be a backstop date at some stage so we can start to plan ahead.’