BREN IS THE BEST
From Back Page Rodgers for inspiring that glory as he suggested names such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola wouldn’t come before the man he has at the helm right now.
Lawwell said: “I don’t think anybody could have written the script to what was an extraordinary season – and of course Brendan was the leader.
“He is an outstanding manager and coach, he is a Celtic man and he carries those Celtic values and standards.
“And at this moment I don’t think there is anybody else in world football I would rather have in charge of Celtic.
“It’s been a fantastic year. We’ve raised a good profit and built a real solid foundation financially to take the club forward.
“On the pitch, well what can you say? When we were sitting here this time last year I don’t think anyone could have predicted what would occur in the remainder of the season.
“We’d had Brendan here for five months and had made a great start, having qualified for the Champions league, sitting top of the league and in the League Cup Final.
“But what happened then was extraordinary. To win the Treble for only the fourth time in our history, to go unbeaten becoming invincible – that was beyond anyone’s thoughts and imagination at that time.
“Then we had six magical days at the end of May when we had events to celebrate the Lisbon Lions’ 50th anniversary, raising £2m towards the Celtic Foundation’s good causes.
“That’s the Lions legacy. We wanted to make this 50th anniversary year very special and that has certainly been achieved.”
While Lawwell is thrilled with the crowds packing out Parkhead to enjoy the Rodgers revolution, he revealed there are no plans to redevelop the main stand.
He said: “There are no plans at the moment but the stand is getting old. It’s coming up to 50 years old so we’ve been constantly looking at it.
“In terms of the cost it would be major – in the region of £30-40m to redevelop it – and the question is do you get a financial payback on that or is that money better spent elsewhere. As it gets older it is becoming more of a priority but it’s nothing immediate for the time being.”
More of a concern for Lawwell is the proposed restructuring of European football that could see elite clubs attempt to oust clubs from smaller countries.
That’s why he believes his continued involvement on the board of the European Clubs Association is crucial to ensuring Celtic and Scottish football’s voice is heard when inevitable change comes.
Lawwell added: “It’s important we have a voice at Europe’s top table. European football will change, that’s for sure.
“In the next two cycles the Champions League won’t change significantly, which is good for us because the Champions route will be retained – although with an extra round it’s going to be slightly more difficult. But the positive is it’s still there.
“We need to continue to dominate the game to get into the Champions League that way.
“What might be changing in the shorter term is the Europa League. We are looking at ways of expanding it and I think that would be great for Scottish football as well as Celtic.
“We know we are limited here in Scotland financially so the way forward for Celtic and Scottish clubs is to perform more in Europe.
“The finance that would bring in should hopefully help the competitive balance here in Scotland.”