Best in world

Billionaire in landslide win as 78,620,161 vote for and just 3 against on day when Rodgers gives 10 in a row thumbs-up

PETER LAWWELL says there isn’t a manager in the world he’d prefer at Celtic ahead of Brendan Rodgers.

The happy Hoops chief executive hailed Rodgers as he addressed fans at the club’s agm and reflected on an invincible league season that broke records on the pitch and at the bank.

Club chairman Ian Bankier claimed the dominant Hoops will be hard to stop from further strengthening their stranglehold of Scottish football – boosted by the £90million turnover and £6.9m post-tax profit inspired by the team’s treble-winning success.

And Lawwell paid tribute to

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was bang on when he famously said you can’t please all of the people all of the time. But even so, you still have to scratch your head and wonder what was going through the minds of the handful of dissenting Celtic fans who tried to vote Dermot Desmond off the board yesterday. Posting record profits off the back of an invincible domestic season, continued Champions League involvement and entertaining football delivered by a manager so universally adored he could be nominated for sainthood? It’s hard to ponder what more supporters could ask of their club as the agm reflected on a legendary year fit for celebration. But there’s always one, eh? Or, more accurately in this instance, three when the call came for a show of hands on the re-election of their major shareholder to the club’s board. In fairness, it takes a healthy dollop of defiance to boldly raise your hand against an overwhelming tide of opinion akin to a surfer facing down the crest of a tsunami. Regardless that, including postal votes, their bold bid was defeated by a margin of 78,620,161 to, err… three. Even more surprising was that, presumably accounting for spoiled voting papers and non-returns the Irish magnate – who didn’t attend the meeting – was ushered back in with only a 97.76 per cent majority.

At least the brave few had exercised their democratic right to vote – but then so did those who supported Lord Buckethead and the Monster Raving Loony Party at general elections.

Otherwise, the Kerrydale Suite inside Celtic Park could hardly have sounded in sweeter harmony if the Osmonds were playing live.

Make no mistake, this is a good time to be a Celtic fan – and there were plenty of them packing the place out yesterday morning to bask in the glory of their team and thank the man who masterminded their dominance.

Peter Lawwell had led the tributes to Brendan Rodgers from the start, saying there’s no one else in the world he’d want in charge of his team.

Plenty more were quick to follow with their lavish praise, so it was music to the shareholders’ ears when Rodgers responded to the first question directed to him from the floor – “Are you here for 10 in a row?”

With a flash of that gleaming grin, he said: “I love my life here at the moment. I extended my stay last season so there is no reason why I wouldn’t be.

“It’s a great moment and a great cycle here in the history of the club and my job is to add to the legacy that is already here. For me and my staff to add to that we can only do that by being here for a number of years.

“This has been the most enjoyable period of my life in terms of football and personally.

“When I came up 17 months ago it was clear what I wanted to achieve. The work between myself and the board has been very tight and clear in how we wanted to work, that has been rolled out onto the field with the players.

“It’s been brilliant how the club has been able to grow in the last 17 months but there is still work to sustain that.

“The club is brilliant at celebrating success but there needs to be the focus on a constant improvement. You have to be hungry and be able to perform.

“If you sit back in a comfy chair in the office and think about what you have achieved and what you have done then you fall into a trap. It’s worldwide in sport and business – and that’s complacency.

“If you sit back and think what you did yesterday guarantees success tomorrow then you are in the wrong movie.

“In order to sustain success you have to retain hunger and that’s my job as a leader to ensure that the players and staff don’t become complacent.”

When you’ve got it this good, criticism seems churlish. Which perfectly sums up the first question of the day from the floor asking why the club continues to use the services of Park’s of Hamilton buses when the company’s owner is an investor in Rangers.

Not that the R word was ever uttered by any of the shareholders during the entire meeting. References were laughably strictly limited to veiled references to “that club on the other side of the river” etc.

But Lawwell didn’t shirk the tackle, insisting it was a stretch to claim Celtic are subsidising Rangers and insisting: “We should be above all that stuff.”

More serious were genuine gripes from the Celtic Disabled Supporters Association reinforcing calls to improve access and facilities within the stadium, warmly supported both by those on the floor and at the top table.

The thorny issue of Resolution 12 inevitably reared its head as fans continue to lobby for an investigation into the SFA’s decision to grant Rangers a licence to play European football in 2011-12 while they still had outstanding tax owed.

The club shared the fans’ disappointment that the SFA refused to follow the request of Celtic and the SPFL board to hold an independent review into the matter. But having raised the matter with the SFA’s compliance officer for consideration, company secretary Michael Nicholson said they look forward to hearing the outcome – although no timescale can be put on that process.

So no resolution for the Resolution in sight – but that wasn’t going to spoil the atmosphere on a day when Celtic’s shareholders gathered to share in the joy of the good times that show no signs of stopping.

For the vast majority at least, they are pleased. So too will be their newly re-elected major shareholder.