Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has used today's agm to endorse the work of manager Ronny Deila, insisting: "We look after managers here . . . and help them to develop."
Deila has come under fire for the club's failure to make progress in Europe during his two seasons in charge. But he appears to retain the faith of the club hierarchy.
This morning's meeting opened with applause for Deila, while a note of apologies from majority shareholder Dermot Desmond was met with grumbles of discontent.
Ian Bankier, the chairman, opened the AGM by saying that Deila retained the faith of the board, a sentiment backed up by chief executive Lawwell.
“To be Celtic manager the expectation upon you is to win everything but life does not work that way,” said Bankier. “Last year we won two trophies, this year we are ahead in the league but we have been sharply disappointed by two adverse results in Europe. We can’t buy success, we need to develop what we have.”
Lawwell maintained that Deila would continue to progress Celtic, highlighting the misfortune that befell him and his team when officials failed to spot a handball offence by Josh Meekings of Inverness in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
“On the pitch it was a year of transition," he said. "We had a new, young manager and nothing prepares you for the Celtic job. It was baptism of fire for Ronny. We would have gone on to win the treble last season had it not been for that decision at Hampden.
“This year we stumbled in Europe which was bitterly disappointing, we must do better. We have got to perform to our highest standards. We must improve and no one knows that more than Ronny.
"We are at the top of the league, in the other two competitions and chance to go for a treble. We hae under-achieved in Europe and hopefully we can go and take the treble.
“He is a young manager. We hired him on the basis of fundamental qualities he has got. He is a builder and that takes time. You can’t have a knee-jerk reaction after two or three games. We look after our managers here and we give them time to progress.
“You can see improvement in our players – Virgil van Dijk improved, Jason Denayer improved, Nir Bitton has obviously improved as has Leigh Griffiths and we are now seeing Kieran Tierney coming in.”
Lawwell went on to reveal the depth of the challenges that Celtic face in trying to entice players to the club - another reason why he is sympathetic to Deila's position.
He said Celtic's wage bill was no lower than it was when Martin O'Neill took them to the UEFA Cup Final in Seville, although the money coming into the club is significantly less.
"The wage bill is the same amount as when we had the 2003 Seville team," said Lawwell. "We have been criticised but we bring in £4m or £5m less but we pay the same amount.
"The way wages have inflated we get less for our point. We have to be clever, find the under-valued talent, develop the kids, give them to Ronny and get them in the team. We won't stand in their way if they do well.
"We have no option. It is the way it has to work. Players who have gone to England they are getting four or five times the amount of money they are getting here. That is what we are up against.
"We spend everything that comes into the club and we try and create value from it. It is re-invested back into the team to make us as good as we can possibly be."
On that point, there will always be pressure on Celtic to make up some of the financial shortfall by making it into the UEFA Champions League.
And Deila maintained that his team will be better for the experience they had this season in attempting to get into the group stages of the Champions League.
"First of all is to learn from experience," said Deila.
"Some of those players hadn't been in an important game for Celtic before. The first 45 minutes was really good when we played Malmo but we conceded easy goals which is the most disappointing thing. When you see the history of Celtic Park, it has been so important in Europe.
"I can assure you it is burning in my stomach to talk about the game over in Malmo. Something has to be much better. We are talking about players who have been important to the team. My task is to get the players to learn from this and be ready next year.
"Players have to want to get better. They want to sacrifice everything to get better. If you are not doing that then you are not a Celtic player.
"It is small details here that are the difference between going through and not."
Lawwell maintained that Celtic's financial position remains healthy, and revealed that the club will unveil a statue of Billy McNeill, the captain of the Lisbon Lions.
“We have no bank debt and we are stable to take on the challenges going forward,” he said. “We have signed the biggest short deal the club has ever had and we sold 40,000 season tickets – we are third in the UK for that behind only Manchester United and Arsenal.”
The statue will be ready next month and Lawwell said: "Billy McNeill stands for everything that is good about Celtic.
"He was a leader. He embodied the right values of family, respect and humility. He is a magnificent man on and off the park."
Meanwhile, a call to recognise the contribution of Fergus McCann was well received.
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