The news doesn’t exactly come as a shock. There has been plenty of talk about Peter Lawwell calling it a day this summer, even before the wheels came off this season.
But the events of the past few months shouldn’t detract from the overall job he’s done at Celtic.
The reaction from a section of the support has been ridiculous. This season has clouded all opinions but Lawwell has earned the right to leave with his head held high.
He also has to clean up some of the mess on the way out though.
Listen, it’s no secret I’ve not always seen eye to eye with Lawwell. I was less than pleased with the way things ended for me at Celtic and there’s certainly been no love lost over the years I have been doing this column. I certainly can’t be accused of being some Lawwell cheerleader, that’s for sure. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what he has done for Celtic over his 17 years at the helm.
The statistics speak for themselves. Celtic have won 29 trophies in his period as chief executive. They have dominated Scottish football more than any other side in history. There’s been successes in Europe, even if maybe not enough of them.
Lawwell steered the club through the collapse of Setanta and the credit crunch while rivals Rangers went down the tubes across the city.
The Ibrox crisis could have had a more serious knock-on effect at Parkhead as we all know how much the two clubs rely and feed off the rivalry financially.
Lawwell led the club through that period and, through clever planning and scouting, managed to post profits while putting winning teams on the pitch.
There has been turmoil over the other side of the city and nothing but stability at Celtic.
That’s no mean feat. He has also walked the corridors of power in Europe and pressed the flesh with the people that matter. He has fought Celtic and Scottish football’s corner in an era of constant threat the big boys would keep the ball to themselves.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him taking on a role at UEFA at some point but there’s no doubt that kind of influence will be missed.
Being chief executive is an unenviable task at times. It has never been a popular role and it’s impossible to keep all the fans on board. It’s no-win at times with the huge demands at Celtic.
He hasn’t got it right all of the time. Even before this season I have constantly voiced concerns about the lack of forward planning in the January and summer transfer windows.
Too often Celtic have gone in to Champions League qualifying campaigns missing key additions who have either arrived too late or not at all.
It’s not just me who said it either. It drove Brendan Rodgers crazy as well.
There was the Ronny Delia experiment, the failing to capitalise fully on the Champions League in the last nine years and that’s before we even get to the mess of this current campaign.
Lawwell has been accused of taking his eye off the ball this term. It’s a fair argument as we can all see the consequences.
This year has been allowed to drift out of control. The signings made in the summer came too late and were not good enough.
The club was indecisive when it needed to be proactive when the results were abysmal. A review of the management team was promised when Celtic were 13 points behind Rangers in the title race with games in hand back in December and now the gap is even wider, we are still none the wiser about what is being done about it.
All we know is the long-term plan no longer will concern Lawwell. And that’s what I mean by tidying up the mess on his way out. He has to deal with the managerial situation. Dominic McKay can’t come in and the first thing he has to do is make a call on Neil Lennon.
If he decides to stick with the manager he’ll be off to a sticky start with supporters right from the off.
McKay has a decent reputation from his time at the SRU but this is a whole new ball game.
He’ll be under far more scrutiny at Celtic Park and he’s coming in at a time when there are huge changes needed at every level of the club.
The future of the manager is just one small part of it as they need to look at the entire structure. The scouting department needs addressing, a possible director of football role, wrestling back dominance from a Rangers side who will have the title and one foot in the Champions League.
There will be a huge turnover of players in the summer and there could be a new manager needed as well.
It might be no bad thing McKay will be walking in at a time when there needs to be a fresh start.
I’m sure Lawwell would have fancied finishing at the end of this season regardless but in his head he would have pictured signing off after the massive high of winning 10 In A Row.
He won’t get his fairytale ending but in time Lawwell’s legacy should remain intact.
