MICHAEL NICHOLSON insists the Celtic board are shouldering the blame for the club’s shock Champions League exit to Kairat Almaty.
Brendan Rodgers made it clear he wanted to strengthen his squad before the Champions League play-off showdown, but Celtic went into the two legs undercooked.
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The Hoops hadn’t replaced Nicolas Kuhn and were still without a replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi when they faced the Kazakh side at Celtic Park and away from home.
Celtic crashed out of the competition on penalties and later snapped up Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Sebastian Tounekti and Marcelo Saracchi to complete their summer window.
Although the club spent money in the end, Rodgers slammed the ‘timing’ of investment and urged the board to improve their recruitment structure going forward.
And Nicholson echoes those comments as he issued a lengthy statement as part of Celtic releasing their annual financial report.
The Scottish champions have seen their profit more than DOUBLE from 2024.
Celtic have raked in £33.9million in profit after tax, compared to £13.4m the previous year.
And reacting to the club’s Champions League shocker in Kazakhstan, Nicholson wrote: “Our objective each year is to compete in the Champions League. Unfortunately this season, we suffered a loss on penalties in the tie against Kairat Almaty, which resulted in Europa League entry instead.
“As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward.
“We now look ahead to our Europa League fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.”
Despite investing ‘record sums’ in transfer fees and wages last year, the Celtic board understand they did not achieve their objectives in the recent summer transfer window.
He said: “Aligned to our core objective of competing in the Champions League is successful player trading. Last year, we invested record sums between transfer fees and first team player wages.
“This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our objectives in the transfer window. We share and understand our supporters’ disappointment and frustration, and we will continue to seek to review and improve our strategy and execution as the market continues to evolve.”
“During the 2025 summer transfer window, the club undertook a number of changes to the Men‘s first team squad as part of our ongoing strategy to refresh and strengthen the playing group by signing 11 players.
“We have acquired the registrations of Shin Yamada, Ross Doohan, Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney, Callum Osmand, Hayato Inamura, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Sebastian Tounekti and Kelechi Iheanacho along with the temporary transfers of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Marcelo Saracchi.
“We recognise and share the frustration and disappointment of our supporters with respect to the timing of some of the incoming acquisitions. We will always look to improve how we operate and overcome challenges where possible.
“The registrations of Gustaf Lagerbielke, Nicolas Kühn, Adam Idah, Mitchel Frame, Marco Tilio and Hyeok-kyu Kwon were permanently transferred to other clubs with Scott Bain, Greg Taylor and Daniel Cummings leaving at the end of their contracts.
“In addition, Maik Nawrocki, Adam Montgomery, Stephen Welsh and Luis Palma departed on loan. As always, we thank those players for their contributions to Celtic and wish them every success for the coming season at their new clubs.
“Looking forward, myself and the Executive team will continue to represent our club at the highest level of domestic and European football.
“Given the financial disparity that now exists across European Leagues it is vital that the interests of Scottish Football are represented to ensure that we are not only able to maintain our position but also to grow and take advantage of the continued global expansion of football.”
Nicholson also detailed the major off-field investments the club have undertaken, including the completion of their new state-of-the-art Barrowfield complex.
It is hoped with the new training ground Celtic will be able to produce more ‘Champions League’ players like Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney going forward.
He stated: “Alongside player recruitment, the creation of Champions League players through our academy system and pathway to first team football is crucial to our strategy.
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“During the year ended 30 June 2025, we completed a significant enhancement of our Lennoxtown facility, with a further phase to follow this year, and we recently completed the transformation of our Barrowfield training ground.
“At Barrowfield, this included the construction of a full-size indoor playing surface, a performance gym and all the facilities required for an elite footballing environment.
“This facility, dedicated to our Women‘s first team, under 18 professionals and boys’ and girls‘ academies is unique to any club in Scotland and will provide outstanding facilities for our teams and academies to grow and develop for years to come.
“In addition, at Celtic Park, we have installed a new hybrid playing surface and refurbished several areas in the stadium. We are currently assessing a number of further capital projects to enhance the experience for our supporters in the stadium as we look to continue to develop Celtic Park.
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“The completion of our Barrowfield training ground underpins our commitment to the development of academy players and is crucial to enabling these players to maximise their potential and the connection they have with the Club.
“Nothing demonstrates this more recently than Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney.”
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