18 October 2005

Money for nothing?

The Herald has a strange story to come out of Parkhead:
"GORDON Strachan last night strenuously denied that Martin O'Neill's on-going employment at Celtic in a £500,000-per-year consultancy role was interfering with his management of the team. On the day he announced a three-and-a-half-year contract for Artur Boruc, the Polish goalkeeper, to thwart strong interest from Arsenal, the Celtic manager played down the significance of O'Neill's advisory position five months after his resignation as manager for family reasons. Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, avoided yesterday's press conference and the inevitable questions about O'Neill. In his absence, Strachan took the opportunity to proclaim his independence and reiterate the unswerving support of his board."

How does the Celtic board of directors justify to its shareholders the payment of £500,000 per year to an ex-employee to act as a consultant, when that consultant has no apparent input to the business? I appreciate that football clubs do not always act in line with normal commercial practice but this seems a trifle bizarre.

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